Similar to my early days on the caddie rail at Baltusrol Golf Club, waiting patiently for my first loop, I’ve bided my time, waiting patiently for a more significant assignment beyond filling/leveling divots and collecting debris. I have been comfortable paying my dues, earning my keep, proving my salt and showing management that I am reliable, punctual, trustworthy and responsible with their equipment!
Surprisingly enough, it didn’t take terribly long until I was on top of one of our two Turfcat Rough Mowers (Blades Down /Star on the Rise), knocking down the high, deep rough between holes and the outer fringes of the golf course, in addition to taking care of the tee areas of our circular eight-station driving range.
Weeks later, additional assignments started coming my way.
Please allow me to set the stage. Around 5:45 in the morning, members of the Grounds Crew begin to assemble in the lunch room of our Maintenance Building. Somewhere between 5:45 and 6:00, each Crew member reviews one of the three white boards (one for each of the three courses) detailing individual assignments for the day. Once received, Crew members waste little time, exiting the rear of the building, heading off to their specific assignment. Typically there is a primary and secondary assignment for each Crew member. The primary assignments ready the golf course for our early morning patrons, including but not limited to filling water coolers, emptying trash, setting tee markers, mowing tees / fairways / approaches / greens, cutting cups and grooming traps. The secondary assignments include filling / leveling divots, edging, weeding, trimming, rough mowing and spot spraying.
I have been assigned to our nine-hole Short Course and Driving Range to serve my apprenticeship. I equate my Short Course responsibilities to playing Major League Baseball at the “AAA” level, waiting to be called up to the “Big Show”!
Assignments to Date:
TCT (Tees/Coolers/Trash) (Primary Assignment): Hopping into a Club Car Turf 2 Carryall work cart, heading straight out onto the golf course, gathering coolers, immediately returning to the Maintenance Building, filling the coolers with ice/water and returning the coolers to their designated locations. When that is done, driving out to the first tee box followed by all subsequent tee boxes, collecting trash and relocating/realigning tee markers to coordinate with the pin placement for the day.
Challenge: Attempting to not dump over the full coolers in the cart, having to return to the Maintenance Building in shame, to start all over again. I am personally familiar with this experience!
Spot Spraying Goosegrass (Secondary Assignment): Utilizing a backpack sprayer, spot spraying a blue concentrate onto individual tufts of goosegrass on the putting surfaces. The concentrate kills the goosegrass, allowing the Bermuda grass to fill into the affected areas.
“Goosegrass is a difficult to control, warm-weather, resilient weed that can be identified by tufts of grass and thick, finger-like leaf blades. Goosegrass likes to germinate in compacted areas where there is a lot of foot traffic (i.e. athletic fields and golf courses). This grass is unattractive and difficult to mow”. –Keith’s Pro Tips (Solutions Pest and Lawn)
Challenge: Attempting to not dump the contents of the backpack sprayer onto the green, killing the entire putting surface! I am not personally familiar with this experience!
Buffalo Turbine Blower (Primary Assignment): This is an absolute cream puff of an assignment, towing a powerful Buffalo Turbine Blower throughout our vast labyrinth of cart paths, removing pine needles and debris prior to play.
Challenge: Attempting to not blow over an unsuspecting patron by utilizing a remote control to spin the turbine blower cylinder away from our patrons. Unfortunately, I have inadvertently spun the turbine blower cylinder in the direction of the patrons, creating a mini tornado on the 1st tee box!
Cutting/Changing Cups (Primary Assignment): Utilizing a hole-cutter, cutting a new hole in the green in accordance with the designated pin placement. Taking the circular piece of Bermuda grass and dirt out of a new hole and filling the old hole with the same, followed by setting the flagstick in the new hole so the flagstick is perfectly straight.
Challenge: Insuring the old hole is level with the green, the grain of the Bermuda grass is consistent with its new location and the flagstick is straight. This process is fairly straightforward. The old hole is either level with the green or it is not. Similarly, the flagstick is either straight or it is not. The grain component can be tricky!
To date, I have been pleased with my progress; however, I remain hopeful that I will someday be assigned to more meaningful tasks that involve mechanical equipment and the actual playing surfaces, including tee boxes, fairways, approaches and greens.
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The back nine can only get better!
This was a really good read, Jim. Keep ‘em coming!
Love your stories my friend!!!