USGA GREEN SECTION
RECORD

A Publication on Turf Management 
by the United States Golf Association

USGA GREEN SECTION
RECORD

A Publication on Turf Management by the United States Golf Association

© 1970 by United States Golf Association. Permission to reproduce articles or material in the USGA GREEN 
SECTION RECORD is granted to publishers of newspapers and periodicals (unless specifically noted otherwise), 
provided credit is given the USGA and copyright protection is afforded. To reprint material in other media, 
written permission must be obtained from the USGA. In any case, neither articles nor other material may be 
copied or used for any advertising, promotion or commercial purposes.

VOL. 8, NO. 1

JANUARY, 1970

Help! Where Do We Get Golf Course Labor? by Lee Record 

Female Labor by Bernie Belknap 

A Female Greenkeeper by Miss Joy Baker 

Making the Most Out of Air by Stanley Metsker 

An Open Letter To USGA Green Section Subscribers 

Super Sam by Tom Paprocki 

Bring Back The Grass by Jim Murray 

1

3

5

6

8

9

10

“The Grass Is Always Greener . . by William H. Bengeyfield 11 

Turf Twisters 

Back Cover

Published six times a year in January, March, May, July, September and November by the UNITED STATES 
GOLF ASSOCIATION, 40 EAST 38th ST., NEW YORK, N. Y. 10016. Subscription: $2 a year. Single copies: 35<J. 
Subscriptions and address changes should be sent to the above address. Articles, photographs, and correspond­
ence re'evant to published material should be addressed to: United States Golf Association Green Section, 
P. O. Box 567, Garden Grove, Calif. 92642. Second class postage paid at Albany, N. Y. and New York, 
N. Y. Office of Publication: 40 East 38th Street, New York, N. Y. 10016.

Editor: William H. Bengeyfield 

Managing Editor: Robert Sommers

Art Editor: Miss Janet Seagle

Green Section Committee Chairman: Henry H. Russell, P.O. Box 697, Miami, Fla. 33157

Green Section Agronomists and Offices

EASTERN REGION 
P.O. Box 1237 
Highland Park, N. J. 08904
Alexander M. Radko, Director, Eastern Region 
and National Research Director
A. Robert Mazur, Eastern Agronomist 
James W. Timmerman, Eastern Agronomist 

(201) 572-0440

SOUTHERN REGION 
P.O. Box 4213 
Campus Station, Athens, Ga. 30601
James B. Moncrief, Director, Southern Region 
Holman M. Griffin, Southern Agronomist

MID-CONTINENT REGION 
Room 905
211 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, III. 60611
F. Lee Record, Mid-Continent Agronomist 
Paul Alexander, Mid-Continent Agronomist 

(312) 943-5022

WESTERN REGION 
P.O. Box 567 
Garden Grove, Calif. 92642

William H. Bengeyfield, Director, Western Region 

and Publications Editor

G. Duane Orullian, Western Agronomist 

(404) LI 8-2741

(714) 638-0962

COVER PHOTO -
Miss Joy Baker mowing with 
a triplex putting green mower.

HELP!

Where Do We Get
Golf Course Labor?

4^

by LEE RECORD, Agronomist, USGA Green Section

hen a man in his late 40’s or early 50's 
loses his job because of disability or health, the 
future can seem awfully grim. When a man 
retires at age 65 after earning a meager salary 
and has no income other than Social Security, 
he may be placed on the tense borders of 
poverty. The man we are speaking of is often 
the best source of present-day golf course 
laborers, and even he is hard to find.

We faced a labor shortage on golf courses 
in 1969, not only in the Mid-continent region, 
but throughout the United States. To the golf 
course superintendent, the available-labor situa­
tion today is very discouraging because course 
maintenance has become a skilled and special­
ized job. Not every individual can adapt himself 
to the mechanics that revolve around the daily 
routine of a golf course laborer. Where can you 
find men who are dependable and willing to 
work five to seven days a week? Where can 
you find men who will work from daylight until 

late afternoon for relatively low wages with few 
fringe benefits?

The success of any golf course maintenance 
program depends to a large extent on the 
quality of the golf course laborer. During the 
spring and fall it is common to find three or 
four men (including the superintendent) trying 
to maintain an 18-hole golf course. When col­
lege and high school students arrive for em­
ployment in late May and early June, the main­
tenance staff is filled. When the students return 
to school in early September, the superintendent 
is once again faced with a labor problem. Con­
ditioning of the course during the spring and 
fall is not up to standards, and it is frequently 
during this time of the year that important work 
could be done in preparation for the following 
summer.

In the greater Chicago area, Spanish-American 
and Mexican laborers arrive from the Rio Grande 
Valley of Texas and from Mexico to work from

JANUARY 1970

1

Good facilities are as im­
portant to a top-notch 
worker as to anyone else 
with ability and pride.

mid-March to December 1st. This is an excellent 
source of labor for our golf courses. Mexican 
laborers are seasonal employees who frequently 
come back year after year. Lodging and in some 
instances food is provided for them. One super­
intendent in Chicago reports that four of his 
returning Mexican employees will be covered 

by medical benefits not only while they are in 
Chicago, but also while they are in Texas for 
the winter.

We are interested and concerned, along with 
the golf course superintendents, in the labor 
shortage problem. What is its cause? What can 
be done to improve the situation, and what

Fig. 1

1969 LABOR QUESTIONNAIRE USGA MID-CONTINENT REGION

Yes/No 
Do you have a: Number 

Low/High 
Salary or 
hourly wage 

(Partial or Full pay-
ment by employer)  Retirement 
Hospitalization 

Requirements 

Xmas Bonus  Living Quarters
Amount 

for Laborers

Foreman or 
Assistant 
Superintendent

19 Yes
15 No
1 co-supt.
1 foreman each

$6,000/$11,200 
average $9,044 
$3/$3.75 
average $3.38

6 Full
19 None
11 33%-50%

35 None 
1-10 yrs.

at age 65

Mechanic

23 Yes
10 No
2 part-time
1 foreman­
mechanic

$8,400/$9,000 
average $8,700 
$2.40/$4.50 
average $3.45

9 Full
15 None
11 up to 70%
1 begin in Jan.

34 None
1-20 yr @ 65
1-20 yr @ 65

Permanent 
laborers

35 Yes
1 No
1-7 men

Average 3 men

$1.75-$3/$2.10-$3.75
Average
Average 
$2.46 
$2.89

9 Full
10 None
16 33%-50%
1 begin in Jan.

34 None
1-20 yr @ 65
1-20 yr @ 65

12 Yes
21 None
3 Members 
contribution 
$50-$500 
average $194

19 Yes
14 None
3 Members 
contribution 
$25-$500 
average $168

25 Yes
7 None
4 Members 
contribution 
$200-$650 
average $163

35 None

1 Yes plus meals

34 None
2 Yes

31 None
5 Yes
1 with meals
2 1 man only
2 Mexican labor

Seasonal 
laborers

36 Yes 
2-13 men

Average 7 men

$1.40/$2.50

$1.90/$3.50 

Average 
$1.93 

Average
$2.74

36 None

1 Full
29 None
5 up to 50%
1 begin in Jan.

22 None
14 Yes 
$20-$150 
average $162

25 None
1 Pending
10 Yes (Mexican 

labor)

2

USGA GREEN SECTION RECORD

Fig. 2

FRINGE BENEFITS IN OTHER INDUSTRIES

Holidays per year

Sick leave

Food Service

None: 54%
One: 11%
One to six: 35%

U. S. Industry

Seven days

None: 69%
Seven days per year: 31%

Median: 10 days a year 
(78% have a plan)

Long term disability 

Covered: 26%

Covered: 80%

Life insurance

Accidental death and 
disability insurance

Hospital insurance 

Major medical 

Retirement

Covered: 33% ($2,000 is 

median amount)

Covered: 99% ($3,000 is 

median amount)

Covered: 21%

Covered: 74%

Covered: 27%

Covered: 6%

Covered: 14%

Covered: 99%

Covered: 75%

Covered: almost 100%

4 Club Management, September, 1969

additional labor sources may be available?

Last October a labor questionnaire was mailed 
to 50 private golf courses in the greater Chicago 
area. The courses selected were those with 
similar labor problems, needs, and desires for 
improving existing conditions. The response to 
the questionnaire was excellent with a return of 
70 percent. The results (Fig. 1) we think you 
will find interesting.

When one compares these figures with those 
from United States food service and industrial 
employment sources (Fig. 2), we may find one 
reason why good, permanent golf course workers 
are hard to find.

Improved wage scales with added fringe bene­
fits of hospitalization, major medical, retire­
ment, sick leave and vacations strengthens bar­

gaining positions in dealing with and encourage- 
ing permanent employment.

Wage improvement and increases in fringe 
benefits alone, however, are not the sole cri­
teria for the top-notch prospective laborer. The 
facilities and the equipment he will use also are 
major factors. Inside lavatory facilities, showers, 
lockers, etc., are as important to him as they 
are to anyone else.

Bernie Belknap, Superintendent of Rolling 
Hills Country Club, Wichita, Kans., faced a labor 
situation last summer similar to most golf 
course superintendents in the mid-continent re­
gion. His approach to its solution, although not 
entirely new, is somewhat different, and I asked 
him for his story:

Female Labor

by BERNIE BELKNAP, Golf Course Superintendent, Rolling Hills Country Club, Wichita, Kansas

Female labor is a good source of labor on a 

golf course!

About three years ago, when our school help 
went back to classes, we tried for two months 
to fill out our crew with men. Advertisements 
were put in the local newspaper and employ­
ment agencies were contacted. We found it im­
possible to hire male help.

Years ago I had worked on a golf course that 
employed women for its grounds force. I started 
thinking about this as a possible source of 

labor and made two lists of jobs one that wo­
men could do, and one with jobs too difficult for 
them to do. I found more jobs on the course 
that they could do than jobs they could not.
I went to the Green Committee and explained 
my dilemma. It was decided to advertise for 
female help for the golf course, and we had 
a number of applications for the job. In talking 
to the applicants, I was surprised at the number 
who expressed a preference for outside work. 
I selected four women whom I felt were quali- 

JANUARY 1970

3

tied. I started them in section work. Each was 
responsible for five greens, plus approximately 
22 bunkers. Their daily duties included the 
hand-watering of dry, hard spots on greens 
and aprons, repair of ball marks, raking and 
weeding of bunkers. As time allowed, they were 
also responsible for trimming grass around all 
trees in their section. One young lady mowed all 
the greens with a triplex putting green mower.
Once trained they did a marvelous job. The 
club members gave us more compliments on 
the bunkers and the condition of the course 
than we ever had before.

It is my firm belief that female laborers do a 
neater job and are more painstaking in the 
maintenance of greens and bunkers. One of the 
women does an excellent job in maintaining the 
club house grounds. Her responsibility is to 
care for flowers, shrubbery, and grass in that 
area.

I have used women to drive tractors, spray 
weeds, water-in fertilizer, mow around trees with 

small mowers, help in top-dressing greens, 
change tee markers and cups, and fill ball 
washers.

We have found no complications in using a 
mixed crew. Each person has his or her as­
signed job to do. If something happens that a 
woman cannot handle there is always a man 
nearby to help out. There is always a man to 
aid if an unexpected problem arises that a wo­
man cannot handle. Mowers do break down and 
water systems do develop leaks.

We pay the women and male summer help 
the same wages. It is our opinion that a woman 
who does the work a man does should be paid 
the same wages, and the women workers have 
done an outstanding job for us at Rolling Hills.

Author Lee Record then asked Miss Joy Baker, 
one of Belknap's five women workers, to com­
ment on her employment on the maintenance 
crew at Rolling Hills Country Club. Miss Baker's 
story and observations as a female golf course 
laborer follow.

Miss Joy Baker on a truckster and Miss Laura Kester raking a sand bunker.

4

USGA GREEN SECTION RECORD

Superintendent Bernie Belknap instructing Miss Baker and Miss Kester on trimming 
sand bunkers.

A Female Greenkeeper

by MISS JOY BAKER, Rolling Hills Country Club, Wichita, Kansas

A female greenkeeper?

I am 18, a high school graduate, and a lady 
greenkeeper. I didn’t know that women are 
rarely employed in such an occupation. I first 
became interested in greenkeeping through my 
father, who has worked for several years at the 
Rolling Hills Country Club. I assumed that 
hiring women to take care of the course was a 
normal procedure.

Greenkeeping is a healthful occupation. I go 
to work at 7 a.m. and I usually leave at 3:30 
p.m. I feel physically fit, have a glorious sun­
tan, and I am relatively free of employer pres­
sure. On the other hand I don’t worry about 
getting dirty or wet, or having calloused hands 
and dirty fingernails, and my hair is worn in a 
pony tail.

I think we have a compatible and congenial 
crew. Some people have asked if men resent us 
women working with them. Frankly, we feel that 
since both men and women have been success­
fully employed in other jobs, there is nothing 
unusual about this arrangement. Our group 
varies from a 72-year old Scotsman to several 
16-year olds of both sexes. There is often more 
than one member of a family included in our 
crew. Some of the employees are students who 
work only in the summer.

My greatest responsibility is caring for the 
greens. I mow all the greens and take care of 
my section of five greens and 18 bunkers. I 
mow with a triplex putting green mower. The 

tools I carry in my work are a knife, screwdriver, 
gopher poison, ball mark fixer, and a quick 
coupler.

Caring for the greens is difficult during the 
summer. Brown patch, dollar spot, cutworms 
and wilt keep us on our toes. If wilted areas are 
not watered they will turn into a hard and un­
manageable area. You must be careful in water­
ing because you can apply too much water and 
scald the greens.

We help in spraying for weeds and pulling out 
foreign grasses—crabgrass, bermudagrass, etc. 
unwanted on greens. Ball marks must be re­
paired, bunkers must be well-manicured and 
raked daily. We take pride in our areas and 
worry about the appearance of our section.

I doubt that many women would select green­
keeping as a life-long career, but for temporary 
employment it is quite satisfying. The women 
at Rolling Hills are employed seasonally. De­
pending on the weather, they are hired in early 
spring, and their employment is terminated in 
the late fall since the summer is the busiest 
season.

We are asked to work overtime only if we 
need to water the greens when the temperature 
soars, or if there are extra duties outside our 
assigned work that we must do. Therefore, the 
hours are good for mothers with school-age 
children.

I like my job, and I look on this type of work 
as a coming source of employment for women.

JANUARY 1970

5

Making The Most Out of Air

The impact wrench can be used as a screw driver as well as on nuts and bolts.

by STANLEY METSKER, Superintendent, Boulder Country Club, Boulder, Colorado

I f you think compressed air is only good for 
filling tires, it's time for another look. Pneu­
matic tools can make your shop more efficient 
by speeding up work. All you need to get started 
is a good air compressor that will supply 90 
pounds per square inch of clean, dry air at the 
operator's touch.

An air gun is a handy gadget to have around 
your shop. It is just a small hand-held device 
for directing a blast of air. It will clean out dirty 
corners, blow out tiny ports and pipes, or dry 
off wet parts. Our only problem has been the 
constant breaking off of the nozzle, and I fixed 
that with a piece of 14-inch plastic protective 
tubing.

Another inexpensive but handy tool for the 
air gun is a spark plug cleaner. One manu­
facturer has one for less than $20. There is 
also a more expensive model that checks the 
spark under pressure. Both use a blast of grit 
to clean those hard-to-get places around the 

electrodes of the plug. If you have any two- 
cycle engines, you will really appreciate this 
tool for cleaning fouled plugs.

Still in the inexpensive category is a paint 
spray gun. This will require a pressure regulator 
because spray guns usually need only about 40 
pounds of pressure. There are models available 
that will spray either enamel (internal mix) or 
lacquer (external mix).

Most cities have specific codes regarding in­
door painting, but most equipment can be 
painted outdoors. The real job in painting is 
always in the preparation.

Here’s where an air sander can save a lot of 
time in taking off old paint, sanding down rough 
places, or smoothing off putty.

The advantages of using air for sanding are 
that the air-powered sander is much faster, 
more powerful, and the speed can be varied. 
Light duty sanders are available for about $25.
Once you have an impact wrench in your 

6

USGA GREEN SECTION RECORD

shop you will never give it up. No other tool can 
increase your shop efficiency more. We have all 
seen how tire shops whip lug nuts on and off 
our car wheel. This same tool can work for you 
on mowers, tractors, engines, as well as chang­
ing tires. Because you can adjust the power by 
a simple control on the wrench, you have posi­
tive control over how much pressure each nut 
or bolt receives. And do not overlook the use of 
this tool as a screw driver. Because you can 
hold the wrench steady and use your strength 
for pushing instead of turning, you have a real 
advantage on those hard-to-tighten or loosen 
screws.

For impossible-to-loosen nuts or bolts, the 
tool you must have is a pneumatic chisel. It is 
also good for cutting off old welds, punching or 
driving off stuck parts, etc. We have even used 
it for taking the ends out of metal barrels, and 
it works as good as any can opener.

Other air tools you will find useful in your 
shop include a truck jack or bumper jack, a 
tire changing tool, or an air-operated hoist simi­
lar to those found in automobile service sta­
tions. This last item is the most expensive, but 

Howard Gaskill, of Hiwan Golf Club, Evergreen, 
Colo., has one he uses for servicing golf carts.
“It sure beats crawling underneath, and by 
raising the cart just a couple of feet it saves a 
lot of bending over,” Howard reports.

Air tools do require some maintenance, and 

here are a few tips worth remembering:

1. Install all pipe and fittings % ■ inch or 
larger so as not to restrict air passage.
2. Install all lines to drain. Water always 
forms in the tank and lines. Drain it often.
3. Use a filter at each outlet to assure clean 

air.

4. Use an in-line lubricator with tools that 

have internally moving parts.

5. Put quick-coupling connections on all 
tools and hoses to make quick changes 
easily.

If you buy good quality tools and take good 
care of them, your shop efficiency will increase 
and you will find it easy to make the most out 
of air.

A good air compressor has 
many uses in the maintenance 
of golf course equipment.

JANUARY 1970

An Open Letter To

USGA Green Section

Subscribers

Because of rising costs and to help reduce the 

current operating deficit, the United States Golf 
Association has been obliged to increase sub­
scription fees to the Green Section Visiting 
Service.

Subscribing clubs have been notified of the 
increased rate through a letter from Henry H. 
Russell, of Miami, Chairman of the Green Sec­
tion Committee. The text of the letter is as 
follows:

w ould you believe that since 1951 the USGA Green Section has made over 16,000 service visits 
to Member Clubs throughout the United States! No other agency in the world of golf has such a record.

During these 19 years, I think you will agree playing conditions on our courses — in spite of 
tremendously increased play—have improved ten fold. And it is the golf course superintendent, 
through his technology, who is directly responsible for this advancement. We in the USGA would 
also believe that our 16,000 visits and support of turfgrass research have significantly contributed to 
good golfing turf as well.

The Green Section, as all USGA Agencies, operates for service, not for profit. Indeed, it was 

created so that USGA Member Clubs would consistently have a turf research and advisory agency 
that was impartial, authoritative and economically operated. The fact that it has nothing to sell 
except SERVICE is only one feature of a unique Green Section Staff. Employed are nine agronomists 
trained specifically in golf turf maintenance and management. The 16,000 golf course visits places 
them in a position to help any club to develop greater efficiency and better turf for more enjoyable 
golf for its membership.

In these days of rising costs and inflation, the cost of operating the Green Section Service has 

increased far more rapidly than income. (Anyone familiar with travel costs will recognize the 
problem.) During the past five years, for example, the USGA has subsidized this activity by $268,091

8

USGA GREEN SECTION RECORD

over and above subscription fees. In order to make the Green Section a financially sound operation, 
the Executive Committee — with great reluctance — feels the Visiting Service fee must be increased
in 1970. The schedule is as follows:

Less than 18 holes ..........................................................................  $250.00

18 to 27 holes 

More than 27 holes:

300.00

A) 36 holes ................................................................................... 325.00

B) Per regulation course in addition to 36 holes 

75.00

For most clubs this amounts to less than 1/3 of 1 per cent of the annual maintenance budget. In 

today’s high-priced service market that figure is still unbelievably small. In countless cases 
one small bit of information from a Green Section visit has improved the course or saved the club 
many times the Service fee. In a club of 300 members, it amounts to $1 a year per member.
Is not $1 a year per member worth improved maintenance and management practices? Where else 
can clubs turn if not to the Green Section for unbiased information on all questions relating to 
golf course maintenance and management? We believe you will want to keep the experienced Green 
Section staff working for better turf for more enjoyable golf for your membership.

Green Section brochures giving all details and benefits your club receives from the Visiting 

Service Program have been mailed to superintendents, green chairmen and presidents of subscribing 
clubs. If there are other questions, we would welcome the opportunity to reply to them.

Thank you for your support.

Most sincerely,

Henry H. Russell, Chairman
USGA Green Section Committee 
USGA Executive Committee

SUPER SAM by Paprocki

Bring Back The Grass

by JIM MURRAY

I don’t know about you, but I'm kind of an 
old-fashioned guy who likes the real McCoy. I 
want butter that comes from cows. I like cotton 
in my shirts, wool in my socks, leather in my 
shoes.

I’m sick of the polyester, permanent press, 
plastic world. I don’t want additives in my bread, 
chemicals in my beer. I think aspirin is the 
best cold remedy and castor oil will cure almost 
anything else that’s wrong with you. I squeeze 
real oranges for breakfast or I go without. I 
won’t buy a suitcase if its got plastic hangers 
in it.

But I’m willing to forgive the chemists, phar­
macologists and syntheticians anything if they’ll 
just keep their cotton-pickin’ — pardon me, 
nylon-pickin’ — hands off sports.

Football should be played on grass, baseball 
should be played outdoors, and golf should be 
played against nature, not hydraulics. I wish 
DuPont would stick to explosives, and Monsanto 
to fertilizers, and leave the gamesmanship to 
us.

Take last weekend: Three fine football teams 
from the Los Angeles area — USC, UCLA, and 
the Rams — ventured outside the all-wool-and- 
a-yard-wide world of the Coliseum and entered 
the plastics division of sports. You would have 
thought they were playing the game on solid 
ice. You half-expected them to halt the game at 
any time and say, “Wait a minute, I’ll go home 
and get my skates.”

The only game that should be played on an 
artificial surface is pool. (I exclude hockey, 
because, while it is artificially made, the surface 
is, after all, real ice and not a Libby-Owens- 
Ford derivative.)

I am not fully persuaded a football field 
should even be MOWED. (I remember one year 
the Trojans of USC played a game in Colorado 
in which they complained the grass was too 
tall for them, but I have to think any offense 
that can’t move the ball against high grass 
should turn in its scholarships.)

A Thornless Rose

You see, good old American know-how can't 
leave any sport, fabric, climate, river, lake, or 
any other natural condition alone. It would 
tinker with Paradise. It feels it can fade nature. 
It can give you a rose without thorns, cattle 
without horns. I expect any day now they will 
let the contract for construction of a new syn­
thetic earth and use this old one for a ware­
house.

Take baseball. They begin to construct parks 
to eliminate the cheap home runs (forgetting 
the cheap home runs saved baseball after the 
Black Sox scandal) and, the next thing you 
knew they were playing it indoors, on felt, and 
with air conditioning. You take the sweat out of 
baseball, the blood out of football and the walk 
out of golf, and pretty soon you have a nice 
permanent-press, wash-and-wear, no-calories 
form of athletics. You can buy a world’s cham­
pionship in a super market.

I mean, where does it end? Do you have bats 
with adjustable settings for curveballs, fast­
balls, off-speed pitches — or are they self-cor- 
rectible for whichever shows up at the plate? 
Do you magnetize gloves so that fly balls will 
drop in them wherever they are stuck up in the 
air?

Football on a carpet, indoors, at regulatory 
72 degrees is an obscenity. Football is supposed 
to be played in nose-biting cold, watched from 
inside a raccoon coat, and on Mother Earth. It 
should not be played on any surface you can 
vacuum-clean or hang on a clothesline and beat. 
If it’s raining or snowing, it should trickle down 
your neck, get in your cleats. Give us back our 
mud, gopher holes, puddles, grass. Go carpet 
Rhode Island or dome Delaware, if you must, 
but let’s play football the way Walter Camp did. 
We don’t want powdered football, artificially- 
sweetened baseball, or miracle fabric golf any 
more, thank you.”

© by Los Angeles Times and printed by per­

mission.

10

USGA GREEN SECTION RECORD

The Grass Is Always Greener - - -

A few of the 165 bunkers at Muirfield. Sod layers are used to build the face of the 
bunker and must be replaced about every five years.

by WILLIAM H. BENGEYFIELD, Western Director, USGA Green Section

Last summer it seemed nearly as many turf­

grass specialists returned from Europe as 
bankers, politicians, relatives, or rich aunts. 
Amid the roar of jets at Amsterdam’s Schipol 
airport, a returning fellow passenger—upon 
learning of our journey — remarked, "So you've 
actually been trying to find where the grass is 
really greener.” "Yes,” I answered, then con­
cluded it was in the United States!

This is not to say that Europeans are in­
capable of growing good grass, nor that greener 
grass is always best. There is little truth in 
either statement. But the aged fact remains: 
traveling, seeing, listening and learning from 
the other fellow is always educational and ex­
citing. It is always worthwhile. A few words here 
on last summer’s first International Turfgrass 
Conference (Harrogate, England) and a view of 
the United States turf managers international 
strengths and weakness, in my view, may in­
terest some of our readers.

"How many kilos of Poa pratensis per hectare 
are sown along roadsides in the U.S.?” (What?) 
Or Dr. I. Yashikowa from Japan reporting that, 
“200 cubic centimeters of bensulide per 100 
square meters in 10 liters of water will give 
good Poa annua control.” Or Bjarne Langvad of 
Sweden stating that, “sand (.02-4 millimeters) 
should be added in a layer 15 to 20 centimeters 
thick.”

Yes, the metric system is worldwide and 
definitely IN. Even the British (inventors of the 
inch, foot, yard, mile, ounce, pound and ton) 
have conformed. In fact, the USA and Canada 
are the last major hold-outs for avoirdupois 
weights and ancient ways of measuring dis­
tances. Familiarizing ourselves with and accept­
ing the metric system is really our move — not 
the rest of the world’s. It is such a logical sys­
tem, particularly in our field of turf manage­
ment, that we should be ready at last to adjust 
and accept.

FROM POUNDS TO KILOS

FROM BLUEGRASS TO POA

The speaker was from Switzerland and asked, 

Then it is also our folly to insist on using

JANUARY 1970

11

The attendants of the First International Turf grass Conference held in Harrowgate, 
England, July, 1969.

common names for all plants rather than scien­
tific names. Wouldn’t it be just as easy; wouldn't 
it be far more professional for us to use Poa 
pratensis when we talk about Kentucky blue­
grass and Agrostis palustres when referring to 
Seaside creeping bentgrass? We seem to have 
no trouble in pronouncing Poa annua or Poa 
trivialis! What’s wrong with pronouncing Agros­
tis tenuis? The rest of the turfgrass world, from 
the Dutch scientist to the salesman in a London 
garden shop uses scientific plant names; why 
can’t we? Would it not be a step toward greater 
professionalism if, for example, the Golf Course 
Superintendents Association should advocate 
such a move? At least it would be a step for­
ward in communication, between ourselves as 
well as with the rest of the world. It’s worth 
thinking about.

TO THE SCOTTISH LINKS

Few golfers return from Scotland disappointed 
in the test of golf they have experienced. Scot­
tish courses “play” extremely well. Greens are 
fast but true. The courses are strategic (Muir- 
field has 165 sand bunkers) and delightful. Their 
roughs are unforgettable, but beautiful. And 
their golfers must be more complacent than 
ours by the way they accept the more rugged 
conditions. Richard S. Tufts, past President of 
the USGA, recently commented, "Golf under the 
more natural conditions under which it is played 
on the British link courses, is a far better sport. 
The overmanicuring of our courses to meet the 
demands made by our golfers has injured the 
game. Things have to be too perfect with us, 

and the only practical excuse for the mainten­
ance of our roughs in almost fairway condition 
is the problem of delay in play created by lost 
balls.”

TO THE PLANT BREEDERS

Among the Dutch, Swedish, British, and now 
Germans, the emphasis in Europe has been on 
turfgrass breeding. New and outstanding vari­
eties are under development. Ryegrass, fescue 
and even timothy (discontinued in United States 
turfgrass use years ago) receives major atten­
tion. To a lesser degree, bluegrass (Poa species) 
and the colonial type bents (Agrostis tenuis) are 
also investigated. Indeed, some new varieties of 
Agrostis tenuis appear outstanding under con­
ditions in The Netherlands, and this research 
might well someday re-establish colonial bents 
for putting green use in the USA.

Lest anyone conclude that I was brainwashed 
and now advocate "Growing Grass — European 
Style,” rest assured that this is not the case. 
While emphasis in Europe has been on turf­
grass breeding, management practices have not, 
perhaps need not, keep pace. The British atti­
tude toward turf management and turf use is 
different from ours. Where in the United States 
would you be successful with a seed mixture of 
70 per cent red fescue and 30 per cent colonial 
bentgrass for greens? Where could you succeed 
with three putting green applications a year of 
a fertilizer containing ammonium sulfate, iron 
sulfate, bloodmeal, hoof and horn and super­
phosphate? Their tees and fairways are never 
fertilized.

12

USGA GREEN SECTION RECORD

A HUMBLING WORLD

One would simply not survive in the United 
States with the management practices com­
monly followed abroad. Our golfers demand 
quality turf and uniform playing conditions. Our 
climatic differences dictate a total turf manage­
ment effort; disease control, weed control, op­
timum fertility levels, uniform irrigation, soils to 
resist compaction, etc. The climatic factor and 
the turf use factor alone takes all the argument 
out of “Who grows the best turfgrass in the 
world?” The question is irrelevant.

Suffice to say the turfgrass plant, through 
good management, can be grown successfully 
around the world and under a tremendous 
variety of climatic conditions. It’s a marvelous 
plant! It usually demands good management, 
and to grow it well, our constant attention. It 
is the center of a very humbling profession.

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION (Act of October 23, 1962; Section 4369, Title 39, United States 
Code). 1. Date of Filing—October 1, 1969. 2. Title of Publication—USGA GREEN SECTION RECORD. 3. Frequency of issues—Six 
issues a year in January, March, May, July, September and November. 4. Location of known office of publication—40 E. 38th 
Street, New York, N. Y. 10016. 5. Location of the headquarters or general business offices of the publishers—40 E. 38th Street, 
New York, N. Y. 10016. 6. Names and addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor: Publisher—United States Golf Asso­
ciation, 40 E. 38th Street, New York, N. Y. 10016. Editor—Wil liam H. Bengeyfield, 40 E. 38th Street, New York, N. Y. 10016. 
Managing Editor—Robert Sommers, 40 E. 38th Street, New York, N. Y. 10016. 7. Owner (if owned by a corporation, its name and 
address must be stated and also immediately thereunder the names and addresses of stockholders owning or holding 1 percent 
or more of total amount of stock. If not owned by a corporation, the names and addresses of individual owners must be 
given. If owned by a partnership or other unincorporated firm, its name and address, as well as that of each individual must 
be given.) Names and addresses—United States Golf Association, 40 E. 38th Street, New York, N. Y. 10016; President—Hord 
W. Hardin, 40 E. 38th Street, New York, N. Y. 10016; Vice-Presidents—Philip H. Strubing and Robert K. Howse, 40 E. 38th 
Street, New York, N. Y. 10016; Secretary—Fred Brand, Jr., 40 E. 38th Street, New York, N. Y. 10016. Treasurer—Lynford Lard- 
ner, Jr., 40 E. 38th Street, New York, N. Y. 10016. 8. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or 
holding 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities—None. 9. Paragraphs 7 and 8 include, in cases 
where the stockholder or security holder appears upon the books of the company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation, 
the name of the person or corporation for whom such trustee is acting, also the statements in the two paragraphs show the 
affiant's full knowledge and belief as to the circumstances and conditions under which stockholders and security holders who 
do not appear upon the books of the company as trustees, hold stock and securities in a capacity other than that of a bona 
fide owner. Names and addresses of individuals who are stockholders of a corporation which itself is a stockholder or holder 
of bonds, mortgages or other securities of the publishing corporation have been included in paragraphs 7 and 8 when the in­
terests of such individuals are equivalent to 1 percent or more of the total amount of the stock or securities of the publishing
except those which do not carry advertising other than the
corporation. 10. This item must be completed for all publications 
and 132.233 Postal Manual (Sections 4355a, 4355b, and
publisher's own and which are named in sections 132.231, 132.232, 
4356 of Title 39, United States Code).

Total No. Copies Printed (Net Press Run)

6,584

6,500

Average No. Copies 
Each Issue 
During Preceding 
12 Months

Single issue 
Nearest to 
Filing Date

A.

B.

C.

D.

Paid Circulation

1. Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, 

Street

Vendors and Counter Sales

2. Mail Subscription

Total Paid Circulation

Free Distribution (including samples) by 

Mail, Carrier and Other Means

E.

Total Distribution (Sum of C and D)

F. Office Use, Left-Over, Unaccounted, 

Spoiled After Printing

G. Total (Sum of E and F)

1 certify that the statements made by me above are correct 

and complete.

Robert Sommers, Managing Editor

none

5,597

5,597

280

5,877

707

6,584

none

4,917

4,917

280

5,197

1,303

6,500

JANUARY 1970

13

USGA GREEN SECTION RECORD 

JANUARY, 1970

TURF TWISTERS

MICROSCOPES FOR NEMATODES

QUESTION: Can I determine when my greens need treating with a nematicide by counting 
the number of nematodes in a given area—say a quart of soil? (Tennessee)

ANSWER: You could if you used a microscope and you could differentiate between para­
sitic and non-parasitic nematodes in the total population. Nematology, however, is a 
rather complex study and only trained individuals should evaluate your nematode problem 
by examining samples under the microscope.

PRECAUTION FOR CHEMICALS

QUESTION: The controversy over DDT raises in my mind questions as to possible health 
hazards from golf course chemicals such as thiram, malathion, chlordane and sodium 
arsenite. What say you? (Minnesota)

ANSWER: Any material (even aspirin), in quantity, is most certainly dangerous. However, 
it is unlikely that golfers would contact them in sufficient quantity to do harm. Even 
employees who actually handle the materials run a negligible risk with proper safety pre­
cautions. A possible exception to this might be thiram, to which certain individuals are 
super-sensitive. Such individuals are rather rare, and may come in contact with this 
chemical when handling numerous household goods because thiram is widely used as a 
rubber preservative.
With the exercise of normal precaution, these chemicals are not Only reasonably safe, 
but essential to the upkeep of the course.

TRIPLEX PUTTING GREEN MOWERS

QUESTION: What does the Green Section think of the new triplex putting green mowers? 
(New Jersey)

ANSWER: We will have a nation-wide report in the May, 1970, issue of the Green Sec­
tion Record.

SYNTHETIC SAND FOR BUNKERS

QUESTION: We have heard a lot about using “synthetic sand” in bunkers. I’ve even seen 
some blue, red and maroon-colored bunkers on TV. What can you tell us about it and is 
it legal? (Arizona)

ANSWER: There’s nothing in the rule book that says bunker sand must be white. We just 
happen to think most people prefer it that way. But where colored synthetic sand has been 
used, superintendents report fewer weeds and even bermuda is slow to grow into it. Pro­
fessional golfers report it “plays well.” However, it costs from two to three times as much 
as top quality bunker sand and that’s hard to sell.