President—
LEON V. ST. PIERRE
Longmeadow Country Club
51 Fenwood Road
Longmeadow 6, Mass.
Phone LO 7-5562

Secretary—
FLOYD N. W1GET
Bellevue Golf Club
23 Lynn Falls Parkway
Saugus, Mass.
233-1353

First Vice-President—
ANTHONY CARANCI JR.
Ledgemont Country Club
22 Hillview Drive
North Providence 4, R. I.
Phone PA 3-1688

Treasurer—
ARTHUR L. CODY
Wollaston Golf Club
Phone Supt. Office at Club
GR 2-3535
Home GR 2-7913
19 Ardell Street
No. Quincy, Mass.

Second Vice-President—
RICHARD C. BLAKE
Mt. Pleasant Country Club
211 Sewall Street
Boyiston, Mass.
Phone 869-2737

Trustee—
N. J. SPERANDIO
Concord Country Club
Concord, Mass.
Phone EM 9-4723

Trustee—
ALBERT L. ALLEN
Kernwood Country Club
Salem, Mass.
Phone PI 4-7783
Trustee—
WILLIAM ASH
9 Patton Street
No. Dartmouth, Mass.
Phone WY 3-8767
Finance Committee Chairman—
WILLIAM ASH
9 Patton Street
No. Dartmouth, Mass.
Phone WY 3-8767
Educational Committee ChairmanTHOMAS CURRAN
Oak Hill Country Club
37 Parker Street
Fitchburg, Mass.
Phone Dl 2-9198

Golf Committee Chairman—
Edward J. Murphy
Lexington Country Club
194 Oxbow Road
Wayland, Mass.
Phone 358-7410
Newsletter Committee ChairmanMANUEL N. FRANCIS
Belmont Country Club
387 Davis Road
Bedford, Mass.
Phone 275-8830
Past President—
JOSEPH BUTLER
United Shoe Country Club
3 Ridgewood Terrace
Beverly, Mass.
Phone WA 2-1263

Cjolj (bourse Superintendents

—^rddociation

April Meeting

Presidents Message

It seems that the Golf Course Superintendent's
job classification is the only one connected with
Country Club employment that isn't properly defined. Dick Blake is seeking through the National
G. C. S. A. and the Department of Labor to come up
with a proper job description.
New Members
Voted in as regular members:
Harvey Powers
Rockport Golf Club
Rockport, Mass.
Donald Allen Daigle
Woodstock Country Club
Woodstock, Vt.
Voted in as associate member:
George E. Gorton Jr.
Furnace Brook Golf Club
Quincy, Mass.
Application for regular membership:
Charles Pullen
Nashua Country Club
Nashua, N. H.
The Dealers' meeting was in the afternoon.

When I was a growing boy in the City of Worcester, on my way home from school I had to go
down Front Street on the North side of City Hall,
where during the month of May the "hucksters"
would emerge selling their wares out of a suitcase.
The one I remember best of all was the "snake oil
man". He invariably wore a checker suit and a
pair of spats. His battered suitcase contained
several live snakes, before and after pictures of
satisfied customers who used his magic balm. His
raucous voice proclaimed that the snake oil would
cure dandruff, corns and rheumatism.
Today the "snake oil man", like the travelling
circus, has become a bit of nostalgic Americana.
This, unfortunately, is not the case with the new
breed of hucksters that emerge every year as the
Poa Annua is going to seed. Their routine is about
two calls a year to the Superintendent. They carry
a bathtub brew type of pesticides and chemicals,
which are just as good (so they say) as the company who developed the product and made them
what they are.
This breed of hawkers are champs at name
dropping, they can tell you about everyone's business, whether the Superintendent up the road has
a good or bad golf course, etc. They can show
you their order book, and convince you they are
really selling this "homemade soup" which will
cure knotweed, brown patch, et al.
As your Club Representative, it is your firm
duty to do business with Companies who have a
record of successful past performances as their
credentials.
Leon V. St. Pierre
President

May Meeting
The next meeting will be held at the Foxboro
Country Club, Foxboro, Mass. Directions: From
Route 1 take Rte. 140 to Rte. 95 overpass in Foxboro - Take Walnut St., Club is on left.
Schedule: Director's meeting 10:30 A.M.
Business meeting 11:30 A.M.
Lunch
12:00 P.M.
Golf
After lunch
Our golf chairman says everyone must register
for the golf tournament and turn his card in for
handicapping.
ADVANCE WARNING - Get your chairman
primed for the June 7th Chairmen - Supt. meeting
at the Ledgemont Country Club.
Of Note . . .
The State Department of Water Resources states
that 20 inches of rain is needed by June to prevent
a drought of major proportion. It might seem early
but some Clubs already are threatened with water
curtailment.

C©mrnuriicafi©ri

Today in this world of mass communication
from Zip Codes to Beatnik Blurps the methods of
understanding one another has not changed. For a
person to advance his problems and ideas to another
person or group he must convey them in a manner
that is understood by those to whom he is trying to
reach.
The problem is the same with the Golf Course
Supt. as it is with a Country Club member in the
way he has to communicate to the employees of his
business.
A Golf Course Supt. must have a proper channel to which the members of the Country Club will
receive the Supts. information. Generally Supts.
use a Greens chairman as their method of communication. In most cases this is sufficient but in

OF

some areas that are provocative or need direct
membership participation more information can
be given to the members directly. This can often
be done in such a way as not to affect your chain
of command.
Information through Bulletin Boards placed in
the Pro Shop or near the 1st tee help to serve as
a good source through which a Supt. can relay
messages. Another and important one is by directly talking to individual members about your
problems. These two mentioned can be important
in laying the framework for success at the next
Club meeting because the individual members will
know more about the problems and viewpoints of
the Supt.
A good reason why the direct approach is sometimes more advantageous is that many Greens
chairmen seldom find enough time at club meetings
to give appropriate time to your request. Don't
forget that there are several committees that have
reports and requests to be heard and often your
request is not given the proper amount of time for
it's approval. Youcan'tblame a member for vetoing a proposal when he has had inadequate information.
Help toward putting a feather in your cap with
a good information source to your members.
The Editor
Why a Superintendent
Should Attend
Educational Meetings

As we looked around us we saw small palm
trees, thatched roofs, outrigger canoes suspended
from rafters, small sparkling waterfalls and pools
surrounded by lush undergrowth. Nestled in these
tropical surroundings were long piank tables and
wicker chairs. At the end of our table a man was
discussing choice of grasses for use on tees in
northern golf courses. The place was the Kon Tiki
dining room in the hotel Sheraton in Cleveland,
Ohio. This was not a scheduled lecture, it was a
conference bonus - an impromptu dinner invitation
following a get-acquainted cocktail party given by
a local distributor. It was an unusual and very
rewarding opportunity.
I have been asked by many people, including
greens committee members and other Golf Course
Superintendents, why attend conferences. One
might also ask why read the professional magazines. Why do other professionals attend conferences and read their professional journals ? I believe that the answer lies in the fact that this is a

N E W

E N G L A N D

changing society. Research is being done, new
techniques are being discovered. If we sit complacently behind our desks always doing things the
way we first learned them or idly waiting for new
techniques to come to us, we are going to be left
behind. I don't mean that older techniques were
not good, we can profit by past experiences as
well, but we must not ignore the new findings of
theresearchmeninour field. As laymen we would
notwant to rely on doctors who operated according
to conditions a half a century ago or on lawyers
who knew nothing of the latest legal precedence set
in the courts. We are professional men also and
weoweittothe people who play golf on our courses
and to our selves to keep up on the latest findings
in our field.
How does one keep up on the latest findings in
his field? This can be done quite well by attending conferences and reading the professional journals. Conferences are not just gatherings of "goodtime-Charlies". Certainly the Superintendents
have a good time when they get together, it would
be unfortunate if they did not. But the main reason
for attending a conference is to learn. During the
time of a conference there is a variety of lectures,
panel discussions, etc. scheduled for the purpose
of comparing past experiences and reporting the
latest findings of research. Topics range from
irrigation, turf grass diseases, methods for keeping ice off of greens, to professional relations between the Superintendent and other golf course
officials. There are hundreds of different subjects
that can be discussed either by a Superintendent,
Equipment salesman, Golf Course Architect, or
Professor actually working on a certain problem
relating to turf grass.
One way in which a Superintendent can pick up
useful information other than in the scheduled talks
is by having what you call "Bull Sessions" at night
or out during coffee breaks, etc. when a group of
Superintendents get together the talk is never about
world politics or the usual small talk, it's 99% of
the time about golf courses. Some one always has
a problem they haven't been able to solve, usually
someone in the room has had the same problem at
one time or another and relates his solution to the
problem. It may not be the answer, but it sometimes helps to talk the problem over.
It is also important to attend the local association ' s monthly meetings. It's a Superintendent's
obligation to go and visit the different courses,
something is always learned, I feel no day is a
complete waste. In a way visiting another course
can be a morale booster. It always seems that
your course is in sad shape until you visit another
course and see some of their problems. I always
feel better when I go back home knowing I am not
the only Superintendent with problems. It always
helps to get a different viewpoint.
I think it is also important for us to keep in

NM£M

Sil Paulini Inc.
Loam Specialists
Hopkinton - 435-4370
Larchmont Irrigation Co.
Larchmont Lane
Lexington, Massachusetts
Geoffrey S. Cornish
Golf Course Architect
Fiddler's Green
Amherst, Massachusetts
Sawtelle Brothers
Jet. Routes 128 & 62
Danvers, Massachusetts
Johns Manville Sales Corp.
150 Causeway Street
Boston, Massachusetts
Tom Irwin Co.
Bennet Hill Road
Rowley, Massachusetts
Philip A. Wogan
Golf Course Architect
21 Budleigh Avenue
Beverly, Massachusetts

mind that you get out of a conference exactly what
you put into it. If you feel that it is the same old
bull year after year, it's your own fault.
Richard C. Mitchell
Supt. Thorny Lea
Brockton, Mass.

Contributions from Our Friends

Grounds Equipment Co., Inc.
383 Boylston Street
Newton Centre, Massachusetts
Turf Equipment Co.
28 Rutledge Road
Natick, Massachusetts
Abbott Spray & Farm Equipment Co.
Waltham Street
Lexington, Massachusetts
The Hubbard Hall Chemical Co.
P. O. Box 790
Waterbury, Connecticut
Singleton Irrigations Systems, Inc.
Manchester-By-The-Sea, Massachusetts
The Clapper Co.
1121 Washington Street
West Newton, Massachusetts

Courie ^uperin. tenJen li
s^iiociation

OF

NEW

E N G L A N D

MANUEL N. FRANCIS
Belmont Country Club
387 Davis Rood
Bedford, Mass.
Phone 275-8830

Wyandotte Chemical Corp.
709 Salada Building
Boston, Massachusetts
The Charles C. Hart Seed Co.
Wethersfield, Connecticut

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