University of Tennessee Turfgrass Field Day

I attended the University of Tennessee's Fall 2009 Turfgrass Research Field Day on Thursday, September 3rd. Afterwards I now feel compelled to write about what an informative experience it was for me.

First off, I must say how professionally the event was staged and run. From ease of finding the site, to directed parking and simple registration. The field day ran smoothly from a logistics standpoint for me from beginning to end.

Secondly, I attended the golf turf presentations, and all I can say is I wish that I had attended in the past when I still had a golf course. What I learned in the course of a morning about greens' turfgrass health was more than I had probably learned in over 30 years of being involved in golf course operations. Not only would attending in the past have been very educational, the knowledge gained could have saved me a tremendous amount of time and money that I spent on fighting for the health of my greens. The professors that gave the lectures I attended were articulate and concise, but also very approachable when it came to questions and comments. They all were at ease and really seemed to enjoy what they were doing.

I commend Dr. Jim Brosnan for a job well done. Events such as this are beneficial to all that are involved in turfgrass management. I am looking forward to the Spring and another outing and I hope all of you that read this will think the same and sign up for the next UT Turfgrass Research Field Day. It will definitely be worth your while!

To Buy New or Used, That is the Question

I am sure everyone is getting tired of hearing the words "in this economy", but actually we are still in a recession and businesses are still struggling to make ends meet. This brings me to my topic of the day. Is there value and/or savings in buying used equipment for your golf course operation? In my years of experience at golf operations, I have been part of buying many dollars worth of both new and used equipment. I can see both sides of the coin.

In my earliest years at a golf course, and working with my father as a youngster, I watched him buy mostly new equipment. New carts, and new turf equipment. This was the late 1960's. Dad's reasoning for the new purchase I think was twofold. One, in that time period there were really very few true used equipment dealers in the marketplace. You were hard pressed to find many buying outlets for good used equipment. Most of what you could find was basically "junk for parts". I know Dad had just such a graveyard of equipment that he cannibalized to keep his other machines running. Two, although Dad had a competent staff at his golf operation, he really didn't have a strong mechanic type to work on his down or ailing equipment. Because of this, I think he was weary of buying older used machines.

In my adult years in the golf business, I began to buy a substantial amounts of used equipment. My reasoning was gleaned from what I learned from my father and the changing used equipment market. Firstly, the superintendent I hired was not only a good egronomist, he was also an excellent mechanic. We purchased used equipment that he knew well and could fix and maintain. Having a strong mechanic was a money saving investment for us. Secondly, there are so many reputable used equipment outlets in the marketplace now that a person should have no worries when buying used. Many manufacturers now have used outlets where courses can buy the traded and leased equipment they own. Also, there are many large used equipment dealers out there that have been in business for many years. This longevity shows me they are selling equipment of the highest standards or they wouldn't still be in business.

In closing I say this. If your course can afford to buy new equipment within the budget, by all means I think that is the way to go. But; if your operation is not in that financial place, and you have a good mechanic on your staff the used equipment market of today offers many viable, economical and safe alternatives to new equipment. The choice is yours.

Oh where, oh where has the Transition Zone gone?

Two things always seem to get into my blogs; my age and my father. Both again are relevant to this post. When I was a kid 35 years ago, and my father was in the golf course business, I learned the lessons of growing grass in the "Transition Zone".

My father's course had bluegrass/fescue fairways and bentgrass greens. Now this course (Lake Tansi of old) was not built to USGA specs. It was basically push up greens and tees, and fairways were just cleared land. I remember the yearly diseases that dad would have, but I never remember his superintendent fighting heat related stress to any extent back then. In that same time frame I remember a vast bermudagrass winterkill in winter 1977-1978 all the way to Memphis. My whole point of this paragraph is: cool weather grasses thrived when I was young in the East Tennessee mountains, warm weather grasses were not even a remote possibility.

Fast forward to the summer of 2008, July. The 7th and final year I had a golf course. We had finally given up on keeping bluegrass/fescue tees healthy in the summer heat, stripped the tee sod on 12 of 18 holes in the spring and replaced it with bermudagrass. I don't know what strain as it was growing wild in our 18th fairway. The tees thrived the whole year. They had never been healthier. This year is the same story. They are no longer my responsibility, but they are perfect.

My quandry is this. I want to know from our superintendents out there if this story is an exception or the rule. Has the Transition Zone moved north due to global warming, 100,000 year heating trends,el nino, etc. or were warm weather grasses always welcome in the northern part of the south?

This is a subject I would love to discuss and have not been able to find anything on the internet. Please let me hear of your experiences with the "Transition Zone".

Thanks for the Golf Lesson Dad

My father, Sam Hicks Sr., PGA Golf Professional, passed away just over a month ago on May 29, 2009 at the age of 84. He died peacefully in his own bed at home surrounded by his family. Dad's last 2 years of life were filled with hospitals, office visits, medication and almost constant pain and discomfort, but he never complained. He met every new physical challenge that befell him with a fortitude I think few people could muster. He was the ultimate fighter, competitor and gentleman.

My experiences on the golf course with Dad ran the gamut. We were usually at each others' throats because of our passion for the game. More importantly though, I had to keep dad away from other peoples' throats because of his passion to play quickly! It was always an adventure to play with my father. You didn't have to worry about a boring 18 holes.

One of the last times I played with my father was just before his health began to deteriorate. I was only going to play a few holes with him because, at the time, I thought my business ( the golf course we were playing) was much more important than actually playing with Dad, and boy did he let me know how he felt about that! He said to me "Sammy this G** D*** golf course business will be here tomorrow, you and I might not. Relax and enjoy your life a little. Plus, I want to beat your a**!" Well I relaxed a little, and he beat my a** a lot!

My father is gone now, but the lesson he gave me that day has continued to influence my life tremendously. Nothing is more important to me now than the people whom I love and cherish, and the time I can spend with them. No more wasting precious hours and minutes on superfluous monetary endeavors. Thanks for the lesson Dad! It really helped my game!

Golf in the 21st century.

I'm a former PGA club pro extremely close to my 50th birthday. I have been playing golf since I was 3 years old, growing up on a resort course where my father was the pro. I have seen a great many changes in the game in the last 45 years. One not so good in my mind.

When I was a kid, golf could not be mastered with equipment alone. Granted you still have to learn to play, but the learning plateaus are so much shorter now. When I was a senior in high school (1977) breaking 80 would very likely put you in the high school state championship tournament. Now the kids are progressing so quickly you have to shoot around par to be an individual qualifier. Do the kids take it more seriously now and practice more than 30 years ago? Maybe a higher percentage do, but still the equipment has made the game almost too simple. Not necessarily to score, but to strike the ball purely. I am all for enjoying the game and achieving lower scores , but seeing 16 and 17 year old kids turning pro and actually having the game but not the mental maturity to compete is somewhat frightening. I long for the days of a slow learning process and a stronger feeling of accomplishment. Where the combination of your physical game and mental game was an aging process. Now MY age is showing!