My first initial class that I attended was called High Performance Golf Course Management, this class gave more insight on hiring and training so you can have an effective staff. Some examples were properly interviewing techniques and creating a strong hiring process with strict followed procedures. Other topics that were stressed were employee training and its importance, developing standards for the golf course and emphasizing that planning is very important in achieving your goals. Plan your work and work your plan.
After that class I hustled over to Selection, Establishment and Maintenance of Grasses for Native Roughs and other Reduced Maintenance Areas, we discussed a number of different native grasses that could be used in specific parts of the United States and what the benefits that you could see other than aesthetics. We also covered establishment and timing techniques to properly grow in and yes maintain these areas. Although native these areas would require some kind of maintenance to keep out invasive and exotic species and they are not maintenance free.
The next morning I prepared myself for Zero Waste Golf - A Low-Cost Model to improve Your Facility, We talked about ways that we could save energy through the use of LED lights, something that we have been doing at the shop for the past two years and our club house just this year. The importance of utilizing equipment through the highest efficiency possible, one example is switching all electric motors whether they power HVAC or our irrigation pump house to VFD. We do have a new pump station slated for install this month. What VFD stands for is variable frequency drive, and what this does is instead of using a fixed speed system, VFD will vary its speed according to the demands that are needed there by reducing electricity needed. Other topics discussed were producing your own compost through discarded food and finding rebates in your state.
Next class, Preparing for and Managing Turf through Water Shortages and Drought, this topic is more and more discussed as water is becoming increasingly scarce in certain parts of the world as recent news headlines have stated what California could be facing. Topics discussed were ways to communicate the effects of the drought to the membership that brown is okay and lush and green could be a thing of the past in some areas, using wetting agents to make water wetter or move into the soil profile more efficiently and developing emergency action plans if the government demanded water restrictions.Finally as my week came to a close I had two more classes to take, The impact of your Spray Tank Water on Pesticide Performance, in a nut shell pH can be a contributed factor for reduced efficacy of certain plant protectants and generally having your water tested on a regular basis so that hardness and other contributing factors keep the plant protectants working properly. The last class, Fundamentals of Foliar Fertilization discussed the movement of nutrients into the turf grass plant via foliar applications. A good example is a granular product that is broad cast applied to the soil and eventually taken up through the roots while foliar applications is spraying the nutrients onto the plant to be taken up through the leaves and roots if lightly watered in. This way can more efficient at times by applying light amounts on a regular basis.
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During the week of my absence the staff was busy installing trees to screen the fence on 18, picking up limbs on the course from the recent ice storm and preparing our wash pad to meet the Audubon standards that we have achieved recently. They also took the time to organize the shop on inclement weather days and continued to work on their selected projects. Our bunker renovation was held up again but at the end of the week they picked up again working on #8. The question that I have been asked is will this be ready by April 1st? Honestly its just a little early to predict that, but we are hopeful if we can get a good two week stretch with out weather related delays this could put us back on track.
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| wash pad prepping |
