The final outdoor meeting of the year was held October 31, 1960 at the Charles River Country Club, Newton, Massachusetts. Our host Supt: Leo Brown. Results of Business Meeting An application for associate membership was received from Albert R. Auger, Asst. Supt. Concord Country Club, Concord, Massachusetts Slate of Officers for 1961 President First V. P. Second V. P. Secretary Treasurer Trustee (3 years) (2 years) Finance Educational Golf Newsletter Nary Sperandio Joseph Butler Arthur Anderson Ray Brigham Ted Swanson Bill Ash Arthur Cody George Webster Mario Fanizia Phil Cassidy Bob Grant Ted Murphy Dick Blake Nominating Committee N. J. Sperandio Bob Grant - Chairman Phil Cassidy Sam Mitchell,Jr. George Webster Are you receiving the Newsletter?? If not please write your name, home address and club address on a card and send it to either Bill Ash or Dick Blake. We are trying to bring our mailing list up to date. Thank you The Associations Code of Ethics Section 1 - In the end that honor and respect may be enjoyed by all the Golf Course Superintendents the strict observance of the Code of Ethics is expected. member shall be deemed to have violated the code by: 1. Acting and speaking in a manner which would cause discredit to our profession and association. A 2. Abusing the privilege of playing golf at any members clubs by bringing uninvited guests or failing to make his presence known to the home superintendent when visiting a club. 3. Applying for a position without the definite knowledge of its vacancy. 4. Expressing opinions to, or visiting with, Golf Club officials or members in regard to maintenance practices without the express permission and knowledge of the Superintendent of the club in question whether a member of this Association or not. GROUPS NEED TRAINED, WILLING LEADERSHIP By Barbara Snowman, school of home economics, University of Massachusetts "We have trouble finding leaders." This is a complaint made often by those who belong to community clubs and organizations. With our present trend to be organized for many purposes, there is indeed a need for trained and willing leadership. There are certain qualities which make people successful leaders. Some of these arej optimism or not being overly sensitive to criticism and failure, understanding of the purpose of the club or organization, willingness and ability to assume responsibility, friendliness and good working relations with others, and the ability to express views and participate actively in group meetings and projects. The person with these qualities will probably have a strong enough interest to decide that he can give the time and work to be an officer or leader. While leadership may involve both hard work and some frustration or even defeat, those who are leaders point out a long list of benefits including} making many new friends, better understanding of the organization, development of poise and self confidence and growing more efficient and making better use of time. Perhaps the greatest benefit to any individual is the personal satisfaction in his club's accomplishments under his direction and his feeling of service to club members and to the community. WINTERIZING YOUR SPRAYER FOOD MACHINERY & CHEMCIAL GORP,JOHN BEAN DIVISION 1. Flush the tank, pump, hose, and gun, with fresh water until it comes out clear. 2. Then thoroughly drain the sprayer to avoid any chance of damage by freezing. 3. Let the unit pump air a few seconds with the discharge outlet open, in order to clear valves and discharge lines. 4. Remove the drain plugs from under the pump intake (lower) valves. 5. With pump running, and using a tool to raise balls from seats, expel balance of fluids in pump cylinders. 6. Remove the drain plug in bottom of the regulator and raise the ball valve while pump is running, to permit fluid to drain. (Remove the drain plug only where a relief valve is used.) -2- 7. Drain oil in the pump case and then fill to top with new oil to prevent condensation and corrosion of internal parts. 8. Store all valve balls from pump and regulator, and place drain plugs in small can of oil to prevent corrosion. Remove the gun from the hose and coat inside parts with oil. 9. Leave gun in open position. 10. Remove hose from sprayer. Coil and store in a cool dry place. Never hang hose on nails or sharp corners. A SHORT COURSE IN COURSE WRECKING by Lyal Gapper Captain, Murwillumbah Golf Club, Australia Once you have paid your green fee3 and put on your spikes, firstly making sure they are sharp and if at all worn be sure to replace them with some nice new long ones, you are qualified to go forth as a course wrecker, Don't worry your head about the green committee; it has just about given up complaining, anyhow. Don't think the committeemen care - they are only on the committee for what they can get out of it. As for our greenkeeper, he just loves a joke and cannot get out to the course early enough on Monday mornings to see if there is enough repair work to fill in his long hours for the week. Money for nothing. Now that you know you haven't a care in the world, get out to the tee and enjoy your round of golf; if you reef out a heap of divots with those careless practice swings, what matter? It only makes the course look well used, and what better practice could you have for the new course than hitting off those undulating stances. As for those divot holes along the fairway - leave them. We have seen quite a few players wondering how to play out of those holes lately and it's great fun to hear them curse and bemoan the loss of a stroke (some players take their golf too seriously ). Anyhow, why bother to replace the divots or smooth out the holes with your clubhead — those impatient players behind will probably start lobbing balls around your ears -- it's not worth the risk. You certainly can't scuff with your spikes--you must save those to tear up the turf in the greens. Just in case you have never noticed how successful those spikes are, you should play in the last four some day just to see what a good round some of those earlier players have had, and don't worry yourself about that unfortunate player who was penalized two strokes the other day for pressing down some torn up turf with his putter — he may have beaten you for a trophy only for those two strokes. Having discussed all the "ifs" at the 19th and decided what score you would have had only for those shots to the green, you decide to get in some practice on those long pitches and full shots. To make sure these balls get plenty of stop, it's best to practice just after the greens have been well watered or after rain, they are lovely and soft then and you can get plug marks almost an inch deep — quite a thrill if your nerves can take it! But for the ultimate, wait until those soft greens have been freshly mown for a competition; the result is most devastating and a sure bet to upset the field — it couldn't happen to you. -3- GREENS RECONSTRUCTION by Paul O'Leary Because putting green turf is produced under conditions more artificial than natural, we should not expect continued good results on natural existing soil. Most top-soils found in their natural form are too fine textured and compact under present day player traffic and heavier mowing machinery. A3 they compact we find difficulty in getting proper water infiltration, roots become shallower and players grumble because they will not hold a shot. In many cases the superintendent is told to water more frequently, this only further aggravates matters. Poa annua is soon making rapid inroads as our bent thins out. Aerification many offer temporary relief at this point. Re-sodding with an improved strain of grass may also result in temporary relief. The use of arsenicals may in some cases be successful in controlling poa annua invasion. At this point, maintenance becomes a real liability, extra chemicals, extra fertilizer and many additional labor hours for nursing along a "second rate" green. In the long run, it would be more economical to rebuild such a green with normal maintenance requirements and resulting player satisfaction. A minimum amount of player dissatisfaction need only occur if proper planning and timing of the operation is executed. With the advent of the to-day's power sod cutters, rotary tillers and shoveldozers, a green can be reconstructed and put back into play in a reasonably short period of time. When a greens committee decides to rebuild a green, it has plans (or should have) as to what the finished contour shall be. The construction superintendent also have definite plans and material specifications before starting any such project. Soil samples of existing top-soil should be sent to a laboratory for mechanical analysis. Recommendations for the proper amount of sand, soil and organic matter can then be made. If a high sand percentage mix is to be used, the proper size of sand to be used will be dependent on the depth of the prepared surface mix, the type of drainage in the material underlying the mix and the frequency of irrigation or natural rainfall. In m o s t cases in the past, we have arrived at a given top-soil mix by "feel". If the mixture felt gritty or "talked" it seemed satisfactory. What fools us too often in using the "feel" method is the high percentage of "fine textured" particles present. Research findings by Dr. 0. R. Lunt of the University of California, would indicate limiting these clay particles to 5 - 7 percent. The balance of the mix would consist of at least 85% sand and 7 to 15% coarse organic matter. This may sound like a very high percentage of sand; however, personal experience with a green top-soil mix containing 60% sand laid over twelve inches of a bank gravel base did not produce any adverse results. An example of how this green was re-constructed is as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. Plans to change the green contour were drawn to scale. Sod cut and removed from green, collar and approach area. Roto-tilled existing top-soil, bulldozed off to one side. Graded foundation material to shape of desired finish contour as per grade stakes. -4- 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Recessed tile drains into foundation material. Covered area with 12" blanket of bank gravel. Soaked with water to settle. Spread 3" of top-soil over gravel and roto-tilled into gravel to bond. Mixed top-soil and concrete sand - three parts sand and two parts soil. A Payloader type of tractor was used to mix and turn the sand and soil and load it on trucks to be dumped back on green area. Top-soil mix was spread over area and rough graded. Lime and Superphosphate spread and roto-tilled into top 6 inches. Regraded and rolled. Grubproofing and a complete fertilizer applied and raked into top inch. Area Alternately raked and rolled to smooth surface. Sod carefully laid back and rolled in two directions. A green may look alarmingly rough just after re-sodding. A little good growing weather in spring, top-dressing and moderate rolling will bring it to a good playing surface rapidly. May I conclude by saying that the above have been some of m y personal experiences and observations in greens construction. It is m y firm conviction that much more coordinated research is needed as to what constitutes the proper materials and methods of construction for golf greens. The importance of good internal drainage cannot be over emphasized. "Beautiful turf pleases those who see it as much as it pleases those who raise it." The editor Dick Blake P.S, There will be a Directors meeting at 11 a.m. Results of the John Shannahan - The winners were Phil Cassidy and Jim Browning. Runners up were Ted Murphy and Manning.