Jan./Feb. 1981 February 19 Published monthly by the Metropolitan Golf Course Superintendents Association COMING EVENTS USGA Green Section Regional Meeting, Westchester C.C. Shemin Nurseries Trade Show, Civic Center, Old Greenwich Univ. of Mass. Turfgrass Conference & March 3 -5 Show, Springfield MGCSA Meeting, Westchester Hills March MGCSA Meeting, Blue Hill Golf Club April 16 MGCSA Meeting, Quaker Ridge G.C., May Green Chairman/Superintendent Meeting MGCSA Meeting, Century Country Club June 23 Superintendent/Manager Meeting Univ. of Mass. Field Day, So. Deerfield June 24 MGCSA Meeting, Edgewood C.C. July MGCSA Family Picnic August Univ. of R.I. Field Day, Kingston August 26 MGCSA Joint Meeting with Hudson August Valley, Waccabuc Country Club MGCSA Invitational Elmwood C.C. September 24 November MGCSA Annual Meeting November 16-19 N.Y.S. Turfgrass Assoc. Conference & Trade Show, Albany February 24 CONGRATULATIONS! To Mr. and Mrs. Mark Loper on the birth of their son Val on January 18, 1981. Mark is with the Irrigation Division of Turf Products Corp. This month, we’d like to thank: Hawthorn Bros. Tree Service, Inc. Westchester Turf Supply Warren’s Turf Nursery Shemin Nurseries O.M. Scotts for helping make this issue of Tee to Green possible. REACHING OUT COMMITTEE REPORT I’m sure that all those who participated in the inaugural efforts of MGCSA’s Reaching Out Committee will agree that all the work was worthwhile. Many, many articles of toys, games, books, and clothing, both new and slightly used were Vol. X I, No. 1 collected from MGCSA members and distributed to the Country Childrens Center of Katonah, The Salem Hills H.R.F., and The Westchester Association for Retarded Children. All the organizations were most appreciative of the efforts of the Committee. In a time when budget cuts for many agencies is a yearly happening, non-profit organizations find it hard to keep their programs afloat. They rely on the help of outside organiza­ tions to help meet the needs of their clients. Being able to help those less fortunate, particularly during the Christmas season was the main goal of this year’s Reaching Out Committee. Seeing how successful this year’s program was, plans are already being made to start on next years program. Again good used items are welcomed. Keep this in mind while spring cleaning. The committee is presently looking for ways to expand the program to perhaps reach more of those who need help. New ideas are always welcomed. Anyone wishing to help contact Bob Bruce, 914-669-5959. Our sincere thanks to all those who helped in this past years efforts. Hopefully, our program will continue to grow reaching many areas of the country. Peter Rappoccio COPING WITH LESS As everyone is aware, our area is experiencing a serious water shortage which is affecting all of us. We are bombarded daily with appeals and restrictions to conserve water. At this point, it looks like 1981 will have a serious drought added to our many other problems. How will MGCSA members cope with this drought? How do you plan to conserve and use less while still trying to main­ tain adequate playing conditions? Attached, you will find a Tee to Green survey reply card relative to this problem. We want your ideas on how you plan to cope with this drought at your course. How will maintenance be affected—such as mowing, watering, fertilization, etc., etc.? What will you be doing differently to minimize the effects of less water? How about our old times who have gone through droughts before—what will you be doing differently to cope? We’re looking for ideas to share. Survey results will be tab­ ulated and responses published in Tee to Green for the benefit of all. This survey offers members a opportunity to share their EDITORIAL STAFF Pat Lucas, Co-Editor Office 203-637-3210 Home 203-637-3939 Office 914-967-6000 Home 914-937-3613 Ted Horton, Co-Editor OFFICERS President.............. ..................Michael Maffei, Back O’Beyond, Inc. Office 914-279-7179; Home 914-278-9436 Vice-President . . . ............... Charles Martineau, Whippoorwill Club Office 914-273-3755; Home 914-273-9112 Secretary.............. .. .. Peter Rappoccio, Silver Spring Country Club Office 203-438-6720; Home 203-866-4276 Treasurer.............. ..........Sherwood Moore, Winged Foot Golf Club Office 914-698-2827; Home 914-234-9469 Reprint permission is hereby authorized providing credit is given to Tee to Green . . . unless author states otherwise. Publication deadline to Tee to Green is 21 days before the regular meeting. ideas on coping with a problem which is affecting us all. Please take a minute to share your thoughts and ideas with us on this subject. Pat Lucas ‘OPERATION VASECTOMY’ DEVISED TO SLOW PROLIFERATION OF ‘GOLF-COURSE GEESE’ Strapped to a field operating table, his head beneath a calming cover, the vasectomy patient didn’t bat an eyelash. He didn’t even honk. The patient was a Canada goose of the non-migratory variety, sometimes called “ golf-course geese.” These are honkers who have decided not to make the annual round trip from the far North to the deep South, choosing instead to make a permanent home on idyllic links where they can nest in the rough and swim in the water hazards. A prolific lot, they have multiplied in place, driving golfers crazy by dropping slippery hazards of their own on greens and fairways up and down the East Coast. Many Westchester golf courses have large populations of the birds. “ Anyone can live with two Canada geese, and most people can live with four, but when you get into geometrical pro­ gressions, that’s where you get into the problem,” said H. Lloyd Alexander of the Delaware Fish and Wildlife Division. When not cut down by hunters’ guns, Canada geese are a long-lived lot. They can live 10-12 years in the wild, and after they’re 3 years old they generally have three to six goslings a year. Solving the problem of the golf-course geese hasn’t been easy. Not long ago, one flock in Wilmington, Del., was cap­ tured and trucked to West Virginia. Some people think the geese beat the trucker back home. That’s where sterilization comes in. The goose vasectomies, which took place in Westchester and Fairfield, are part of a cooperative study by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Dr. Jim Kennedy of the Wildlife Service’s Wildlife Health Laboratory in Madison, Wis., heads the experimental project, under which 24 ganders have been sterilized. So far, $5,000 has been spent getting the three-stage project through its first two phases. Researchers have asked for $30,000 more from Fish and Wildlife to cover the costs of studying the sterilized geese the next two years. Some of that money comes from hunters who buy licenses and duck stamps, said spokeswoman Meg Durham. Simply raising hunting bag limits or declaring open seasons on the permanent flocks won’t control the burgeoning popu­ lation of golf-course geese, she said. “ There are situations when that’s just not practical . . . Neighbors aren’t going to be very amenable to people blasting away with shotguns.” That may be so, but a couple years ago, on a golf course near Washington, one 67-year-old golfing doctor took matters into his own hands. He told investigators he per­ formed a “ mercy killing” with his putter after finding a badly injured Canada goose on the 17th green. But witnesses told a different story. The doctor was putting, they said, when a “ Honk!” rang out. The doctor missed his putt but cornered his nemesis with deadly accur­ acy. He bludgeoned the goose with his putter before wringing its neck, they said. The goose vasectomies are “ just an experiment,” Durham emphasized. “ They don’t have plans to do any more at pre­ sent. We’re studying the geese to see if their behavior changes.” Even so, the project has drawn fire from the water-fowl establishment. Ducks Unlimited, a politically and financially powerful international organization that spends millions to increase the numbers of waterfowl, has blasted it as a ridicu­ lous waste of money and diametrically opposed to the mission of the Fish and Wildlife Service. Credit: Steve Marshall, Gannett News Service ANNOUNCING a remarkable Multi-Purpose Spreader. The most advanced light weight spreader in decades. Warren’s new T-7 spreads seed, fertilizers, herbicides, and in­ secticides up to 20 feet wide with a precise accuracy that assures correct disbursements on one pass. • Large fingertip control knob. • Continuous moving interior agitator. • Inovative directional flow control. Stainless steel and plastic heavy duty construction. Enclosed and protected gear and main drive shaft. • Distributor and dealerships available. T U R F N U R S E R Y , IN C . Phone: 914/355-6162 • R.R. 1 - Box 240-D New Hampton, New York 10958 CABIN FEVER The Cold Will Drive You Crazy If You Let It Caution: The bitter cold weather sweeping the eastern half of the nation this winter may be hazardous to your mental health. In addition to the physical threats of frostbite and hypo­ thermia, unusually cold weather can trigger psychological problems such as depression and anxiety, psychiatrists agree. “ Our gut feeling is that people get more depressed in this kind of weather,” says Dr. Alan M. Elkins, chief of psychia­ try at Maine Medical Center in Portland. The problem is often characterized as “ cabin fever,” the irritability and combativeness that set in when a person is con­ fined to the same space for lengthy periods because of the extreme cold. “ People know they only have so many rooms, so many books and so many television programs. They begin to become either very anxious or very depressed,” said Elkins. “ Then they begin to fight with the other people around them, and they get into marital or family stress. In the ex­ treme situation, violence can occur.” Stress also develops when family members try to ease their frustrations by blaming others for cold weather problems, such as the car failing to start, Elkins said. In recent years, the potential for psychological problems has been compounded by growing fears about the price and availability of heating fuel. “ There is the basic fear these days that you’ll run out of oil,” said Elkins. “ It’s terrifying that your could run out of it.” Just as warm clothing will reduce the likelihood of physical injury from the cold, there are various things a person can do to cut the risk of psychological damage, says Elkins. • Read a book or become involved in household projects, thus creating the kind of active intellectual stimulation that will avert the onset of cabin fever. Instead of passively sitting by the television with a drink in hand, do something active such as refinishing a cabinet or trying to solve a puzzle. “ You’ve got to gear up the brain and get it active,” he said. “ The greatest danger is to put yourself in intellectual or emo­ tional deep-freeze.” Credit: AP GOLFERS LUCKY IT’S NOT ROUGH The cultural shock is the worst. Going from NFL playoff games, bowl games, nosebleeds, black eyes, separated shoulders to a game where the worst thing that can happen to you is a ball out of bounds is almost too hard to take. It’s like going from the Gulag archipelago to Miami Beach, from Siberian prison camp to Waikiki. Golf is a game where a “ late hit” means a slice, not a frac­ ture. It’s where “ rough” does not refer to Mean Joe Greene but high grass. Where hardly anybody ever needs crutches and the bleeding is all internal. The game is played at a walk, the most terrifying thing a golfer ever sees is a downhill putt. He doesn’t need 20 yards of plastic to protect his rib cage or a mouthpiece or face cage. No one has ever seen a golfer carried off the field. No neuro­ surgeons are needed at ringside. The turf is not artificial and hard as a throw rug on a boulder. A golfer’s idea of trauma is a scalped lie or a ball buried in sand. A “ catastrophe” is a 7 on a par-5. You don’t need a helmet like a fighter pilot, you don’t have to wait in a “ pocket” of 250-pound blockers while two tons of blitzing backs and linemen try to tear your head off. You don’t need cut-men, plaster casts, canes or wheelchairs. You bleed where nobody can see it. You don’t have to be 7-feet tall or 300-pounds fat, you don’t have to run fast, hit hard or knock anybody down. You get to keep all your teeth and ears and eyes. It’s hard to fracture your thumb on a putt. The holes are not guarded by GREENHOUSE • NURSERIES Horticultural Distributors S P O O N FEED YO U R GREENS, TEES and FAIRW AYS A S YO U SPRA Y Use SUPERGREEN 50 PLUS SO LU BLE FERTILIZER C o n tain s N-P-K Plus 8 TRACE ELEMENTS WESTCHESTER TURF SUPPLY, INC. Bob Lippman (914) 248-5790 (Home) (914) 937-6523 (Business) D istributors o f •E V E R G R E E N S • TREE STAKES • FLOWERING TREES • R A IL R O A D TIES • SHADE TREES • MULCHES • CO NTAINER • GRO UND COVERS M A T E R IA L • FENCING • TU R F CHEMICALS • F IR & PINE BARK • GRAVELS | • H O LLYTO NE • GRASS SEED •S P R A Y IN G EQUIPMENT •A R B O R IS T SUPPLIES • A-D-S-DRAINAGE SYSTEMS Weather TRUE TEMPER TOOLS TU R F M A IN TE N A N C E SUPPLIES H O M ELITE CONST. EQUIPMENT Lawn Sprinkler Systems Safe-T-Lawn Lawn Sprinkler Systems SHEMIN NURSERIES, INC. 1081 KING STREET, BOX 64, GLENVILLE STATION GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT06830 (203)531-7352 matic. (914)937-4644 guys named “ Too Tall” or “ The Animal” or “ mean Joe.” They’re guarded by little palm trees you can hit over and sand traps you can miss. When a football player says, “ Something terrible happened to me yesterday,” he says it through a body cast where only his eyes and mouth are showing and you say, “ I can tell.” When a golfer says “ Something terrible happened to me,” he means two-over-par. A “ cut” is a score that isn’t in the low 60s and ties, not a 20-stitcher over the eye or a tear in the mouth like an Otto Graham. The worst thing that can happen to you is, you might have to take your shoe off to hit a ball out of a water hazard. Listen now as the first day’s leader comes in the press tent. Bob Murphy is in roughly the same physical condition as an Irish bartender. He could match bellies with Jackie Gleason. He would probably die on the Chicago Bears’ 10-yard line. Here he is the first day’s champion. He has made $882,491 in his career without ever having a concussion or bruised ribs and will probably never need a knee operation. He spends his life in the kind of sylvan re­ treats you imagine Eden looked like. Birds sing, the sun shines, a guy carries his clubs for him. There’s no heavy lifting. He can make 50 grand this week without hammering a nail, sawing a plank, climbing a rigging or knocking down Jack Lambert. Here comes John McHaffey, Golf’s new Golden Boy. Look at him now as he comes in the press tent. He looks a little like the Rams’ Pat Haden. Except he has not broken his Keep this card handy. It could save you tim e and money. thumb on Randy White’s helmet or Harvey Martin’s armor. He hasn’t got a mark on him. His ear is not bleeding or cauliflowered, his eyes are clear, his speech is not slurred. He’s not big enough to make a defensive halfback at 5-9, 150. He’s not fast, he probably can’t hit a good curve, or throw one, but he made $153,520 on golf courses last year. People are in awe because he shot a 66 on the “ difficult” Tamarisk golf course. To anyone who has climbed Everest, Tamarisk is about as “ difficult” as perch steps. John is a superstar of golf but when he finishes a golf tour­ nament, it does not take a week for the bones to mend, the bruises to heal, the blood to clot. He will not be “ washed up” at 35. In, not at 45. You can play tournament golf until you’re 60, if you’re Sam Snead. You can win tournaments in your 50s if you’re Julius Boros. The greatest golfer out there, Jack Nicklaus, will be 38 in a week. And he’s probably not even at his peak. There’s no disabled list in golf. It’s like finding money. The parent who gives his child a football, boxing gloves, hockey stick or vaulting pole should be taken into psychiatry. These are the luckiest guys in sport. Johnny Bench, who gets his thumbs, knuckles and wrists broken by foul balls for a living and spends his summer afternoons on his knees like a chair­ woman, plays in this thing for a ribbon or a metal or a tea tray. His pro, Hubert Green, is playing for the $50,000—or even the $500 every pro who makes the cut gets. Pros in other sports get what Churchill promised the British people—blood, sweat and tears. Pro golfers don’t even sweat. ,^ 0 & PS*so* ¡¿V'J® They just hit a little white ball with scientifically perfect instruments onto a manicured lawn that looks like what you’d imagine a French king’s grounds looked like in 1760. They go through life with a suntan, wearing fashion-model clothes picked for them and laid out by style coordinators. Roger Staubach just got a lousy break in life. Lynn Swann gets headaches for a living. You think Raymond Floyd’s ever been in a stretcher in his whole life? You think Jack Nicklaus has made $3,349,393 in his life without ever breathing hard? You think he’s ever going to be able to tell it’s going to rain by the feeling in his knees? Arnold Palmer’s going to be 50 years old this year. You think anyone in this year’s Super Bowl is going to be in one 20 years from now? If they are, they’re probably going to be carried there. Golfers are the luckiest guys this side of Louis XIV. Anybody who made any money easier than this would be prosecuted. Credit: Jim Murray, Gannett News Service SAVING YOUR LIFE IN A HOTEL FIRE In recent weeks, two devastating hotel fires—one at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the other at the Stouffer Inn in Harrison, New York—underline, once again, the tragic fact that too many travelers do not know what to do if they are caught in a burning hotel or motel. This may help explain the fact that the United States has the worst record in the world for fire fatalities, according to experts at the U.S. Fire Administration in Washington, D.C. However, there are guidelines which, if memorized and followed, can sharply reduce the risk for travelers. Here are the precautions that the U.S. Fire Administration recommends: 1. As you go to your room, look for the fire doors in both directions. Count the number of doors down the hall from your room to the nearest fire exit on each side of you. 2. Make it a point to notice where the alarms are located. Also check fire doors to see that they operate properly and are kept closed. 3. Report any fire safety deficiencies you spot to the man­ agement. 4. Look for any posted fire emergency regulations and make sure you understand how to follow them. 5. Always leave your key in the same place when you are in the room—preferably on the bedside table or in the door. 6. If a fire starts in your room, take the key and leave. Close the door behind you, pull the nearest alarm, and pro­ ceed to the fire stairs. Never take an elevator when there is a fire in the building. As soon as you reach the lobby, notify the desk. 7. If the fire breaks out elsewhere, follow the posted in­ structions and/or the tips below . . . • To learn if it is safe to leave the room, take your key, go to the door, and use your hand-to check the temperature of the door. If.it is hot, do not open it. Instead, assume that you are trapped in thé room. • I f the door is cool, open it a crack. But be ready to close it immediately if there is hot air, smoke, or flames. If there are none of these, but the hall is hazy, crawl down the hall, counting the doors to the nearest fire exit. If you can’t reach that one, crawl back toward the other. Should that be impos­ sible, count the doors back to your room and go inside. • Once in your room, fill the tub with cold water and use it to wet towels and clothes. Stuff these under and around the door. • Close as many doors as possible between you and the fire— but be sure to stay in a room with windows. If the fire is on the floor below, or there are clouds of smoke outside, you are better off leaving the windows closed. Otherwise, open one and hang out a light colored bedspread or sheet as a signal. • I f smoke gets into your room, hold a wet towel to your face, and stay low, close to the floor, as near to an open win­ dow as possible. • Do not jump, no matter how panicky you feel, unless you are not too high above the ground. Professional fire fighters will tell you what to do. Wait for their help. Credit: Research Institute Personal Report JOB OFFERING Opening: Assistant Golf Course Superintendent at Spook Rock Golf Course, Suffern, N. Y. 10901. Requirements: Minimum 2 years maintenance experience plus completion of a technical institute in turf management. Send resume to: Stuart Sharpies, Golf Course Superintendent 199 Spook Rock Road Suffern, N.Y. 10901 POSTION WANTED Assistant Superintendent’s Position Graduating in May, with a B.S. from the University of Rhode Island. Plant and Soil Science Major with Turf Management Specialization. Over five years greens crew experience under a MGCSA Superintendent, plus four years part-time work at URI Turf Research Farm. Please contact: John C. Lensing 208 Weldin Hall University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI 02881 (401)789-9801 FOR SALE Cushman Topdresser for Truckster. Contact: Pat Lucas Innis Arden G.C. 203-637-3210 THANK YOU TO OUR 1980 Tee Green ADVERTISERS WESTCHESTER TURF SUPPLY, INC. / R.R 1 Box 240-D (Lower (Lowe & Gardnerville Roads) New yHampton. N tw Yorfc 10958 355-6162 (914) 2 T tie w ie tù TURF NURSERY, INC. Bob Lippman (914) 248-5790 (Home) (914) 937-6523 (Business) SHEMIN NURSERIES, INC. 1081 KING STREET, BOX 64, GLENVILLE STATION GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT06830 PAI1TAC GOLF COURSE ( TOP-DRESSING 203)531 7352 ( ATERREa 914) 937-4644 206 DELAWANNA AVENUE - BOX 1014 - CUFTON, N. J. 07014 ZZDGE3 ^ NORTH AMERICAN PLANT BREEDERS P.O. Box 2955 Mission, Kansas 66205 TREE CARE,INC. (913) 384-4940 275 KNOLLWOOD ROAD, WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK 10607 METRO MILORGANITE, INC. P.O. Box 267 Hawthorn, New York 10532 914-769-7600 tu rf products corporation Route 6 - Stony H ill • 1496 John F itch Boulevard • Bethel, Connecticut 06801 • (203) 748-4445 South Windsor, Connecticut 06074 • »W F »»E DAVID J. SYLVESTER A H U SAI tb H L P H E SC N TA T'V E M A N ST REE T f AST B E R L I N 203 U2U-3790 TUCO (203) 289-3471 CO N N ECT ■C U T 0 6 0 2 3 Di V I S !O N O F T H E U P J O H N C O M P A N Y wetting agent THE REICHERT COMPANY MAIL P.O. BOX 273 RIVERSIDE, CT. 06878 (203) 637-2958 MONT CO PRODUCTS CORPORATION BOX 404 AMBLER, PA. 19002 T H E C. B. THE MAGOVERN COMPANY, INC. E S T . I 8 9 6 - IN C. 1 9 2 8 P. O. BO X 2 7 0 , L A W N A C R E R O A D . W IN D S O R L O C K S , C O N N E C T IC U T 0 6 0 9 6 W IN D S O R L O C K S 2 0 3 -6 2 3 -2 5 0 8 • S P R IN G F IE L D WESTPORT, CONNECTICUT 06^60 / (203) 227-9591 4 1 3 - 7 8 1 -0 2 6 1 ( Scotts) CECIO BROS., INC. P ro T u rf General E xcavating Contractors (203)869-2340 D i v is i o n o f J &B TRUCKING 7 C o t t a g e St r e e t P o rt C h e s t e r , N Y P.O. Box 4100 500 Old Post Road #3 Greenwich, Conn. 06830 Lakeshore Equipment & Supply Co. 105 73 " Agri-Chemicals Division of United States Steel P.O. Box 1685 Atlanta, Georgia 30301 S rass roots P.O. Box 336 Mount Freedom New Jersey 07970 turf products, ine. BLUE RIDGE PEAT FARMS, INC. 301 - 335-3700 WHITE HAVEN, PA. 18661 ANDREW WILSON INC. 1170 U S. ROUTE 22 MOUNTAINSIDE, NEW JERSEY 07092 (201) 654-5800 I 3D(I £ SUPPLII, IOC. 66 ERNA AVENUE P O BOX 9 MILFORD. CONNECTICUT 06-460 TELEPHONE (203) 878-0658 Hawthorne Bros. Tree Service, Inc. uHKumv w m cn L C O R P O R A T IO N 1049 SOMERSET ST Homeof LESCO Products” 300 South Abbe, Elyria, OH 44035 SOMERSET. N J 08873 • (201)247 8000 P.O. BOX 368, BEDFORD HILLS, NEW YORK 10537 914— 666— 7035 ************ Pat Lucas, Editor 87 Tomac Avenue Old Greenwich, Conn. 06870 First Class MR MELVIN B LUCAS JR PIPING ROCK CLUB LOCUST VALLEY NY 11560 We Can Perform All Your Tree Maintenance Needs!! Give us a SHOT Our prices will fit you to a TEE Y ou’ll be treated in a FAIRWAY D on’t put your budget in a HOLE Join our CLUB of satisfied clients W e’ll save you lots of GREEN Try us, get your head out of the SAND (trap) And this isn’t just FERTILIZER either. Hawthorne Bros. Tree Service, Inc. P.O. BOX 368, BEDFORD HILLS, NEW YORK 10537 914— 666— 7035