As U.S. Open week begins at Congressional the Rees Jones renovations seem to generate personal attacks based on his design product. Golf course architectural buffs take their subject seriously and when they don’t like the aesthetics they blame the golf architect’s DNA and personality.
Rees doesn’t adhere to the Doak, Hanse, Shackelford bushy bunker philosophy. Continue reading »
Abstract: Golf Course construction specification packages have turned into rambling, incoherent, contradictory piles of paper that few read and fewer comprehend.
Back when golf construction was a gentile business I acquired a specification package written by the late golf architect Phil Wogan. I wish I kept this two page document full of concise writing and active voice. Continue reading »
I’m involved in a golf course project that requires about 700 cubic yards of screened topsoil. Sounds simple? No. It’s turned into a major fiasco. The engineer loaded a five page specification into the contract documents and the lab tech claims it’s missing a key testing criteria. Engineering firms do this all the time; they add a “boiler plate” loam specification into the contract documents and it’s up to the contractor to comply. I’m concerned that this could turn into a non-compliance issue especially if the grass doesn’t grow due to insufficient watering. Anyone out there ever see a concise, readable, practical loam specification?
A recent inquiry asked: I was recently elected by our board to figure out a way to repair our bumpy, domed, uneven tee boxes. We have a beautiful course and unfortunately out tee boxes are horrible. We’ve tried to level the tee boxes with sand with no success. Also, I would like to use green grass, not fairway grass, on the tee surface.
I encounter many courses with the same problem. Past tee construction scenarios involved fill placement with loam placement leveled by a bad bulldozer operator or unskilled finish raker. I can’t blame them; laser grading wasn’t available back then and insufficient compaction complicates the situation.
I’d begin by Continue reading »
Abstract: Do you have problems ordering irrigation fittings? Whenever I order an obscure fitting or valve I get the two-second silent treatment from the counter guy. I know these guys well but they seem frustrated by the endless flow of new-fangled irrigation fittings.
Do you want to make a positive impact for the golf construction industry? Write a Field Guide to Irrigation Fittings. If you’ve been fixing sprinklers for many years you should know a tapping sleeve from a shirt sleeve. You should know that a toe nipple isn’t a birth defect. Many golf course field techs or irrigation counter staff don’t know this information.
You can’t get this information from a parts catalog. That’s why I’m proposing an online Field Guide to Irrigation Fittings that will include pictures, specifications and a web link to all irrigation manufacturers and suppliers. Make a field version that will fit in your pocket with a spiral binding and glossy paper. Someone write this book please!
Abstract: Honestly, I went to a golf course construction pre-bid last week. No, it wasn’t a dream. I actually sat in a room full of golf course contractors. They all had taken off weight and a few had shed trophy wives. We looked at a huge colored rendering while the architect identified the routing plan. The owner had financing and permits, and the dust will fly in late April barring unforeseen issues. That night, I looked in the mirror and called myself a golf construction professional, not sports industry site modifier, a title I used during 2008-2009.
Is the golf industry alive again? Are long-forgotten phrases such as routing plan now in circulation at golf industry meetings? Has golf survived the Great Depression II? It looks like long forgotten golf course projects will see the glimmer of light during 2011. Clubs have purged nonpaying members and replaced them with realistic businessman who understand that capital improvements greatly improve golfer experience and course marketability. Poorly managed or designed golf courses are shutting down but solid layouts with a realistic business model are approaching 2011 with optimism. It feels like a good year.
Abstract: Water pockets are surfaces that contain rain or irrigation water. They don’t permit natural surface runoff and this leads to many turf and playability issues.
The perfect golf course includes millions of tiny drainage swales that guide excess water to ideal drainage destinations. This golf course doesn’t exist. Every golf course has water pockets that collect some water. These are caused by:
Abstract: Cold winter days with limited TV sports are fine times to consider upcoming golf course construction projects. Golf renovation projects begin with a concept and individual effort.
In late February, Northern golfers sit in their easy chairs reading golf magazines while dreaming of humidity and the click made by a well-struck balata golf ball. Why not skip the seed catalog and develop a course renovation summary for the upcoming season? Continue reading »
Abstract: Use the NOAS method to identify good candidates for golf course work
Finding good golf course help involves networking and analysis. Face it, golf course work is dirty and you may not make an easy million doing it (Unless your name is Trump). Golf course workers must like fresh air and more fresh air. An affinity for grubby clothes and worn work boats also helps. In fact, this sounds like me many years ago.
I entered the golf course industry because I didn’t want to work in an office and I wanted to play golf often. Well, after 300 golf course projects I spend too much time in an office with no time playing the game.
When looking for golf course construction staff I use the NOAS method: Continue reading »
Abstract: Many know how to start a golf construction project, but few know how to complete it. Avoid project completion arguments by communicating with the contractor during construction.
Many golf construction projects start smoothly and finish poorly. On many occasions, I’ve seen the first work day smile evolve into unpleasant project completions. Continue reading »
Village Links, Plymouth,Mass. by Ray Richard
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