New H-2B Worker Laws In Effect

As I have begun hiring for the upcoming seasonal staff, many members who were here during 2006-2008 ask about the Hispanic laborers we used from the H-2B Visa program under the previous superintendent Mark Mixdorf.  The program was designed to help businesses that couldn't attract a sufficient labor force from local workers.  It allowed us to bring 12 workers from Mexico into Ohio legally as seasonal laborers provided we could show that no local workers were willing to do the job. 

With the state of the economy in 2008 along with several changes to the H-2B program, we were no longer able to prove need for outside labor, which forced us to discontinue use of the program.  I have had no trouble finding local people or students in need of work to fill the seasonal positions we have available on my staff.  We are generally overwhelmed with applications whether I solicit or not. 

Four years later, I still get asked about the Hispanic workers and if we could get them back.  They did a great job and many members appreciated the hard work these guys did for the club.  I have kept in touch with a couple of them over the years, and they still speak fondly of their time here. 

Now, the government has overhauled the law again.  Wages, worker protections, job posting requirements and quotas have all been changed.  With these changes in place, combined with the continued robust unemployment levels, I highly doubt that our little club will ever be in a position to use the program again.  A great deal of clubs and other industries rely heavily on these workers to fill a gap in available labor, especially in industries such as resorts and factories.  While we have a steady supply of willing laborers, I am very happy to put Americans to work and hopefully help the local economy.

The link below outlines the details in the adjustments to the law:

http://www.dol.gov/whd/immigration/H2BFinalRule/index.htm

A New Year, a New Look and a new mobile format!

The stable of nerds at Google have made it ridiculously easy for techno-idiots like me to make their personal blogs look and work much better.  Considering this is a free service, I am amazed at how much effort they put into making our experience better.

I figured that as the golf season nears, I would update the look a little and get ready for another year.  I even got a new picture of me that's a little more professional and a little less "Gorton's Fisherman".  If you are a new member or just new to the maintenance blog, I try to post pictures, links, or information from once to twice a week depending on how mouthy I am feeling in a given week or what all is happening on the course that may be of interest. 

Also, I have been able to format the blog for mobile device use!  Again a free service of Google Blogger.  Type the normal web address into your mobile browser and you will find a mobile device-friendly format for easy viewing.

A little knowledge from back home

As many of you know, I am originally from the Pacific Northwest, more specifically the greater Seattle, WA area.  As I was browsing some industry articles, I came across one from my previous USGA regional agronomist back home and was suprised to see pictures of Safeco Field (home of the Seattle Mariners).  After wondering what my USGA agronomist was doing looking at sports turf, I read the article and realized it carried a great message about shade. 

The amount of turf on a baseball field isn't very much compared to a golf course, but every inch of it must be perfect at all times (at least until the end of September since the Mariners can't seem to play baseball in October).  Even with the amount of time, money, and scrutiny they give the field, they still struggle mightily with shade from the grandstands.  Despite underground heating and cooling systems and perfect drainage and a retractable roof, the lack of sun will still kick your ass. 

As a result, the crew at Safeco is experimenting with portable lights to "sun" the portions of turf that have in years past struggled and required re-sodding.  This brings me to my ultimate point-shade makes growing grass difficult.  Even in a relatively controlled environment in a part of the country where summer stress doesn't really exist in most years, they can't grow it in the shade.

So please read the article, it's not very long.   Keep in mind the double-edged sword that are trees on the golf course, and maybe think twice if you see me thinning or removing tree canopy before cussing me out.

http://www.usga.org/course_care/regional_updates/regional_reports/northwest/Seeing-The-Light---January-2012/

Some very big trees hitting the ground - Don't panic, they aren't on the golf course.

Any of you living near the golf course probably heard the shrill buzzing of chainsaws for most of the day today.   Right in the middle of our compound back here are 3 gigantic cottonwood trees that have become serious safety hazards due to their size.  About 6 years ago, one of them let go of a limb that totalled my car!  As you will see in the below pictures, the trees are about 120 feet or taller, and as is typical with cottonwoods, the limbs in the highest portion of the tree are extremely large.  Many well over a foot in diameter. 

Every season, we have a few close calls with large limbs landing in or around the compound.  The area under these trees is where our employees park their cars, our dirt and materials are handled and stored, and the turnaround is used by any vehicle traffic that passes through our area.  In other words, it's a high traffic area.

Also, with the future of our compound hopefully involving some expansion and improvements (material handling bins, new septic field, moving of fuel tanks from behind #8 green etc.) it will really open up the space and make the possibilities endless.  Also, we won't miss the insane amount of leaves and "cotton" that these trees deposit each year in and around our buildings and equipment. 

There is a fourth tree that will be coming down that is large and currently leaning over one of our buildings.  A ticking time-bomb as it were.

Most importantly, you won't miss them from any important view on the golf course!

As you can see, they are not small trees.

The limbs are large and create a dangerous canopy over our entire parking and staging area.

The large oak tree that seems to lean a little closer to our building each year.

The trees don't even really block the shop area from view.  We won't miss the huge amount of leaves and "cotton" that litter our shop every year.

Winter work continues.

It would appear that winter has finally decided to visit, if but for a short stretch.  With that, the crew is still busy with their usual winter tasks.  I spent a great deal of time last year discussing the types of things that happen down here in a normal winter, so in an effort not to bore my normal readers, I will spend less time on that topic this winter.  If you are new to the blog and want to see pics of all the sanding, painting, and wrenching in a fascinating step-wise montage, feel free to access last winter's blog posts through the links on the side of the screen.

For the new readers who haven't had a snapshot into the winter shop work, below is just a little taste of all the excitement that goes on in our little garage during the winter.  While this is far from the crew's favorite type of work (they'd much rather be outside) it is so very important to ensure our equipment runs smoothly and reliably throughout the golf season.  An ounce of prevention...yadda yadda yadda.

Just like a top-notch mechanic - buy him brand new fairway mowers and he takes the bloody things apart!  Art and Jason are installing a new 'down pressure' kit to hopefully improve the quality of cut on the new machines.  Also, it allows our mechanic to make sure everything down to the last screw is greased, tightened, cleaned, and/or marked to his liking.

The greens mowers also get completely disassembled for maintenance and sharpening.  All chains, bearings, seals, belts, and cables are checked, replaced as necessary, greased to the gills, painted, and reassembled.

Here is a floor board from one of our old fairway mowers that we are stretching another season out of.  The holes and rust are just what happens over years of operation.  This floorboard will be replaced with sheet steel fabricated and welded by our mechanic.  Now hopefully nobody will put their feet through the floor.

Ohio Golf Courses Struggled in 2011..........DUH!!

Below is a link to Cleveland.com where they interviewed the head of the Northern Ohio PGA Section about the struggles in the golf market this past year.  While it was certainly a difficult year for the golf industry as a whole, I did NOT know that Ohio was the hardest hit in terms of rounds played.  While we weren't as bad off in terms of overall revenue, we were by far the leader in rounds lost relative to the previous season.
I believe that a part of this is directly related to the economy in general.  Unemployment is high yadda yadda yadda.  Overall, however, the weather was by far a bigger component.  Spring and fall had record rains, and the summer had record heat.  Not a recipe for great golf activity.

Highland Meadows had the lowest rounds in years, but near the top for the entire area.  This is a great testament to our dedicated and active membership.  Let's hope for a better 2012!

Click the link below to get the hard numbers:

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2012/01/rain_soaking_golf_courses_in_2.html

An Important Message

There aren't too many things I worry about, but one of them happens to be skin cancer.  I work outside, the people who work for me work outside, and we are exposed to the sun more than the average person.  I will harass my crew about sunscreen and hats every chance I get, but I'm not sure I've done enough over the years. 

Pat Jones, one of the prominent voices in the golf industry (whose articles, facebook posts, and blogs I highly recommend reading to golf industry people and golfers), posted the video below in facebook land this week.  It's your standard-issue public service-type commercial with a very dramatic overtone, but the message is simple - Don't be scared, but be aware.

Watch the video below and take the advice.  My doctor is happy to look me over for potential melanoma even when I just visit to get my asthma prescription renewed.  Between that and self-checks, you can do a lot to catch things early. 

When you are out on the course this summer or with your kids at the pool, be careful not to over-expose yourself, and for crying-out-loud put some damn sunscreen on.



Happy New Year!

2012 is here, and I am attacking things with a fresh perspective. A few years ago, my new year's work resolutions were mostly related to safety. I am continuing to work with the Ohio Bureau of Workman's Comp to develop safety and worker injury protocols that will help us be more efficient and have fewer accidents. Also, I will team with the clubhouse to make these policies work for the club as a whole.

For 2012, I am going to make more effort to address some of the environmental issues that face our course, our industry as a whole, and our planet. Issues such as fertilizer restrictions, EPA pesticide permitting guidelines, water use, fuel use, and others are at the forefront of the new 'sustainability' initiatives that our profession is working to implement. Being at the forefront of these issues will help my profession AND this club be more environmentally aware and financially successful in the future.

Below is a link to the recent issue of the USGA green section. At the top of this weeks issue is a link to an interesting article about "purple gold". Reclaimed water runs through purple pipes, and is becoming more widely used throughout areas of the country. I have been asked several times by members if we use reclaimed water, usually in the spring after members visit courses in the southern areas of the US during the winter where reclaimed or effluent water is used.

Fresh water is only becoming more scarce as the years go by and the population continues to boom. I feel that the future will require more stringent water use guidelines and effluent or reclaimed water use will be more prevalant across the globe. That being said, even though our area of the country is not currently set up for reclaimed water, we must stay prepared.

Click below for an interesting article on reclaimed water and some other insights from the USGA.

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/USGA-Green-Section-Record--December-16--2011.html?soid=1103157499740&aid=P9DXvH9nuX8

Happy Holidays! Blogging will resume in 2012

With the Holidays upon us, there hasn't been much of anything going on in the maintenance department that is blog-worthy.  Many of the year-round staff use most if not all of their vacation in December to be with family, and it is generally quiet or even vacant here at the shop.  The course weathered the flooding fairly well, and the rain has just continues to keep things a soggy mess.  We have had near all-time record rains for our area this year.

This will probably be my final post for 2011, as I too am headed west to see my family back in Seattle for a few days.  I would like to wish you all a fantastic holiday season and a happy new year.  This was a fabulous year for me and the staff, and we are looking forward to an even better 2012. 

Visit the blog in January for a 'Meet the Crew' segment and some of the winter tasks we have outlined for this year.

Merry Christmas!

The "Model" grass at HMGC

I'm merely posting this to toot my own horn as an amateur photographer.  By "photographer" I mean I take an unbelievable amount of pictures and like the blind squirrell, every now and again I find a keeper.  Well, by mere happenstance, an editor from Superintendent Magazine liked a picture I took of the turf on our #12 approach (I think) so much he put a zoomed in version on their cover for this months issue!  Below is the picture that I took, and below that is the link to superintendent magazine's website where you can see it on the cover.

http://www.superintendentmagazine.com/

Click above to check out your grass in print!  Page 4 of the digital issue has my credit in little tiny print. 

Slowly but surely, the water recedes.

After a record rain capping a record November for precipitation, the course remains flooded for the third straight day.  The creek has certainly crested, but all bridges are more or less impassable yet, and it will be at least a day or more before we can really see what's left behind.  Below are pictures from today.

If there is a positive note to take away from this flood event, I would say that all of our recent infrastructure upgrades to bridges, approaches, and stream banks are holding up great.  As you can see from the pictures below, many areas that were destroyed from the 2008 floods of similar proportion have survived in great shape.

Because of the conditions, the course will be CLOSED all weekend.  We will be open for winter play on temporary greens starting Tuesday, December 6th. 

A little 'stick' left behind on 12 tee.

Fortunately, the bench and ball washer stayed put on 12.

This is today's shot of 11 green, and you can see that the water is no longer on the green.

10 bridge somewhat above water.

The rock protection, new bridge timbers and concrete approach on 10 held up great!

2 bridge was completely under water yesterday.

The new concrete path installed on #2 experienced no erosion.  the 2008 floods completely wiped out the previous asphalt path.

The mats on #9 are a little messed up.

The new concrete approach and rock on 10 holding fast.

#2 concrete path.

The spruce tree base is eroded as usual, but the new raised creek bank held fast with the sod holding on for a change.

How high's the water momma?........

That old Johnny Cash song runs through my head every time we get heavy rains and high water.  Right now, the water is as almost as high as in 2008 4th of july weekend.  11 green is partially under water and all bridges are impassable as of noon on Thursday December 1st.  We have been unable to get to our maintenance building for 2 days now, and hope to get back to work by friday.  See below for some pics from wednesday and thursday that show that the water was still rising.

11 bunker on wednesday, you can still see the sand bags we put out.

10 bridge

1 green on wednesday.

12 tee ball washer and bench on wednesday

1 green

New bunker on 17 thursday morning

The maintenance road in front of the new service bridge.  Not taking my car across that!

Maintenance road thursday morning.

17 bridge.  The tee is in the background, sort of.

New service bridge at its max.

12 tee Thursday, where the ball washer and bench used to be

11 bunker.  Notice you cannot see the sand bags anymore.

water creeping onto 11 green.

10 bridge.

11 and 1 green in the background

11 trap again.

close up of 1 green.  Or at least as close as i'm getting!

Cart Abuse and Greens Closing

After a long holiday week, we are back at it here in the maintenance department.  I apologize for the length of time between posts, but with the holiday I figured people would be busy.  I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and managed to survive Black Friday (or completely avoid it if you are smart he he).  Black Friday was a great day for golf and we did almost 80 rounds here at the club.

Anyways, there is still much to do to the golf course before we are "put to bed" for the winter.  Unfortunately, the heavy rains have put a stop to all of it.  We are still hoping to topdress and fertilize the greens once before the ground freezes, but with conditions as soft as they are, we are unlikely to get that done anytime soon.  Up to 3 more inches of rain appear to be headed our way over the course of this week.

With that, we will instead spend some quality time indoors putting a dent in our winter cart maintenance chores.  Every year, our cart fleet is brought in for winter service.  We will start with a good pressure washing followed with checking and cleaning the front end, brakes and brake pedals.  Afterwards, we will remove all batteries, clean out the battery box, clean the batteries and check the water levels.  Once this is complete, the carts will be put to bed for the year.

Along with this, I would like to comment on the condition of the carts.  I usually spend time talking about the abuse that misused carts can do to the turf, but must turn the tides a bit now.  Your money bought this fleet brand new this year, and with just the FIRST THREE CARTS we brought into the shop, there was significant body damage to the likely tune of a few hundred dollars!!!  I was amazed all season at the regular abuse of carts by our membership.  Bag holders, sand and seed boxes, body panels, and fenders were replaced on many carts this past season, and it seems that there are further damages leftover for the winter. Please take care of your carts while using them on the course!  We will get them fixed this winter, but we should be wary to cause unnecessary damage to our carts as it takes money away from more important things!

Speaking of more important things, the greens will be officially closed as of Monday, December 5th.

Allright, now that I have fininshed ranting, enjoy the rest of Cyber Monday!\



With the batteries removed, there is significant debris, garbage, and battery acid present in these boxes.



Using battery cleaner neutralizes any acid that has built up on the batteries to prevent corrosion and unwanted battery discharge.

After just one season, this battery hold-down rod is already corroded.  Maintenance like this is essential to keep these carts in the best working order possible.

It's always a big team effort to get through 50 carts with this degree of maintenance.

TISK TISK!!  A small hole such as this will require the entire body section to be replaced.

This cart obviously took a heavy hit as the side panels and main body section are no longer aligned.  This and the above picture were the first two in the shop selected at random!!!  There was one more that came in damaged, so the percentages seem to be high for damage this winter. 

"Airzilla"

Sadly, we are getting ever closer to the end of the season.  Just yesterday, we were able to beat the rain and successfully blow out the irrigation system.  As you may or may not know, every year we rent the biggest, nastiest, meanest and most powerful air compressor you can get your hands on, hook it up to our sprinkler system, and blow all of the water out of the pipes.  This will (hopefully) prevent any issues from winter freezing and thawing that may damage our underground pipes.

A look at "Airzilla".  Our 2-ton dump truck struggles to tow it, but it gets the job done in good time.

RIP Sammy Ciralsky. Your spirit will be missed.

Click Here to read Sam's Obituary in the Toledo Blade

Sam Ciralsky, a great person and an employee of Highland Meadows the past three seasons, died last night.  He was battling various health issues, but was an absolute inspiration to our crew.

Sam was a Toledo Golf-Turf mainstay.  He was the owner of Toledo Turf, which supplied parts, service, and golf turf equipment to the Toledo area.  In retirement, he sought me out to find part time work.  He mowed fairways and rough, and was an absolute pleasure to have in the shop.  Despite his sometimes poor health, he always smiled, and would often spend time in the lunchroom telling stories from the good old days. 

A few weeks ago, Sam was forced to leave his position to take care of some health issues, but always swore he would return.  Just two weeks after his surgery was the last time I spoke with him, and he made sure to remind me that he would be back in no time to help us put the course to bed.  Sam wasn't one to tell us all the details of his condition, he wanted things to be happy and fun all the time.

Sam will be missed.  His spirit was amazing.  He was an active family man, a hard worker, and he brightened all of our lives here at Highland Meadows.  Sammy, we will miss you.

The Donald

Well, I apologize for not blogging much over the last couple of weeks.  We have been suprisingly busy here in the maintenance department.  Fairways have been punched, the sun has been shining (until today) and while golf rounds are high, my staff is pretty low.  We have only a handful of guys left for the season, so you may spot me on a tractor now and again.

Also, one of my suppliers took me out of town for 3 days to visit a production facility, meet with other superintendents using their products, visit some top-notch golf courses, and network with peers from the Carolinas to Canada.  It was an interesting and educational trip.  I won't bore you with all the 'turf nerd' stuff from the trip, but one of the facilities we toured was Trump National Golf Club.  Overall, a spectacular facility built on the rolling estate of former automotive mogul John Delorean.  The club (using Delorean's old mansion and outbuildings) and golf course were amazing.  My favorite part of the trip had to be when we toured their maintenance facility, I found out that Donald Trump will put his name on everything, even spray equipment.  (See pic below)

Gotta love the Donald.  For better or worse, he keeps it interesting.

Squish Squish

It seems the fall has decided to mimic the spring in terms of weather.  Continued wet stretches of weather have all but crippled efforts to get our usual fall work done without damaging the golf course.  Conditions have forced us thus far to postpone fairway aerification, mowing, and other cleanup tasks.  We are always cautious this time of year since any damage will likely persist until spring.

While you are getting in your last few rounds of golf for the year, please bear with us while we are hindered by these conditions.  Combined with a smaller staff and mornings shortened by frost, it can be difficult to get everything done to the course that we would like to make for perfect playing conditions.  Bunkers cannot be fully raked daily, and we are only able to mow fairways, tees, and greens when conditions allow.

Let's just all hope for some better weather so we can all get out and enjoy the course.

A little fall tree work

Fall tree work began today.  Thanks again to our little insect friend the Emerald Ash Borer, there were a few dead ash trees remaining on the golf course that needed to come down.  I cannot stress enough how important it is to get these things on the ground as they pose a serious threat to the golfers, neighbors, and golf course structures.  The trees we took down today were all dead except for one seriously decayed sassafrass tree that obstructed our ability to remove the dead tree.  These trees had been dead for at least 2 seasons, and they were all in key areas from a safety standpoint.  Fortunately, none of them were trees that impacted the play of the course in any way.

Trees were removed on 2, 3, 15, 6, and along our maintenance drive near #8.  The trees on #2 and #3 were along the fenceline and leaned towards our neighbors.  I needn't remind you that dead trees are a legal liability which the club would be accountable for should they fall and destroy a structure or worse yet hurt somebody.  The dead tree on the left of 15 was leaning towards the green, and the tree between #6 and 16 tees was very large and had already dropped a dead limb right onto the cart path ealier this season which made for an obvious safety concern.  Overall, the trees will not be missed as integral golf course features.  We are finally on the downhill side of our ash removal.  Most of the dead ash trees that remain reside in our perimeter wooded areas.

After this batch is cleaned up, we will make our usual tour of the golf course and remove a handfull of dead pines as well.  The most obvious will be #9 and #16, which have been obvious eyesores for the majority of the season.

The tree on 3 leaning towards the fence line.

The telltale bark discoloration from the ash borer.

The base of the tree rotted and covered with ash borer 'trails'

The crazy tree company hanging from the boom.

The tree on #6 was tricky and took the full length of the boom to access it.  Several limbs had to be removed from neighboring trees since it was grown up through several of them.

Reaching the dead tree on #6 tee.

Evidence of insect destruction.

Tree company way up on #3