August, 1964
o f f (Gourde

Superintendents

^Association
OF

NEW

E N G L A N D

BPfSli,

President
-

-

JOSEPH B U T L E R
U n i t e d Shoe C o u n t r y C l u b
3 Riagewood Terrace
B e v e r l y , Mass.
P h o n e WA 2 - 1 2 6 3

Secretary—
JOHN C A L L A H A N
Spring Valley Country Club
194 E d g e h l l l Road
Sharon, Mass.
P h o n e SU 4 6370

Trustee—
W I L L I A M ASH
Allendale Country Club
P h o n e WY 3 8767
9 Patton Street
No. D a r t m o u t h , Mass

Treasurer—
First Vice-President—
LEON V. ST P I E R R E *
Longmeadow Country Club
51 F e n w o o d Road
L o n g m e a d o w 6, M a s s .
P h o n e LO 7 5562
Second V i c e - P r e s i d e n t —
A N T H O N Y D. C A R A N C I , JR.
Ledgemont Country Club
22 H i l l v i e w D r i v e
N o r t h P r o v i d e n c e 4, R . l .
P h o n e PA 3 1688

A R T H U R L. CODY
W o l l a s t o n Golf Club
P h o n e S u p t . Office at c l u b
G R a n i t e 2-3535
H o m e G R a n i t e 2-7913
19 A r d e l l S t r e e t
North Quincy, Mass.
Trustee—
A L B E R T L. A L L E N
Kernwood Country Ciub
P h o n e PI 4 77H3
Kernwood Country Club
S a l e m , Mass

Trustee—
JOHN K E A L T Y
The C o u n t r y C l u b
209 W. P l a i n S t r e e t
C o c h i t u a t e , Mass.
P h o n e OL 3 - 1 4 0 8
Finance C o m m i t t e e C h a i r m a n GEORGE R O M M E I L
Hyannisport Club
P h o n e SP 5 - 2 4 1 9
169 G d s n o l d S t r e e t
Hyannis, Mass.

Educational Committee C h a i r m a n T H O M A S CURRAN
Oak H i l l C o u n t r y C l u b
P h o n e Dl 2 - 9 1 9 8
37 P a r k e r S t r e e t
F i t c h b u r g , Mass.
Golf C o m m i t t e e C h a i r m a n —
E D W A R D J, M U R P H Y
Lexington Country Club
194 O x b o w Road
Wayland, Mass.
Newsletter Committee Chairman
R I C H A R D C. B L A K E
Mt. Pleasant Country Club
P h o n e 869-2737
211 Sewall Street
Boylston, Mass.
Past P r e s i d e n t —
N. J. S P E R A N D I O
Concord Country Club
Concord, Mass.
P h o n e EM 9 4723

Qotf

(Gourde ^Superintendent

Jilf Meeting
The July meeting was held July 13, 1964
at the Manchester C. C.1 N. H.
It was a beautiful rainy day enjoyed by
all, even the golfers.
The Club President and Greens Chairman
welcomed us to the golf course and club
house facilities.
Seventy-five enjoyed a fine dinner of roast
boneless chicken. Those who didn't play golf
discussed the weather and mutual problems.
It appears that what started out as a bad turf
season has continually become worse. Dry
cold weather thru May with extremely high
winds day and night. Continuous play from
early AM until dark, vvatef festrictions and
in some cases no water at all and now more
and heavier play, hot wet humid weather and
something called Fusarium — more to follow
on this.
RESULTS OF GOLF TOURNAMENT
First low gross
Mel Wendell
80
74
First low net
John Almonte
2nd low net
Bill Ash
75
3rd low net
Floyd Wiget
77
Host Supt. Ed Buecher Sr. 's daughter
Mrs. Lucan Duval sent the following article
regards our host Supt.

Edward Buecher, Sr.
Golf C@«rse Supt 32 Yrs*
Started working on golf course when
Manchester Country Club was built. Was
surveyed by Donald Ross in 1921 and cutting
and clearing with horse and scoop in Spring
of 1922. Opened to membership in August,
1923. Starting salary was . 30 per hour.
Mowing was done with a 21" Pennsylvania
mower that was as heavy as power greens
mowers used today.
Was made Greens Superintendent in 1932,
found out then what responsibility and long
hours were.
The year 1936 brought the destructable
flood which washed away course dam as well
as doing considerable damage to all parts of
the course.
The "Big Blow" of 1938 which we well
remember blew down approximately one
quarter of the big pine trees and also the
bridge over No. 2 Gully. From the wind-

Mociation.
falls, cut up 95,000 ft. of logs which were
sold to the Government and kept 15, 000 ft.
for future use on the golf course.
With the start of World War II lost all
help except 3 men and operated this way for
2 years. Budget at that time was $4, 000.
In 1937 tool shed burned. The fire starting during the afternoon most of the machinery was saved as it was in use on the
Course. In the Winter of 1954 a fire again
struck the tool shed and repair shop this
time destroying everything.
Introduced the Veterans Administration
to this line of work in 1948 by training a man
under the GI Bill which was a first in this
area. They investigated work and qualified
it as a three year course.
In 1957, given an honorary dinner by Club
Membership in observance of 25th Anniversary as Supt. and presented a watch.
In 1961 slipped while working on course
and broke right leg which put him out of
focus for 1-1/2 years. Many Superintendents at this time offered their help which
was greatly appreciated as the whole summer of 1962 was spent in the hospital and
orders given to an assistant from hospital.
Mr. Buecher has seen many changes during his lifetime - ie - Greens were weeded
by men who ended up pulling out half the
grass along with weeds — now we have the
wonder chemicals. In 1958 a fairway sprinkler was installed eliminating manual changing of sprinklers, however this brought on
the problem of annual blue grass which now
covers 90% of the fairways and "goes out" in
hot weather.
Although frustrating many times it is still
his whole life and the golf course that has
been with him all these years, his haven.

lisiness Meeting
Highlights
Dean Robertson, Supt. Bradford C. C.
was voted an associate member.
Applications for associate membership
were received from:
Albin B. Mellon
Amesbury C. C.
258 Elm St.
Amesbury, Mass.
Eugene J. Dooley, Supt. Lynn Municipal G. C.
48 No. Franklin St.
Lynn, Mass.
An appropriation of $250.00 was voted
for expenses at the Eastern States Exposi-

OF

tion where the N. E. G. C. S. A. will have a
turf display. All Supts. should plan a trip
to the Fair in Sept., where your time and
service will be required at least for one day.
This is your opportunity for public relations
as 4500 people per hour per day will pass
this exhibit.
Any suggestions or recommendations regards public relations or ideas for our exhibit would be appreciated. Especially before the Fair.
Homer Darling and Joe Oldfield are doing
nicely after being laid up for a few days.
Bruce Silven was out on the links at Manchester after a long illness.
Herb Johnson joined us for the day on his
way to Vt.
Elmer Fuller stopped by for the day.
A lively discussion regarding the merit
of the recent budget questionair sent to MGA
club member Green Chairmen raised many
questions.
Questionairs regards golf course Budgets,
labor costs, salaries, type clubs etc. will
be distributed to our Association membership at the August meeting. Your cooperation in answering and returning forms will
be greatly appreciated.

Next Meeting
Supts. Championship Golf Tournament
Aug. 3 - Belmont C. C. - Route 128 to
Rte. 2 towards Boston, 3rd set of lights —
Winter St. take right, club is short distance
on left.
Host Supt. : Manny Francis Jr.
Directors meeting
10:45
Approval of nominating committee 1965
Business meeting
11:15
Lunch
12:30
Golf after lunch — Ladies are also invited
for golf and lunch at a nearby restaurant.
Rhode Island Turf Field Day is August 26,
1964 — Can you afford to miss it??

May Bisy...
Those words in a message in the armed
forces mean I'm in big trouble and need
help. The coming month of May does not
mean this (as a rule) to golf Course Superintendents. May is the last coolish month
when good grass growth is the rule, and the
last month to get those jobs done that are
too ticklish for the hot months, northern

NEW

E N G L A N D

counties excepted. Get your vertical mowing, aeration, brushing and topdressing
done... 24D the broad leaved weeds in fairway, rough and non use areas... 245TP the
ponds... Sod jobs and tree planting should
be behind you by June f i r s t . . . water system
and all equipment (sprinklers, hose, etc.)
A. O. K. and ready to go. I have lived by the
following rule for years, END ALL EXTRA
JOBS BY JUNE FIRST. . START NO NEW
PROJECTS.. DO NOTHING BUT ROUTINE
MAINTENANCE FOR THE NEXT ONE
HUNDRED DAYS. .. HOLD WHAT YOU
HAVE. By extra jobs I mean construction
of any description, or anything that can not
be described as routine. All to often I have
seen greens go 'off' when the Super and his
crew were planting trees, painting the club,
fixing roads and so on. I can recall almost
losing two greens when I was making a
foundation for a toilet... instead of doing
the job I was hired for. (The greens had
been overwatered by the nite man.. the
water standing in depressions on the greens
heated up to air temp, 80, and away went the
turf... it took quite a while for it to recover
and in the meantime they made me sick
every time I saw them. No-one needs to
chew out a Superintendent at a time like
this, HE feels worse than any-body.)

Hands Off In Hot Weafier
This is a pet peeve of mine. If you have
good greens on the first of June LEAVE
WELL ENOUGH ALONE. Don't go punching,
scratching or dumping anything on them.
Remember, bents and Pea go semi-dormant
during the hot months and any boo-boos will
be slow to heal.. so do everything with
T. L. C. 'tender loving care' and an easy
hand.. fertilize lightly, mow often with a
sharp mower, keep the moisture level sufficient without being surplus and spray
iron.. and fungicide on a regular basis if
your budget permits. Check your greens
twice a day, probe any 'funny' looking spots
for localized dry spots or what have you.
Watering greens is an individual problem,
different on each course.. however generally speaking, twice a week to capacity with
some hand syringing (I have a term for this
I can't put in print) if conditions warrant it.
I hope you get the picture and even moreso I hope your club will bear with you on the
hands off policy.. some chairmen are never
content unless they are re-modeling something somewhere. Stick to your guns boys!
There are two ways to handle extra jobs,
extra help and extra money OR get a contractor in to do it.

NEWSLETTEPU
How I Got This Way
Now some of you may wonder how I got
so clever about all these trade secrets..
here's how.. at sometime or other I have
made just about every mistake you can make
on a golf course from fighting with greens
chairmen to burning down the work barn..
(actually a foreman did that).. like a three
legged mink I am now a bit trap shy.. you
name something awful concerning a golf
course and I've had it at some time or
other... BUT I remember these trumatic
experiences, and how stomach churning they
felt; and how often they kept me running to
the bathroom... and little by little I learned.
I may not 'De an expert Agronomist but I am
an expert trouble keeper out of.. and maybe
that is better.
,
Bill Smart, Editor
Hudson Valley G. C. S. A.
New York
0

If any of our subscribers have problems
and for one reason or another do not care to
bring them up at the meetings or in person,
shoot them along to me and I will hand them
over to the 'Trouble Shooting Committee'.
No personal problems please, I've got enough
of my own.
Here are a few samples to show what I
mean:
Dear HVGCSA,
Our Golf Course Supt. claims he has
' Fairy Ring' on his greens and that he saw
little people dancing around them in the
moon light. How can I deal with this situaUpset Greens Chairman
Dear Upset,
Ptrt a- ds^feie leefr on fee-clubs- fet^r steefe
Dear Newsletter,
I sprayed all my greens with what I
thought was a water soluble fertilizer.. it
was sodium arsenite. The greens are all
straw colored and won't grow. What can I
Puzzled Superintendent
Dear Puzzled,
Leave town.
Dear Trouble Committee,
Every Sunday morning during the golf
season, a little old lady comes out on my
ninth fairway and picks dandy-lions. One
day I went out and told her to get off and she
hit me with her walking cane. What action
can I take now?
Frustrated
Dear Frus,
Stay away from the ninth fairway on Sunday mornings.
d o

Help Wanted
We welcome and need new members...
those who have a genuine interest in golf
course maintenance and related fields, such
as lawn interests and equipment personnel.
This includes Superintendents, Foreman,
Greensmen, Club Officers, Owners or
Operators of courses, Sod Farm Men,
Equipment and supply people and so on.
the editor

(Gourde

S^uperintendenti

sQsAocicition
OF

N E W

E N G L A N D
RICHARD C. BLAKE
M t . P l e a s a n t C o u n t r y Club
Phone 869-2737
211 S e w a l l S t r e e t
B o y l s t o n , Mass.

n o w ?