Category: Superintendents

Golf News for March 3, 2017

March 3, 2017
Simon Hobday as seen with the trophy after winning the 1994 U.S. Senior Open Championship at Pinehurst (Copyright USGA/Robert Walker)
Simon Hobday as seen with the trophy after winning the 1994 U.S. Senior Open Championship at Pinehurst (Copyright USGA/Robert Walker)

1994 U.S. Senior Open Champion Simon Hobday Dies — “I’ll go with the flow, and there will be plenty flowing. You can bet on it.”

Tricky trees to make for unique week in Mexico — “It is very narrow,” world No. 1 Dustin Johnson said before detailing his strategy this week of severely curtailing his use of the driver, normally his best club in the bag.

Major Proposed Changes — All the golf world is abuzz with talk of the proposed changes. The USGA provides a detailed look at each proposal, scheduled to go into effect in 2019.

Summer Golf Course Intern — Country Club in Boothbay, Maine is looking for a Summer Golf Course Intern.

5 Things Not to Do When Bringing Music to the Golf Course — We started hearing music on the course in Maine last summer. As music lovers, it caught our attention. As golf lovers, it distracted us. Will we have to bring our own music this summer to fight fire with fire?

Even New Courses Need To Address Water Use Issues — A Case Study: During a recent bunker renovation, native areas at The Stock Farm were expanded. The project improved playing conditions and helped save water.

And Now For Something Completely Different: THE GRASS IS ALWAYS SCREAMER – Golf Course Aerating Machines Are Terrifying And Mesmerizing [VIDEO] — Aerating golf greens helps keep the playing surfaces in good shape, but honestly, we’re stunned that a Bond villain hasn’t used an aerator as a instrument of pain yet, because, uh, look at this thing.

Golf News for February 22, 2017

February 22, 2017
Easy Game, Hard to Play
Easy Game, Hard to Play

Samoset Seeks Assistant Golf Pro — Seeking an ambitious, highly motivated, customer service driven, and team oriented individual to join our golf staff. Duties include but aren’t limited to the following: customer check in, outside operations, tournament operations, merchandising and Club repair.

Who’s the best in golf? It’s not so easy to say these day — The answer is a lot more difficult now, and it could take years to sort out. It’s not an issue this week. The top six players in the world — all of them can reach No. 1 by the end of the month — are not playing the Honda Classic. All of them will be in Mexico City next week for the first World Golf Championships event, a tournament that was scheduled to be played at Trump Doral, as it was in the past.

The history of the Official World Golf Ranking’s No. 1 spot in 13 eye-popping numbers — Most of the names are obvious, but some (Lee Westwood?) might surprise you. In any event, GolfDigest dug deeper into this elite club and found 13 numbers that stood out.

PGA of America chief Pete Bevacqua has a new role: golf sidekick to President Trump — The PGA of America has two of its events scheduled for Trump courses, the Senior PGA Championship in May and the PGA Championship in 2022. Trump and the Trump Organization would gladly welcome more PGA of America events.

Setting the Proper Course For a Two-Tee Match — Just one extra calculation is needed to correctly allocate handicap strokes for players competing against each other from different sets of tees.

“We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Hole” — And after the round, everyone gets a participation trophy!

Anna Reviews Golf Slang —

Golf News for February 21, 2017

February 21, 2017
rory and trump
Garry Singer, President Trump, Rory McIlroy and Paul O’Neill

Great Donald Ross Golf Courses Everyone Can Play — The authors estimate that there are over 315 golf courses in existence in the U.S. that Ross had a hand in designing. There are nine courses in Maine, most are private: Lucerne Golf Course in Dedham; Portland Country Club in Falmouth; Lake Kezar Country Club in Lovell; Augusta Country Club, Manchester; Cape Neddick Country Club in York; Penobscot Valley Country Club; Poland Spring Golf Course; York Golf & Tennis Country Club; and Biddeford Saco Country Club in Saco.

Banks With Interest — Have you ever found yourself asking why there is a strip of unkempt grass surrounding a pond? Or, why has the maintenance crew stopped trimming the creek banks? And, why do these areas always eat your golf ball? Next time you see tall plants bordering water features do not be too quick to condemn these areas and instead appreciate the environmental benefits they provide and the added interest they bring a golf course.

The Nine Most Eagerly Awaited New Golf Courses Of 2017 — We’re all gonna need a bigger Bucket List!

Golf tip: Side hill lie can cause frustration — First of all, a ball above your feet will move more right to left because of the lie. The ball will also tend to travel further. Using less club is advised.

Rory McIlroy rates Donald Trump’s golf game ‘decent’ after practice round — McIlroy has targeted the WGC-Mexico Championship on Mar. 2 for his comeback — an event which was moved from Trump National Doral to Mexico City and renamed from the WGC-Cadillac Championship last June.

Royal St. George’s to host 2020 British Open — The event will visit Royal Birkdale this year before heading to Carnoustie in 2018 and then to Northern Ireland for the first time in more than 60 years as Royal Portrush plays host in 2019.

Golf News for February 19, 2017

February 19, 2017
Indy Putter
The Indianapolis putter, which retails for about $400, can be purchased in April at the Brickyard Crossing Golf Club, the course inside and next to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

We Could See a Change at the Top of the World Today — Dustin Johnson could take the World No. 1 spot with a win at the Genesis Open.

PGA Pro Rodgers Ties Family’s Indy Legacy to Golf with Putter — When he reaches into his golf bag today, his new putter appropriately bears the name “Indianapolis” with an art deco 1920s race car logo on the bottom of the flange.

Rules Throwback: 1919- Rules of Golf Illustrated — The link provides a look at some pages from a book called “The Illustrated Rules of Golf and the Etiquette of the Game” that was published in the United States in 1919. It includes some humorous illustrations and highlights some fascinating differences between the Rules at that time and the Rules today.

BMP Planning Guide and Template offered by Golf Course Superintendents Association of America — The BMP Planning Guide and Template is a big step toward the initiative to have golf courses in all 50 states adopt science-based agronomic practices that support proactive environmental stewardship of the land. The template, covering key areas such as nutrient use, drought and water management, integrated pest management and others, is available at www.gcsaa.org/bmp.

 

Golf News for February 9, 2017

February 10, 2017
Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Cracking The Code Of Equipment’s Most Enduring Urban Legends – Yes, it works, but DO NOT put vaseline on your club face!

For Bill Schmedes, Teaching is a Labor of Love – A brief stop in Maine, and then on to becoming one of the best young teaching pros in the nation.

Trump’s Role As President May Be Boosting His Brand’s Reputation – Maine Public Radio’s perturbation that Trump’s brand may benefit from his presidency.

Abe Hopes to Avoid Landing in Rough in Golf Outing with Trump – At The Golf of Maine, we wholeheartedly endorse the concept of conducting important foreign policy meetings on the golf course.

Golf Channel Announces New, “Definitive Film” on Jack Nicklaus to Premier Following the Masters – If you enjoyed the 2014 post-Master’s airing of “Arnie,” you’re likely going to enjoy this year’s airing of “Jack.”

Winter Wonderland Or Winter Woes? – The USGA provides a number of links that do not only go into depth about why golfers should not be on a frosty golf course. They also show that the conflict between frosty conditions and golfers goes way back…

Bill Murray Invites Fans to Join him on the Golf Course – Give us this day our daily Bill Murray… Bid on a round with Carl Spackler

Phil Mickelson Buying Arizona Golf Course – Trade ’em, Collect ’em, Play ’em!

The Golf Industry Weighs the Good & Bad with a President Trump – “When it’s all said and done,” said the PGA’s Levy, “having a golfer in the White House is better for the game of golf than not having a golfer in the White House, period.”

Golf News for February 8, 2017

February 10, 2017
Bath Golf Club
Bath Golf Club

Bath Golf Club Promises Changes Under New Management – “Beyond the basic cosmetic improvements, we are excited to announce the opening of the Ship City Brew Pub. We will open early this year for golfers and the public. Big TVs, pool tables, a beautiful new rustic bar with a fresh menu.”

Quick Look at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am – Forty-seven CEOs, along with a potpourri of chairmen, presidents, managing directors and founding partners. Nine actors, seven musicians, three comedians and a few “entertainers” (one goes by the initials J.T. Evidently, he both sings and dances). A collection of current and former big-name athletes, as well as two football coaches. One of them won the Super Bowl a few days ago.

What they use: Greens in Regulation Percentage – Each week during the season, PGATOUR.COM‘s Equipment Report highlights the top five players in a statistical category, and the equipment they used to get to the top.

Heading south: Maine’s Cole Anderson (2019) commits to Florida State – Camden Regional High’s Cole Anderson is heading south to play his college golf – way south. The 16-year-old 2019 recruit from Camden, Maine, has verbally committed to Florida State.

Golf club not allowing women members may cost it 2020 Tokyo Olympics event – Martha Burke could not be reached for comment…

Yonkers golf cart injury may cost county $1.6M – Course employee allegedly runs over patron at county-run golf course in Westchester County, settlement proves costly.

Use The Big Muscles To Launch Your Drives – The best news is, the average guy drives it only 219 yards, which means that sometimes we rise to the level of average!

Crews rescue 22 from flooded golf course – The entire course was ruled a water hazard…

Second Annual Greater New England Golf Expo Held this Weekend – On February 11-12, The Center of New Hampshire Expo Center at the Radisson in Manchester will once again host The Second Annual Greater New England Golf Expo.

Golf News for February 3, 2017

February 9, 2017
QG Contest - Ryan vs. Brady (Getty Images/Angus Murray)
QG Contest – Ryan vs. Brady (Getty Images/Angus Murray)

Tiger Woods withdraws from Dubai Desert Classic due to back spasms – Yesterday may have been Groundhog Day, but we feel as if we’ve seen this headline before

Atlanta vs. New England: Who wins the golf battle? – The predicted winner? New England wins the golf competition—and the Super Bowl—by a 27-23 score.

Valley law enforcement agencies enforcing breathalyzers at Scottsdale golf tournament – Waste Management Open yields large field of wasted drivers

Man found stabbed to death near Lauderhill golf course – Wicked slice!

What do you love about golf? – Waxing philosophic… This summer, let’s all endeavor to laugh more on the course!

Broken Sound is Recipient of the GCSAA 2017 Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards – An annual award presented by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, Broken Sound is the only Southeastern U.S. winner