Archive for July, 2009

By Teddy Rosztocky, AA Equipment.

Well, July in San Diego saw warm temperatures, humidity, basically all the elements that make a superintendent’s job of growing and maintaining greens real fun and exciting.  The fight for water rages on with restrictions in effect, rates increasing, variances being rejected and no rain in site.  Play around town seemed to be steady in June, but with the warmer temperatures in July, people have shied away from the heat and rounds have dropped slightly.  Hopefully temperatures will cool off and El Nino will return with some much needed rain.  Around town, a few projects are either in the works or have just been completed.

Earlier in July, Mike Greninger at the Titleist Performance Institute completed a two week turf reduction project in an effort to reduce water costs.  Mike removed 8 acres of turf from the perimeter of his facility and replaced it with decomposed granite.  In addition, Mike replaced all his water dependent blue rye grass areas with Bermuda grass.  Foremost Construction performed all the work installing the DG and Am-Sod provided the Bermuda sod.  Mike forecasts that in the next few years the water savings will offset the construction costs to do the project. continue

By Brendon Reaksecker, Bonita GC

I hope this message finds everyone getting through the summer months with few problems. As we all know, being a golf course superintendent is extremely demanding on our time and trying on the nerves this time of year. Couple our obligations to family, self and the course, when do we find time to complete the regulatory requirements placed upon us by the state and local governments?

If you were fortunate enough to attend the CGCSA meeting last year in Morongo you might recall the presentation by Elizabeth Yura from the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The program that was introduced was the Diesel Off-road On-line Reporting System. Golf Courses must report their diesel fleet information to the ARB by August 1, 2009. With the State of California in financial turmoil I strongly recommend that you register your fleets as soon as possible to avoid violations and penalties. It is free to register your diesel equipment over >25 horsepower.

Several months ago Turf Star published a great resource to help make our jobs easier. This brochure was invaluable in helping me register our fleet. All of the requirements and contact information is conveniently located in one spot. The pdf file attachment to this email will take you to the brochure. Thank you Turf Star for helping us out and clearing up some of the confusion regarding this new regulation from the State of CA. Click here to download the pdf. continue

Learn how to help equipment technicians understand and communicate with their crew in the Spanish language. This PDF details how communicate properly from english to spanish. Click here to download the PDF.

The spanish translation document for golf course Superintendents was created by GolfTECHS.

The GCSAA has updated their website to reflect new events and schedules for the 2010 Golf Industry Show in our backyard! Visit the Golf Industry Show’s website for more info.

By Teddy Rosztocky, AA Equipment

Well, depending on who you talk to in San Diego, June was either a cloudy, cool month, or sunny and warm. Regardless, June has passed and the 4th of July is just around the corner. Before we look ahead, let’s recap what turned out to be a very interesting month for the San Diego chapter of the GCSAA.

Phil Fitzgerald at Steele Canyon received approval to drill some new wells. Drilling is scheduled to begin the second week of July, so good luck to Steele Canyon in their search for water! Steele Canyon also received approval on a 1.5 million dollar clubhouse expansion and renovation project. Construction will consist of two phases, the first to be completed by November. Phil’s excited about the project and looking forward to showing off his new digs at the S&R Tournament in December.

Also in the news down south, on June 19, the City of Coronado announced that Roger Miller will replace Dave Jones as the new Director of Golf Services for the City of Coronado. Roger served as Business Manager at the North Golf Course in Sun City and has also worked at Redhawk, Pelican Hill and Canyon Lake Country Club. Roger is married with two teenage sons, welcome to San Diego Roger and congrats on the new position! continue

This year’s Just for Fun Golf will be held on August 3, at Vista Valley CC. There was a scheduling conflict with the original date of July 30 so please update your calendars.

Dues renewals are completed and our new online membership directory is under construction now. Should be up and running any day. Be watching for that email on how to access the directory.

Membership applications on line are being rebuilt for ease of completion and payment.
Our online e-commerce will be up and running for the July event. This has been a long time in the works and I look forward to the ease of this program.

May your water issues be painless and your grass be green!

By Brendon Reaksecker, Bonita GC

I hope this message finds you happy and healthy. And hopefully, the same can be said about your greens this first week in July. My dad took my two sons camping at Yosemite last week to kick off the boys’ summer vacation. The pictures they took were amazing and I came to the realization after date night for 5 nights straight that I am getting old. Nichole and I recharged, reconnected and were able to relax, but man was it exhausting! After being without kids for the week we drove to Northern California to visit family and retrieve Jackson and Gavin. The point I am trying to make is that our jobs are stressful, demanding, and at times, extremely trying on the nerves this time of year. That is why it is so important to recharge the batteries every once in a while. My first day back was rough getting through the e-mails, answering voice messages, dealing with the aftermath of a SDG&E power outage over the weekend, but I wouldn’t trade the time with family for anything. It makes me appreciate the people I work with, allowing me the time to realize what is important in life and reassuring me that it will all be there when I get back. continue