While superintendents do their best to describe the various maintenance practices that take place on a golf course, golfers and decision-makers sometimes have a hard time fully understanding until they see the practices for themselves. Scott Lewis, superintendent at Menlo Country Club in Woodside, California, recognized this issue and scheduled a fairway aeration demonstration for the green committee's March meeting. The course’s new fairway aerator, core pulverizer and sand topdressing machine were on full display while Lewis described what each machine did, how each piece of equipment would be deployed, how long each process would take and why fairway aeration was important for long-term playability. Committee members asked many good questions during the demonstration, and it was a good opportunity for Lewis and his team to interact with the committee and answer questions. The demonstration was combined with a USGA Course Consulting Service visit that gave an overall view of golf course maintenance programs and included a talk by Dave Kaplow, a native grass expert who has been helping the course. The afternoon was fun, informative and very interactive.
West Region Agronomists:
Patrick J. Gross, regional director – pgross@usga.org
Larry W. Gilhuly, agronomist – lgilhuly@usga.org
Brian S. Whitlark, agronomist – bwhitlark@usga.org
Blake Meentemeyer, agronomist – bmeentemeyer@usga.org
Information on the USGA’s Course Consulting Service