OCTOBER 1972

ourSe
OF

N E W

petin ten den td -dissociation
E N G L A N D ,

I N C .

Sponsors and administrators of the Lawrence S.
Dickinson Scholarship Fund — Awarded yearly
to deserving Turf Management Students.

IN UNION THERE IS STRENGTH
Is the golf course superintendent running s c a r e d ?
" D a r n e d tootin'", one of the members of our own New
England Association chirped the other day when the question
was socked to him. " S u r e , we're running scared and it's
ridiculous."
Running scared is translated into a fear of losing one's job.
" Y e a h , that's it", our man without reservations roared. " J u s t
look around you and see what happens when a half-decent
j o b is open. I'll bet there are 50 applications for the thing.
If we weren't running scared, there wouldn't be enough to
have a bridge g a m e . "
So what's it all a b o u t ? S a m e man speaking: " D o you want
a good example of how shaky we a r e ? Look at the Sound
Off column. How many letters do you get from our m e m b e r s ?
You can count them, just like I can count that table for bridge.
No one dares to put his j o b on the line. At least, that's how
some of our people operate."
The feeling reigns that the golf membership of the country
club is either in complete sympathy with the idea of making
the superintendent believe he can operate on a shoestring or
that it is not in tune with the problems of keeping the golf
course in top shape.
" Y o u know", our man continued, " Y o u have to wait until
you lose a green or see a fairway burnt out until you hear
any kind of comment from certain members. Some of them
still are living in the dark ages. I'll bet there are some people
at my course who think I get up at three o'clock in the morning, run a hose out from the faucet and water every green.
They probably think I have a 10-mile extension to that damn
thing."
The theory expounded here, too, is a rather unique one.
"Most of our guys are up tight about their j o b s " , the insider
smirked. " A n d , on the other hand, most of them make it
known that they're unhappy where they are. Now, that's one
NEXT

hell of a circumstance. Here you are unhappy with' your work
and worrying that you might lose your j o b . "
So, that's all right with the club members. If they feel they
have the edge over the employe, more than not they'll milk
him dry, let him give 100 percent effort and receive 50 percent return. What, then, does he d o ?
"One word", the irate super gets down to business. " I say
we should form a union . . . and a strong union. Our association has served a purpose, organized us and all that. In
some cases it has helped us to improve ourselves along wages
and benefits lines. But it still can't have much to say when
the big axe starts to swing."
Union may be too drastic a step at this stage of the development of the profession. But certainly it is a step not to be
discarded and thrown out as an impossibility. The big problem is the unity of the New England Association. If members are content to see their jobs go to the lowest bidder or
the " y e s " man that many courses seek, then perhaps union is
the only answer to keeping the profession sane.
" Y o u have to know another thing, too", our union plugger
states. " Y o u talk to most supers and they rant and rave about
our business being a profession and we being professional
people. But just let a job have a hint of being open and
everyone runs for the application blank. I guess it all depends
on how hungry a man i s . "
The condition of the superintendent thus is not as all-glowing
as sometimes we are led to believe. The esteem in which the
super is held may be turning a corner and going the other
way. To stop that unfortunate U-turn the supers must take
a second look at themselves. "One for all and all for o n e "
might sound trite at this point but it may not be such a b a d
idea. If you're running scared, you know just what is meant
by this observation.
— Gerry Finn

MEETING

The next meeting of the G.C.S.A. of N. E. will be October
2, 1972, at the Ledgemont Country Club in Seekonk, Massachusetts. This is the annual Superintendent-Press tournament.
Golf will be any time after 1 1 : 1 5 a. m. and dinner will be
served about 5 : 1 5 p . m . Tony Caranci is the super in charge
of this fine layout and he has planned a good time for us all.
Directions: Route 1 to 1A south and to Route 15. Bear left
on 15 and follow to 152 and go right on 152. Club will be
on 152 on left side.
O C T O B E R 27, 1972
Superintendent-Pro Tournament
at the B r a e Burn Country Club, Newton, Mass.
N O V E M B E R 6, 1972 M E E T I N G
at the Highland Golf Club, Attleboro, Mass.

Tony Caranci

ourde Superintendents

ociution•

THE CHICKEN vs. THE E G G
Which came first . . . the chicken or the e g g ? Which
came first . . . the four-foot putt or the four parts-to-one
martini ?
The first question has in actuality become the eternal question. You know the action there. One person says there had
to be a chicken in the first place in order to have an egg.
But another chimes in with the fact that if there weren't an
egg in the first place, there wouldn't be a chicken to begin with.
Let other keener and more patient minds argue that one
out. What we're interested in and more apt to toss around in
a more sensible manner is the four-foot putt and the fourto-one martini. The answer to that one is elementary, Dr.
Watson. If there weren't a four-foot putt out there where it
all begins (the golf course, natch), there wouldn't be any
bother about the makeup of the martini . . . for there would
not be a martini . 7 7 nor a filet mignon, a chef to burn it
or a sparkling-outfitted captain to serve it up to you.
This all came about recently on one of New England's foremost golf courses . . . where big name professionals were
marveling at the condition of the fairways and greens and not
even mentioning the condition of their martinis. And this
prompted the green chairman of said club to admit that the
physical makeup of the golf course was responsible for everything else that had shot out from its ribs.
"Of course," the same chairman added. "We had to make
ourselves and the membership believe where is the beginning
and where is the end in order to get the most out of our course
and our superintendent. You know, it's nice to have a good
superintendent but it's extra nice to have the same superintendent and the things he needs to prove he's that good."
In other words, this particular golf course was peaking at
its top condition and it just didn't happen. "Oh no," our
same informant continued. "Look at the weather pattern we

had in the spring and most of the early summer. Our super
knew it would be a major task, maybe a miracle was needed
to bring the course back to where most people might think
it should be at big-name tournament time. So, we just put it
on the line with the membership. What we did was enforce
pride into their thinking. They went for the sell and we came
out of it with all colors flying . . . and the predominant
color was green."
The chairman, a man who was brought up in the shadow of
authority as a longtime member of the club, also revealed that
his club had now adopted a course-first attitude in way of
expenditures. "We have learned the hard way", he advised.
"At one time we ignored the golf course and concentrated on
making the club a glorified restaurant. This worked for a
while but the glamor of a perfectly-cooked steak or an on-thebutton m i x t u f f T a T a cocktail soon wore off7 The reason was
simple. Our course had gone to pot and we didn't have any
people to show just how great our clubhouse facilities were."
So, things have been different of late at least one club where
prestige of membership still is regarded in a lofty state. Ironically, the clubhouse conditions have remained in a most
presentable degree of comfort and the whole thing has worked
out nicely.
"If a club is in trouble", the chairman concluded, "look
around at the setup and you can see what needs to be done.
More than likely most emphasis is being placed on food,
drink and service while the course goes pleading for attention.
A country club cannot succeed without giving its course
maximum attention and the means to a prime condition layout. It's the starting point, no doubt about that."
So, the chicken and the egg can continue their private war.
The four-foot putt and the four-to-one martini? There's just
110 contest in that department.
— Gerry Finn

Goethe's Rules for a Good Life

Safety and Health Act Audio-Visual Available

Goethe had nine requirements for a contented life. They
have been summarized as follows:
Health enough to make work a pleasure.
Wealth enough to support your needs.
Strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them.
Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them.
Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished.
Charity enough to see some good in your neighbor.
Love enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others.
Faith enough to make real the things of God.
Hope enough to remove all fears concerning the future.

N e w Application
New Application to be voted on at the next meeting for an
Associate Membership: Patrick DiPietro
President —
ROBERT G R A N T
22 Patricia Road
Sudbury, Mass. 01776
Phone 443-2671
Brae Burn Country Club

First Vice President —
THOMAS CURRAN
153 Fisher Street
Walpole, Mass. 02081
Phone 668-7221
Club Affiliation
The Country Club

Second Vice President W A Y N E ZOPPO
48 Barberry Drive
Seekonk, Mass.
Phone 399-7141
Club Affiliation
A g a w a m Hunt

Secretary —
RONALD KIRKMAN
25 Green Street
Needham, Mass. 02192
Phone 444-8412
Club Affiliation
Needham Golf Club

A 20-minute audio-visual analysis of the Occupational Safety
and Health Act is now available for employers and insurance
carriers.
" O S H A M A D E C L E A R , " consists of 80 color slides, packed,
ready to show, in a Kodak carousel, with a 20-minute tape
cassette. It is offered for purchase or weekly rental exclusively
by The Film Library of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of
the National Safety Council.
Produced with the technical assistance of the U. S. Department of Labor, OSHA Enforcement Division, and the
California Division of Industrial Safety, with special industry
consultants, Marsh and McLennan, Los Angeles, this very
latest update on the Occupational Safety and Health Act is
concisely narrated by Joseph M. Kaplan, CAE, executive vice
president of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter.
" O S H A M A D E C L E A R " is a M U S T for executives, management, supervisors, arborists, workmen's compensation personnel, industrial, employee relations, labor relations staff . . .
in short, for each and every individual who has responsibility
for meeting requirements of the Act.
Inquiries regarding " O S H A M A D E C L E A R , " as well as
requests for The Film Library's new catalog of safety and
training films, should be directed to: T H E F I L M L I B R A R Y ,
.Greater Los Angeles Chapter, National Safety Council, 3388.
West 8th St., Los Angeles, Calif. 90005.
(Reprint from Weeds, Trees and Turf,
August 1972

Treasurer —
LUCIEN DUVAL
R.F. No. 5 Gault Road
Bedford, N. H. 03105
Phone 472-3454
Club Affiliation
Manchester Country Club

Trustee —
MAX MIERZWA
106 Crestwood Street
Chicopee. Mass. 01020
Phone 594-4996
Club Affiliation
Chicopee Country C l u b

Trustee —
NORMAN MUCCIARONE
101 Alban Road
Waban, Mass. 02168
Phone 332-3056
Club Affiliation
W o o d l a n d Golf C l u b

Trustee —
BERT F R E D E R I C K
4 5 Stoney Brook Road
Nabnaset, Mass.
Phone 453-1231
Club Affiliation
Vesper Country Club

Finance Chairman —
NARY SPERANDIO
Conco.-d, Mass. 01742
Phone 369-4723
Cljb Affiliation
Concord Country Club

_

O F

S O U N D OFF!!!!
(Now's the tune to sit back and read what the readership
is thinking these days. This is Sound Off and it's for you and
by you. This regular feature lets the reader take up pen and
become an author, a commentator or complainer if that be
the case. Sound off welcomes letters and cards from any and
everyone. All you have to do is sign your letter but upon
request, names and affiliations will be withheld. So, get your
ballpoint moving and let us have it. Send your views on any
golf subject to Newsletter Mail Box, 24 Riverview
Drive,
Newburyport,
Mass. 01950. The Newsletter reserves the right
to comment on each published
letter.
«

*

*

*

'"If you don't mind, I would like to wander away from golf
for this time and say a few words about some of the club
members at my club who use our tennis courts as a picnic
grounds.
" I t ' s a rare Monday when I don't have to send a crew over
to the courts and have them 'police' the area after the weekend
of fun and games our tennis enthusiasts enjoy. I am getting
fed up with this situation and know it's useless to voice a
complaint with our board of governors. As a matter of fact,
I think two of them are tennis players."
NAME WITHHELD
Club Withheld
Some Friday evening before you leave for "parts unknown"
why don't you just "misplace" the nets and leave a note saying
they may be found in the trash cans — if the members can
find them.
«•

*

*

' l I am a longtime member here and can't for the life of me
agree with the way our superintendent handles his help. If
I were the boss over these men I'd make them move and in
a hurry.
"All I hear from our superintendent is that he has a hard
time getting and keeping help. As far as I can see, he should
keep the help he now has forever. In fact, I would think that,
they would build a monument to him for the lenient way he
treats them.
"What kind of a group is this superintendents' association,
a n y w a y ? Y o u people are always crying about low budgets,
lack of labor and all that nonsense. In the meanwhile you let
the help walk all over you and get nothing in return. After
all, there is a shortage of jobs nowadays and no one should be
that difficult to replace."
JORGENSON FREEMAN
Saranac, N . Y .
Did you ever try to hire someone for three bucks an hour
and tell him he's to do carpenter or plumbing work that pays
three times that much on the labor market? W a k e up, friend,
the golf course is not a galley ship.

Golf Chairman —

Educational Chairman —

JULIUSAKSTEN

wht'Xs,
8885
rlTLTf
(^lub
Affiliation

Newsletter Chairman —

St. Mark's Golf Club

E N G L A N D ,

DEANROBERTSON

RICHARDC.BLAKE

2
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?.-M67
Ulub
Affiliation
Blue Hill Country Club

6 4540
rPihH.'!
5"
UluD
Affiliation
Chestnut Hill Country Club

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HTeAffiliation
J-?'~"37
Ulub

I N C .

I'm just an ordinary member at a country club but couldn't
help writing to you after what I saw the other day in our
clubhouse.
"One of our new members came in from a round of golf
and sat himself down in the 19th hole. He looked up at a busy
bartender and began snapping his fingers and whistling for
service. I thought right then and there that this guy is some
kind of a jerk.
"Anyway, the bartender didn't go for this type of treatment and let this guy know about it. I was there and saw the
whole thing. Now this new member is trying to bring the
bartender up on charges. I think this is the most ridiculous
incident I've ever seeh around our club. Our bartender is
one peach of a guy. That new m e m b e r ? He's from hunger.
What do you t h i n k ? "
LARRY JOHNSON
Treetorn, Md.
How about bringing the new member up on charges instead?
Then let him whistle his way out of that one.
*-

->:•

#

*

" I s there any way you superintendents can hold off all of
your reconstruction projects until after the golf season? I've
been waiting for fall to come all summer, when the air would
be clean and clear and I wouldn't get fatigued when I played
golf.
"Now that the weather is perfect I find myself attacked by
bulldozers and chain saws. What is the matter with you people?"
SARAH PALSBY
Danton, Va.
There's nothing wrong with us that a little cooperation by
our members wouldn't help, Sarah. You don't see construction
people building roads in the dead of winter, do you?
*

•

*

•

" I am a superintendent and have an axe to grind with the
feeling of some green chairmen that they are so many steps
above us . . . in matter of social and economic means.
"Frankly, I hate being treated in a subservient manner.
Now, I'll bet my chairman never thought I knew what that
word means, let alone be able to spell it. Anyway, I don't think
the green chairman should take on a master-slave attitude
with their supers.
"We're all in this together. What I do on the course reflects
on the j o b my chairman has done in matter of communicating
with me and everything else that goes with a productive
relationship. He's only as good as I am . . . even though he
doesn't think i t . "
NAME WITHHELD
Club Withheld
The super and chairman are the last two people to have
such a relationship. Conditioning the course is too big a job
to be hampered by stupid social airs.
*

*

-X-

(So ends the battle of the ballpoint for this time. Keep those
cards and letters coming. We need them to serve you better.)

Past President —

LARRY BUNN
0,772

N E W

Mt. Pleasant Country Club

#

Information

contained

in

this

publication

may

be

used

freely, in whole or in part, without special permission as
as the • true
context is maintained. W e would appre1

lon
• 9
Ciate

Q

Credit

lin®.

P C e o t e f x U w M i z e FRIENDS OF THE A S S O C I A T I O N
Agrico Chemical Company
R. D. Siblev, Jr.. Representative
375 Power Rd.
Pawtucket, Rhode Island 02860

Farm Bureau Association
158 Lexington St., Waltham, Mass. 02154
Fred Heylrger, Representative
Thomas F. Grummell, Representative

Alfco Rokeby Co., Inc.
Fertilizers and Chemical Specialties
P. 0 . Box 267, Marietta, Ohio

Fisk, Alden Ford Tractor Sales
Rear 900 Providence Highway
Dedham, Mass. 02026

Allen's Seed Store, Inc.
South County Trail Rt. No. 2
Slocum, Rhode Island
Charles Allen, Jr., Rep.

Manuel Francis and Son, Inc.
Turf Nurseries
624 Webster St., Marshfield, Mass.

Bacher Corp., Lawn and Snow Equipment
876 Boston Rd. (Rt. 3A)
Billerica, Mass. 01866
Baker Tractor Corp., Ford Tractors
Harley Davidson Golf Cars
Swansea, Massachusetts
The Charles C. Hart Seed Co.
Richard McGahan," Rep.
Wethersfield, Conn.
Corenco Corporation
525 Woburn Street
Tewksbury, Mass. 01876
William Ferris

Gold Star Sod Farms, Inc.
(Canterbury, New Hampshire)
(Sales Office) 1265 Mass. Ave.
Lexington, Mass. 02173 Tel. 861-1111
s.

Holliston Sand Company,
Lowland Street, Holliston, ivrass. 01746
Sand for Golf Bunkers and Traps

*The Clapper Co.
1121 Washington St,
West Newton, Mass.

Irrigation & Equipment Supply Co.
P. O. Box 147 Route 1
Walpole, Mass. 02081
Tel. 617-668-7814

Geoffrey S. Cornish & William G. Robinson
Golf Course Architects
Fiddlers Green, Amherst, Mass. 01002

*Tom Irwin, Inc.
11B A Street
Burlington, Mass.

George E. Cull
Terra-Green Soil Conditioner
112 Green St., Abington, Mass.

Karandrew Turf Farms, Inc.
Sam Mitchell, Sales Representative
15 Longmeadow Drive, Canton, Mass.

C. S. Curran
T. R. C. Products, Oils and Greases
7 Linden St., Framingham, Mass.

The Kenneth Barrie Company
Irrigation
375 Centre St., Jamaica Plain, Mass.

Eastern Industrial Handling Co., Inc.
Norwood, Massachusetts
Westcoaster Turf and Golf Carts

Larchmont Irrigation Co.
Larchmont Ln., Lexington, Mass.

Fairway Equipment, Inc.
Sales — Service — Rentals
35 Walnut St., Reading, Mass.

Mallinckrodt Chemical Works
Sec3ond and Mallinckrodt Streets
St. Louis, Mo. 63160

D. L. Maher Co.
Water Supply Contractors
P. O. Box 274, Woburn, Mass.
New England Sealcoating Co., Inc.
Astroturf, Tennis Courts, Pavement
Sealcoating — Hingham Industrial Center
Hingham, Mass. Tel. 749-3236

Ron Gagne — Scotts Golf Course Div.
Kendall Park, Phone 617/285-7466
Norton, Mass. 02766

Grounds Equipment Ct.
383 Boylston St., Newton

Magovern Company, Inc.
Lawn Acre Road
Windsor Lock, Conn.

Old Fox Chemical Inc.
Fertilizers — Seeds — Turf Chemicals
66 Valley Street
East Providence, Rhode Island 02914
Sil Paulini, Inc.
6 Manor Avenue
Natick, Mass. 01760

Riehej^&—GlappeiyJuei—

28 Rutledge Road
Natick, Mass. 01760

Trencher & Equipment Leasing, Inc.
Ditch Witch Trenchers
38 Fairview St., Agawam, Ma. 01001
Phone 413-781-4600
*Sawtelle Brothers
Jet. Routes 128 and 62
Danvers, Mass.
Shepard Sod Company
Merion Blue Grass and. Pencross Bent
200 Sullivan Ave., So. Windsor, Conn.
Tuco Products Co.
Division of the Upjohn Company
Kalamazoo, Michigan
White Turf Engineering
5 Sumner Drive, Winchendon, Ma. 01475
617-297-0941
Philip A. Wogan
Golf Course Architect
21 Budleigh Ave., Beverly, Mass.
Wyandotte Chemical Co.
709 Salada Bldg., Boston, Mass.

* Contributors to the Lawrence S. Dickinson Scholarship

Newsletter Committee Chairman
24 Riverview Drive
Newbury, Massachusetts 01950
Phone 462-4540
C l u b Affiliation
Chestnut Hill Country C l u b
L E O N V. ST. P I E R R E
Business M a n a g e r
GERRY FINN
Contributing Editor

Fund