Greenkeepers Club of New England

NEWSLETTER
January, 1944
The December meeting of the Greenkeepers Club of New England was held Monday, December 13th, at the Hotel Statler in Boston.
The Nominating Committee submitted the following slate of officers for 1944:
President—Paul Wanberg
1st Vice President—Homer C. Darling
2nd Vice President—George Rommell
3rd Vice President—Philip I. Cassidy
Secretary—Earl A. Polhamus
Treasurer—John L. Counsell
Trustee (3 years)—Paul F. Hayden

Entertainment Committee
Chairman—Lloyd G. Stott
Golf Committee
Chairman—Arthur Anderson
Auditing Committee
Arthur I;. Cody
Nicholas Bruno

The report of the Nominating Committee was accepted as submitted.
Several letters received from our members in Service were read. Sgt. Dave Barry is somewhere in Iran and states that he has not seen a b]ade of grass in about a year. "Tony" Sperandio,
aboard the U.S.S. Terror, has seen many interesting places and sights. "Narry" Sperandio has
been in Guadalcanal and he hopes that the greenkeepers will find ways and means to solve the new
maintenance problems. Maurice Ryan is with a tank battalion in Georgia and declares that if he,
ever gets north of the Mason & Dixon line again, it will take an Act of Congress to move him.
It was voted to hold the Annual Meeting at the Woodland Golf Club Saturday, January 8,
1944. The ladies are invited to attend the dinner and entertainment. It was also voted to confine
the attendance to members of the Greenkeepers Club and their partners. The meeting will be held
promptly at 7:00 o'clock; with dinner at 8:00. The return card MUST be returned properly filled
out at once in order to make your dinner reservations. There will also be the conventional punch
bowl and contents therein. Due to government restrictions the punch bowl will contain no chemical nitrogen but a substitute fluid that has become practically extinct has been secured to provide the necessary stimulus. The assessment will be $1.00 a couple, the Greenkeepers Club will
assume the remainder of the expense.
The "Round Table" discussion of problems of 1943 was the main feature of the meeting.
All of the members present took an active part in the discussion of maintenance operations during
1943 compared to previous years.
—
—
'
' t
The following comments were noted during the ventilation of the numerous topics:
The average reduction in greens mowing was from 4 times to 3 cuttings a week.
In one case mowing greens was reduced from 7 mowings to 3 times a week.
More powder mowers wrere used on greens in 1943 to save labor and they caused physical injury in some instances, especially if the greens were cut when they were wet. Inexperienced
help was also blamed for some of this damage.
The most popular height of cut on greens was 5/16" compared to 1/4" or 9/32" in other
years.
Fairway mowers were used to cut the tees and the area around the greens at one of the clubs,
although there was some damage from scalping.
Tees were not cut as often as usual.
Height of cut of fairway mowers was raised at some clubs and the fairways were not cut so
often.
It was difficult to keep the rough cut down properly in the Spring due to heavy rainfall and
the labor shortage.
There was a general reduction in the frequency of changing cups, moving tee markers and
ovTTioi'r>fr

V>n11

TtTooliQyg

[

,

OCX

v i w x i g

K j c m

» r a o i i v / i o »

The fairways and approaches received much less water than usual and in many cases none at
all. Weeds increased at some clubs on the approaches that did not get the customary watering.
The greens and tees received about one-half the normal amount of fertilizer and the fairways drew a blank at the majority of the clubs.
The reduction in top dressing ranged from 1/3 to 2 / 3 of normal applications.
The sand traps were neglected at a good many clubs and the cost of renovating may be about
the same as ordinary maintenance expense.
There was less large brown patch but dollar spot was rampant. The substitutes for mercury
were not effective in controlling dollar spot particularly on creeping bent turf.
The shortage of suitable labor and certain materials plus the severe attacks of dollar spot
provided the most difficult problems of the year. The old adage "Two boys are one-half a boy,
and three boys are none" was exemplified at more than one golf club.
MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING