Archive for June, 2009

Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace…how are these different and which social networks should you be on? I recently came across a great quote that summarizes the difference. Myspace is like a dance club, Facebook a back yard barbeque with friends, and LinkedIn is the office. The first two are a great way to keep in touch with friends, and LinkedIn is an online rolodex of your contacts.

The hot social networking application has been Twitter. Twitter is a micro blogging platform which gives you 140 characters to express yourself. Through Twitter’s search functions, you can do real time searches for current trends. There are different symbols that you should familiarize yourself with before you hop on twitter. To explain:

• Hash tags are a way to group current topics. For example, San Diego Golf Course Superintendents may form a #SDGCSA hash tag to group all of their comments towards the SDGCSA.
• @ symbols lets you publicly comment “at” someone. If you wanted everyone to read your message to someone else, you would direct the comment @theirusername.
• dm are direct messages. These are not public like # or @ symbols.

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By Brendon Reaksecker, Bonita GC

Congratulations Mark Grund and Troy Mullane, our 2008 Affiliate and Superintendent Member of the Year award winners. Your volunteerism through the years has definitely added to the strength of the SDGCSA.

For those that attended this years Invitational I must say it was a great day of friendship, golf and appreciation for the group of professionals with which we are fortunate to associate. Tim Barrier hit the nail on the head when he labeled the Superintendent the most important person on the property and that it is our responsibility to grow and preserve the game of golf. You and your staff did a wonderful job setting up the course. Thank you, Tim, for hosting such a memorable Invitational. continue

By Dave Waymire CGCS, American Golf

This edition of Turf Pros is a look back to an earlier article written on our Association’s most cherished and respected superintendent, Ron Nolf. The following article was from a couple of years ago, so some of the facts may be dated. But Ron is Ron and everyone knows you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. Okay, bad analogy, Ron learns new tricks all the time!

Using the word “character” to describe Ron Nolf is like calling Tiger Woods a “golfer”; it just doesn’t do him justice. Ron is another of our veteran superintendents of the association who is known for his classic sense of humor and an extraordinary outlook on life. “No golf course is worth so much stress that it affects your health and family. We have to remember, it’s only grass.” Amen!

Mr. Nolf graduated from Penn State’s two-year turf program in 1971 and went right to work as superintendent at Martingham Harbourtowne Inne and Country Club, a Pete Dye course under construction in St. Michael, MD. He may very well be the first superintendent to use reclaimed water and was in charge of the city’s sewer and water treatment plant. Ron originally applied for the assistant’s position there but was awarded the superintendent’s position instead because the resident superintendent was in the Caribbean building another course with Pete Dye and did not want to return. Who could blame him?

Ron grew up in Nazareth, PA, and in his youth helped with his father’s business cutting meat and skinning deer. After high school he studied business at East Carolina University, and then returned to work for his dad. With help from Alice (his wife of 35 years), Ron got a job as a laborer at Saucon Valley CC in Bethlehem, PA, giving him his first taste of the golf course maintenance business. Dave Miller, Course Superintendent, was instrumental in getting him accepted to the Penn State program. continue

By Troy Mullane, Tournament Chairperson, Past President SDGCSA.

If you were unable to attend the recently completed Annual Invitational tournament held at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club you missed one of the best days I can remember in a long time. From the very beginning when driving into the club we were all treated to one of the most beautiful settings imaginable. The recently renovated clubhouse combined with a historic golf course filled with character and majestic Eucalyptus trees creates for a setting that is euphoric for any golfer. All in attendance were immediately spoiled by a mouthwatering carne asada lunch in a casual setting that felt comfortable and allowed for greeting and networking.

The golf tournament followed and the golf course was set up perfectly playing tough but fair, the course was in absolutely magnificent condition! After completion of the tournament we gathered at the outdoor patio overlooking the 18th hole for some great appetizers, drinks and conversation. We were then treated to a first class steak dinner and some very tasty deserts. The following is a summary of all golf awards for the tournament. continue

Recap by Kimberly Gard, Syngenta Professional Products

The SDGCSA has been a long time supporter of UCR TRAC. Turfgrass is a valuable commodity in CA and an integral part of the landscape, sports turf, and golf course and sod industries. The University of California, Riverside is dedicated to conducting research and performing extension activities to meet the unique challenges of the turf industry. In 1996, the UC Riverside Turfgrass Research Advisory Committee (UCRTRAC), consisting of 18 industry, university and government organization partners, was founded to help form a link between UC Riverside and the southern California turfgrass industry. UC-TuRF hopes to take this commitment to the next level by bringing together turfgrass groups throughout CA to establish a long term, sustainable Research and Extension program focusing on turf research. continue

Put the chain around it. Tighten the two adjustment screws. Clamp it in your vise, and sharpen away!

If you ever are in need of removing a stubborn pulley and just don’t have that proper puller, this tip will do the trick.

What you need is:
A standard 3 – 4 leg puller, a welder, set of torches, a hand grinder with paper disc, and three 3/8 nuts and three 3/8 X 2 1/2″ to 3″ bolts with 2 washers each.

I needed to change a primary shaft bearing on a two stage snow blower and removing the pulley was first on the agenda. The puller required to remove the pulley does not exist. continue

For years we loaded top dressers and carts with half the material in the cart and half going to waste on the ground. It seamed no matter what we used the bucket was too large. That’s when the funnel idea came to mind. The funnel is 8′ by 7′. We use it to load topdressing, stones, and soil.

This is a rack I came up with for the turf 1 club car since the spreader wheels were to wide to fit on the floor board without hanging over its edge.

Supplies used are as follows:

½” square tubing
1@20”
1@16”
2@2”

Welded into a rectangle

Scrap ¼” plate angled over to hold to bumper then welded above and below the tubing

I’ve added some thumb screws to hold the bracket to the bumper

It works and frees up space in the cart for bags of fertilizer or what ever you need to spread

Due to the damage to Bent turf caused by the narrow rear wheel a wider, softer edge rear wheel can easily be fitted.

Using Toro 72″ deck castor wheel 93-9938, axle bolt 327-24, lock nut 3296-53 and piece of 50x6mm (2″x1/4″) flat bar 115mm (4 1/2″) long.

Remove the handle bar assembly and using a 4″ angle grinder cut off the rear wheel fork sides. Keep cut parallel with fork top, this will give you the same rake angle when reassembling. Also keep your cut as close as possible to the fork top as not to loose too much length.

Weld the cut off fork sides to the face of the flat bar. What was lost when fork sides were cut off will be made up with flat bar thickness keeping the sodcutter at original height. Weld new fork to handle bar assembly, paint and reassemble with new wheel. This works on our Sod Cutter Jr, and I think it will work on a regular model as well.