Safety is no accident!

We have certainly had our share of snow and downright nasty weather throughout February and March.  When there are days that we can't get on the golf course, crew safety training is one important item we can still address.  McCord Golf Services has a great series of instructional videos that focus specifically on safety for golf course grounds employees.

Employees take part in training specifically focused on golf course safety.

When you stop and think about it, there are plenty of hazards (besides bunkers) on the golf course.  What may immediately come to mind when you think about this, are sharp, spinning mower blades.  And yes, while they definitely are one hazard, there are a number of other potentially dangerous things we must be aware of every day.

How about slippery surfaces?  In the winter, snow and ice can make the footing treacherous, while during the summer, we need to tread lightly when the turf is dew covered in early morning.  Almost everyone who has cut greens for any period of time, has slipped while making a turn at the end of the pass.

Lifting heavy objects is also something that must be done on a regular basis when working at a golf course.  We receive many products on pallets that are used on the course, including fertilizer, seed, and bagged topdressing sand.  In order to avoid injury, employees must use proper lifting technique, and know when it is a two person job.

Snow is a "twofer," as it's a heavy object which must be lifted while standing on a slippery surface!

In addition to protecting our backs, ears, and digits, we have to make sure our eyes are protected as well.  Grinding, weed wacking, edging bunkers, aerifying, and wood chipping, all produce flying debris.

A wood chipper can be a dangerous piece of equipment, requiring hearing and eye protection.

While the slithering snakes below aren't really much of a threat, their mere presence can be hazardous as they always surprise you.  This will often lead to increased heart rate, slipping, and tripping!

It's never good when the irrigation control wires start moving.

Given all of the potential danger, along with rough work hours, and having to brave Mother Nature daily, one might ask why anybody would choose this type of work.  We like to think that ongoing safety training minimizes the risk of injury.  Besides, the payback we receive is priceless:

Just when you think you've seen it all...

...There's a school bus on the golf course.  Yes, you definitely won't see this every day--or pretty much any day, for that matter.

Steve Kavney caught the bus positioned in a perilous predicament.

That's correct, whether it was human or machine, somebody's navigation system seems to need recalibrating.  As the saying goes, "You can't get there from here."

One of our employees made the statement, that at least once per year when working on the golf course, you'll see something pretty darned bizarre.  Over the years, we have had our share of unusual sightings on the course, including a plane land on #4 fairway, and a (thankfully unoccupied) car found submerged in the lake next to #6 tee.

Perhaps Bugs had it right, and they should have made the left turn at Albuquerque.

While there was some turf damage in front of #9 Palmer tee, with the bus surrounded by water on three sides, things could have been much worse.  Fortunately, nobody was hurt, and all will have a good tale to tell after this.

The Litmus Test

Many people think of south Jersey as nothing but flat farmland.  However, thanks in large part to the property's prior use as a quarry, Laurel Creek has 60' of elevation change.  Additionally, during construction of the course, 1.3 million cubic yards of soil was moved.  So, with plenty of mounds and slopes to contend with, when looking at a new piece of equipment, we often give it the "billy goat" test.

The view looking down from #16.

That's right, in order to make the grade, you have to be able to climb the grade.  In this case, that's the hill between #16 and 17.

Recently, we were considering the acquisition of a new mower, which will primarily be used in the Fescue, so what better place to take it for a spin than on this challenging slope.  The theory is, if it can handle this hill, the rest of the course won't be  a problem.

A different perspective as you look up to #16 from down below.

We're happy to report that while many machines have failed this test (sorry, no pictures), the Ventrac mower passed with flying colors.  This piece of equipment will be a great addition to our inventory, and help provide better conditions in the 40 acres of naturalized areas throughout the golf course.

Quick collar coring

We made a single aerification pass on the collars last week, using the small, 3/8" tines.  With our regular greens aerification still a couple of months away, you might be wondering why this was necessary.

There are a few reasons this additional process will be helpful this year.  We can start with the same benefits we see when aerifying any area of the course:  increased pore space in the root zone, decreased compaction, thatch reduction, improved water infiltration, and increased efficacy of plant protectants.  Achieving just these objectives is particularly important for the collars, as they have to deal with a lot of wear and tear throughout the year.

In addition to the typical reasons we need to aerify, we are also addressing the problem of "sand dams" which have developed on many of the collars over the years.  Sand dams are areas where topdresssing sand has accumulated, causing the collar elevation to have raised, thus blocking free water runoff from the greens.  Aerifying the collars more frequently than the putting surfaces should prevent the sand dams from growing.

A final reason we are increasing collar aerification is to smooth out the tie-ins from the Master Plan work on the green surrounds.  That is, eliminate any "carpet seams" which are still visible where the new sod met up with the greens.

The guys worked like a well-oiled machine to get this job done quickly.  After aerifying, we made one pass with the core harvester, then blew off the rest.  We finished with a quick roll of the collars to smooth things out.

As to the timing of this, we still have cool conditions, but are starting to see some growth in the greens.  Rain (and snow) was in the forecast, which helped with the final cleanup.  This was definitely a good way to make a positive impact on conditions, without impacting playability.