Vol. II, No. 16 Published monthly by the Metropolitan Golf Course Superintendents Association MGCSA MEETING NOTICE September 14, 1972 Whippoorwill Club Available in grill Superintendents Invitational “ Shotgun” . Tee off 1 PM Cocktails: 6 PM Dinner: 7 PM Program: CBS Celebrity Host: Chuck Martineau Chuck is an ex-Marine, a graduate of University of Mass. — Stockbridge 2-year school. He was awarded USGA Scholarship while at University of Mass. He was a placement student under Bob Grant at Brae Burn C.C. Served as Superintendent at Northampton C.C., then 2 years assistant at Century under Jim Fulwider and has been Superintendent at Whippoorwill for 3 years. He and his wife Edie are avid skiers. Date: Place: Lunch: Golf: Special Note: All members are welcome to attend the cocktail hour along with the dinner and special program. Coming Events: Sept. 19 Joint meeting NJGCSA-MGCSA at Playboy Club Hotel, Great Gorge, McAfee, New Jersey, Route 94. Via Warwick, New York is best way from Westchester County. Oct. 3 NJGCSA Equipment and Supplies Field Day Oct. 4 MGCSA Meeting, Sunningdale Golf Club Nov. 16 Lake Isle C.C., MGCSA Annual Meeting MGCSA News: The MGCSA picnic at the Woodway Beach Club was a tremendous success. We certainly want to thank our hosts Sherwood and Marie Moore for all their effort. If you didn’t go this year, don’t miss it next year. We discovered we have some very talented chefs in our group. It looks like we will have to start a volley ball league with all the enthusiasm shown at the picnic. Well done, Harry. It was a beautiful warm sunny day at Silver Springs Country Club. Our Host Dick Depencier couldn’t ask for a better day. The course was in great shape. It certainly is rare to see just about pure bent greens. Ted and Nancy Horton presented an excellent talk and slide presentation on their stay in Morocco. The many wifes who attended certainly enjoyed the delicious dinner along with the evening program. The only sour note of the day is that some people walked out without paying for dinner. You know who you are so please send your nine dollars to Silver Springs Country Club. You don’t have to identify yourself, just PAY. It certainly doesn’t help MGCSA’s image. September, 1972 TO: GCSAA Members FROM: Robert V. Mitchell, CGCS - President Mr. Conrad L. Scheetz has been named Executive Director of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. Your Executive Committee recognized the need for a sound association manager at the helm of the Headquarters office. Cliff Wagoner, Chairman, Richard Blake and Palmer Maples, Jr. served as the Ad Hoc Screening Committee for this purpose. The Screening Committee, activated last February, had a Herculean task of narrowing their recommendation from the 300 plus applications received, plus those interviewed, to the one best qualified to serve GCSAA. In our opinion, they made an excellent choice. The appointment has received full support of the Executive Committee. Our budget of $610,000.00, staff of twelve, and the multitudinous activity GCSAA Headquarters is involved with requires the services of a man well founded in association management, budgets, personnel, accounting, data processing, membership services and conference management. To acquaint you with him, Connie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in commerce and engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia. He has worked extensively with budgets and data processing as Head of Budgets for the Data Processing Division of Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey. During the last seven years, Connie was Business Manager of the International Reading Association in Newark, Delaware, which was experiencing a tremendous growth, both in membership (increased over 50%) and budget-wise (which quadrupled to over one million dollars). As you know, Connie joined the Association on May 1, 1972, as Acting Executive Director. During this period he has spent his time in integration, assimilation and investigation of the activities at the Headquarters office. His activities thus far have included a complete redesign of our accounting structure which included placing it on data processing equipment, accommodating some personnel changes, and conducting a survey (at my request) to determine if the Headquarters office is in the most logical location at which our staff can best serve you, the member. As conditions of the affairs at the Headquarters office warrant, Connie plans to extend his activities outward to the membership and allied associations in order that GCSAA can continue to be a viable and responsible voice in the golfing community. He is interested in your suggestions on how we can best serve the membership. Further, he is interested in establishing a closer harmony with all members, chapters and allied associations. On a more personal note, Connie’s wife, Mariann, and their four children have recently joined him from the East and are residing in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. I know you join me in welcoming Connie aboard and look forward to working with him for the betterment of the Association. The following is an article by Mr. Holman Griffin of the U.S.G.S. Green Section describing what steps short of rebuilding can be done to a problem green. FACELIFTING FOR TIRED GREENS by Holman Griffin, U.S.G.A. Agronomist Editorial Staff Co-Editor Co-Editor Advertising Manager Garry Crothers Pat Lucas Al Tretera OFFICERS Everett Wood, Scarsdale G.C. Office 914-723-2840, Home 914-472-0174 Harry H. Nichol, Elmwood C.C. First Office 914-592-6608, Home 914-268-9370 Vice President: Ronald Boydston, Rockland C.C. Second Office 914-359-5346; Home 914-359-2910 Vice President: Edward C. Horton, Winged Foot G.C. Secretary: Office 914-698-2827, Home 914-937-3613 Garry N. Crothers, The Apawamis Club Treasurer: Office 914-967-2100, Home 914-234-3770 Sergeant at Arms: Anthony Altomaro, Greenwich C.C. Office 203-869-1000, Home 203-661-7019 President: BOARD OF DIRECTORS Office 914-834-3042 Home 914-273-8955 Office 914-279-4777 Patrick Lucas, Jr., Back-of-Beyond Home 914-279-4701 Office 203-869-2350 Gus Powell, Round Hill Club, Inc. Home 203-531-5826 Office 203-637-3210 Anthony Savone, Innis Arden C.C. Home 203-637-4475 Office 914-631-4560 John Sundholm, Green Rock Corp. Home 914-631-4458 Office 914-472-1467 Allan Tretera, Fenway G.C. Home 914-241-2169 Past President: John Madden, Engineers C.C. Office 516-621-5350 Dominick DiMarzo, Bonnie Briar C.C. N ot copyrighted. I f there is good here, we want to share it with all chapters - unless author states otherwise. By now everyone has received the memorandum from GCSAA headquarters announcing the appointment of Mr. Conrad L. Scheetz as Executive Director of our association. He is interested in our suggestions on how the GCSAA can better serve the membership. It is up to us to channel our ideas and suggestions to the national headquarters. Well, we’re coming into the home stretch and September really looks good. I don’t know what can be said about this past summer except I’m glad it’s over. Everyone certainly knows where the poorly drained areas are and what areas need rebuilding. Anyone contemplating building or rebuilding greens can obtain the booklet “Specifications for a method of putting green construction” written by the USGA Green Section Staff. Write: U.S.G.A. Green Section, P.O. Box 1237, Highland Park, New Jersey 08904. Soil Change-Over in Established Greens Depth of topsoil and uniform soil mixing are almost impossible to alter ohce established. However, resiliency, pore space and percolation rate may be changed considerably by proper aeration and topdressing techniques. At least such treatments will make the green easier to manage. AERATION AND TOPDRESSING Frequent aeration and subsequent topdressing matted in throughly to fill the aeration holes is one of the best ways to modify the top 2 or 3 inches of a poor putting green. This program, in extreme cases, may require 5 to 7 aerations and topdressings a season until the changeover in soil composition has been made. Almost the entire surface soil is replaced in this manner. Also, nothing is lost even if new soil is removed, because all soil taken off the green can be composted and mixed again for future use. VERTICAL MULCHING A more thorough job of soil changeover can be accomplished by vertical mulching. In this program, a soil probe or some other similar tool may be used to take cores to a depth of 8 or more inches. Holes are punched on 3 or 4 inch centers and then filled with new soil. Once over an average 5,000 sq. ft. green takes two men about a week, and only once over may not do the job. But even if several vertical mulchings are required, the cost of modification is much less than rebuilding. CUP CHANGING The old adage that even the longest walk begins with the first tiny step fits the next recommendation that at least some change may be made in a poor green if over a period of time the soil is replaced under the sod each time a cup is changed. DE-THATCHING A thatch condition can be a severe detriment to the proper growth of turf, and the foregoing treatments are all good methods for the physical removal of mat and thatch. Loosening up a green by aeration of any type is also a good way to make the surface more resilient to better hold a golf shot without drowning the green in water. These techniques also introduce air into the soil and increase pore space, which results in a better exchange of soil gasses and better infiltration, percolation and internal drainage. VERTICAL SLICING Some relief from compaction may be obtained by use of special machines now on the market which slice the green several inches deep and make a small mole drain at the bottom of the slice. Such machines used once or twice a year can greatly improve the manageability of a green. Vertical slicing machines also help to remove thatch and loosen up a green to a depth of 3 or 4 inches. Topdressing should usually follow a vertical slicing operation to smooth out the putting surface for the convenience of the golfers. Although vertical mowers have many uses on the golf course, vertical slicing is not one of them. A heavier machine should always be used to make clean slice and avoid tearing of the putting surface. PROPER TOPDRESSING If greens are becoming more compact and waterlogged each year, it may be well to take a close look at your topdressing materials. Too much silt in the soil, not enough sand of a good particle size and too much organic matter in the topdressing are common errors which cause surface problems. Naturally, if the soil surface has problems, the whole green is in trouble. j | ] ; j BUILD IT RIGHT!! If your green is still in trouble after you have tried these remedial measures, then complete reconstruction may be the only answer. If this is so, then by all means just don’t build yourself a new set of problems. Build it right!! With topdressing coming up soon, below is a chart describing volumes of material needed for various depths of topdressing: Volume of Top-Dressing Material Required for Applications to Various Depths on Greens Areas of Different Size Approximate Volume of Material Needed For: Depth of 1,000iSq. Ft. 3,000 Sq. Ft. 10,000 Sq. Ft. 5,000:Sq. Ft. 7,000 :Sq. Ft. Top-Dressing Desired, in Cu. Ft. Cu. Yd. Cu. Ft. Cu. Yd. Cu. Ft. Cu. Yd. Cu. Ft. Cu. Yd. Cu. Ft. Cu. Yd. 1/8 1/4 3/8 1/2 5/8 3/4 10.4 20.8 31.2 41.7 52.1 62.5 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.5 1.9 2.3 31.2 62.4 93.6 125.1 156.3 187.5 1.2 2.3 3.5 4.6 5.8 6.9 52.0 104.0 156.0 208.5 260.5 312.5 Are you receiving your complementary trade journals? The following are sent free for the asking: PARK MAINTENANCE Madisen Publishing Div. P.O. Box 409 Appleton, Wis. 54911 WEEDS, TREES, & TURF Harvest Publishing Co. 9800 Detroit Ave. Cleveland, Ohio 44102 GOLFDOM Universal Publishing & Dist. Co. 235 East Forty-fifth St. New York, New York 10017 GROUND MAINTENANCE Intertec Publishing Corp. 1014 Wyandotte St. Kansas City, Missouri 64105 After 43 years of service, John C. Schread has retired from The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. Mr. Schread is one of the most widely known entomologists in our area. He has for many years addressed us at Massachusetts and other turf conferences. As a very dynamic speaker his talks always held everyone’s interest. Many thanks for a job well done. With fall and winter work just around the corner, some of us may be thinking of new chain saws. The August issue of Weeds, Trees, & Turf carried a very informative article entitled “How to Select a Pro-Grade Chain Saw.” Chain saws always seem to have one problem or another. This article deals with considerations to keep in mind at the time of purchase. They are Application, Design & Construction, Features, Service, and Price. For anyone in the market for a new saw, this article is well worth the time. Mike Maffei, Superintendent of the Morefar Golf Course in Brewster has a large quantity of brand new spoons and blades for the Fairway West Point Aerifier. Anyone wishing to buy them can contact Mike at (914) 279-4459. Four-Day Work Week? We hear a lot of discussion lately about a four-day work week. By the amount of play some clubs have on Friday it may seem like we are already on a four-day week. The May issue of Nation’s 1.9 3.9 5.8 7.7 9.6 11.6 72.8 145.6 218.4 291.9 364.7 437.5 2.7 5.4 8.1 10.8 13.5 16.2 104.0 208.0 312.0 417.0 521.0 625.0 3.9 7.7 11.6 15.4 19.3 23.1 Business magazine carried an article dealing with this new idea. A survey of 588 workers in 51 companies that have shifted to a four-day week reveals they are overwhelmingly in favor of this new schedule. Seventy per cent say they like their work more. But taken as a whole, the number of firms that have moved to the four-day week is small. Mrs. Riva Poor, whose book, “4 Day, 40 Hours” is considered an authoritative source on the subject estimates only 1,000 out of 1.5 million corporations have made the shift. Arguments for the change include: • The four-day week improves employee morale and makes for a more highly motivated and therefore more efficient work force. • The plan allows for more efficient use of land, buildings, and equipment spreading fixed costs over more operating hours. It permits a company to schedule a longer workday without paying overtime, and to hire additional employees on a staggered work schedule — thereby getting more use of its equipment per day. • There is lower job turnover, less absenteeism, and an increase in unsolicited job applications. • For the employee, there is more usable leisure time, more flexibility in arranging his personal business, and lower commuting, lunch, and child care costs. <• Traffic congestion in major cities during the peak hours is eased. Opponents say: • A 10-hour day is bad for worker health and safety. It can lead to accidents stemming from mental and physical fatigue. • The bunching of leisure time is offset by the bunching of work, making for less rather than more contact with family and friends, and hindering workers from participating in civic affairs or from furthering their education at night. • Some companies claim the shift scheduling is too complicated. Others complain it’s difficult to coordinate their operations with those of suppliers and customers. • There are problems in getting to and from the job. Public transportation is scheduled less frequently in off hours; car pools are harder to arrange; travel time in the winter months may increase, since workers will be en route in darkness; crime is a factor in urban areas after dark. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this new idea which will have a direct effect on our work. Edward C. Horton, Secretary 6 Wilton Road Port Chester, New York 10573 First Class MELVIN 3 LUCAS JR A GARDEN CITY GOLF CLUJ 315 STEWART AVE GARDEN CITY NY 115J0 Baron Kentucky Bluegrass is the perfect choice for golf course fairways. It is a dwarf variety which germinates rapidly. Baron remains shorter and needs less frequent mowing than the known varieties of Kentucky bluegrass, which affords obvious economic advantages. It takes low mowing beautifully, even as low as 3A inch. The sturdy, broad blades interlock to make a “ crisp” surface that holds a golf ball well on the fairway. The dense turf is winter hardy with a fine winter color. Its leaves stay relatively unblemished by leafspot, rust or stripe smut. All Baron seed is CERTIFIED BLUE TAG, poa annua and bentgrass free. Baron sod is available from leading sod growers across the country. * U.S. Dwarf Variety Plant Patent No. 3186 Exclusive North American Grower and Distributor: L o f ts P e d ig r e e d S eed, Inc Husky BARON cluster (left), Bound Brook, N J . 08805 / (201) 356-8700 common bluegrasses (right), mowed about one inch.