THE ARMY KNIFE of TURF HERBICIDES an Employee-Owned
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THE ARMY KNIFE OF TURF HERBICIDES Qumctorac Sulferàazà 2.4-D. dime line salt .. 12.02% Dioamhs, d damine salt 1.38% 80.22% TOTAL 10000% '••S*9tim#wcafî)0xy!»c as«i swr gaUon or 5 •WW»»»«»*! èaWjaMSW « 9.9feW .•«ate« pie tifo«« i tS-i Of REACH Of CHILDREN CAUTION An Employee-Owned Company 800-821-7925 • pbigordon.com/q4 ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL DIRECTIONS 00610 G4™ is a registered trademark of PBI/Gordon Corp. U.S. Patent 6,849,579 www.golfcourseindustry.com/readerservice - #59 CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT "Our Caterpillar skid steer had fixed front ment are used daily. They're used every time patience is worth the payoff." and rear wheels," Girardi says. "To steer it, you we do construction, literally. It's taken so much While Girardi is pleased with the success had to skid - that's why they call it a skid steer - of the burden off one John Deere 210 backhoe. of his past construction projects, he's not one and it really dug up our turf. The A300 options We hardly even use the backhoe now." to rest on his laurels. In three of the past four were far superior. It's steerable, which means Girardi plans to replace his backhoe in the years, the club has been rebuilding its greens the tires rotate, versus a typical skid steer in coming year, but his two Bobcat machines have slowly to USGA specs. At his next membership which the tires are locked in one position." bought him time. meeting, Girardi plans to propose to regrass the Girardi decided to purchase the Bobcat skid "We have just the right amount of equip- remainder of his Poa annualbentgrass greens in steer and mini excavator, which were funded ment," he says. "I use my Bobcat machines for one fell swoop, commencing mid-September by the club's $200,000 capital expenditure general golf course construction, mainly little 2009. He hopes to complete the job by late budget. Bobcat of Connecticut sold Girardi projects. We're not doing heavy-duty, earth- May 2010 and will reciprocate membership the A300 and the 435 for a bundle price and moving stuff with it. We use it for drainage in the early season with six to eight clubs in allowed him to trade in his Caterpillar skid work, to haul material and load trucks and for the area. steer for an additional discount. The dealer did attachment work - stump grinding, trench And that's not the only buildathon Girardi a wonderful job of working with Rockrimmon work and carpath maintenance repair." has up his sleeve. He's also planning a com- to come up with a competitive price, Girardi Construction at Rockrimmon hasn't taken plete renovation of Rockrimmon's creeks and says. He couldn't be happier about the return a major toll on play in years past. Girardi has ponds, including banks, bridges and culverts value of his investments. tried to minimize course disturbance by begin- - a multimillion-dollar renovation that will be "The A300 and 435 have been wonderful ning renovations as late as possible in the fall contracted out. machines and operate flawlessly for us," he and completing them by early spring. For Girardi and Rockrimmon, the quest for says. "Because we're a golf course upgrading "We've been fortunate to have an acquies- perfection, it seems, will continue for years our property constantly, these pieces of equip- cent membership," he says. "They know their to come. GCI To maximize his maintenance budget, Tony Girardi, CGCS, outsources major construction projects and focuses on daily course maintenance with his staff. Photo: Rockrimmon Country Club Your Milliken Emerald Isle sales representative can tailor a True Foliar® Nutrition Program that meets your needs and the demands of those ever-so-picky golfers. With Revolutionary Turf Nutrition™ and Tank Mix Easy™ programs, we've got your checklist covered. Now is the time to make Milliken your nutrition partner. Ask for your copy of Keeping it Green VI— new for 2008. www.millikenturf.com © Copyright 2008 Milliken & Company. All rights reserved. Tim Moraghan is principal of Aspire Golf Consulting in Long Valley, N.J. He can be reached at TOURNAMENT INSIDER [email protected] or 908-635-2928. Not for this championship. Golf course MOWING-PATTERN APPEAL Asuperintendent Paul Ramina met with LPGA staff and outlined a plan accept- 1 watched February's Pebble Beach o'clock, to set the line of cut to the middle able to the organization for this format. 0event on television and noticed the of the fairway. However, watching the re- Addressing mowing patterns, Ramina fairway mowing appeared to produce a cent professional event at Riviera Country reviewed each hole to decide what mowing diamond-cutting pattern pointing to the Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., teeing pattern would best highlight the course's putting surface. Is this done by request? grounds were cut left to right. Why? architecture. He considered how his mow- Is this the regular pattern? How does the ing pattern would be seen through the eyes superintendent plan for this practice? Riviera, which is a George Thomas of competitors and wanted to highlight the A design, has a classic, subtle look. Golf design by pursuing the less-is-better option The PGA Tour doesn't require fairways course superintendent Matt Morton would and reducing the busy look. Ato be mowed in a certain way. However, prefer to accentuate Rivera's design quali- When it came to mowing, Ramina it prefers no mower stripes be aligned with ties rather than overstripe the golf course implemented two practices. First, a a player's shot. The resulting light and with a more modern look. He mows the 3-o'clock-to-9 o'clock, cross-cut pattern dark stripes can produce a "grain" issue of tees left to right, matching the cut in the eliminated the "grain" issues affecting the a favorable or detrimental golf shot in the fairways. When a player looks down the players' shots and eased the pressure on the minds of players. Chris Dalhamer, CGCS, hole from the teeing ground, the side-to- volunteer fairway mowers when it came and long-time assistant Jack Holt check the side cut ensures he won't see a distracting, to scalping the edges in the intermedi- television camera angles from the televi- busy-looking golf hole. ate rough cut. Also, two triplex clean-up sion towers to prevent mower stripes from passes around the perimeter of the fairways running into a television shot, including the allowed his volunteers room to maneuver. overhead blimp camera shots. This elimi- Like it or not, a great This helped avoid any miss cuttings in nates any aesthetic issues regarding quality the intermediate cut, decreased the time of cut, height of cut, scalping, mower-pass f r required to mow and reduced tire tracks on overlap and wheel tracks. stems from intricate the turfgrass within the primary rough. For ball-roll consistency, Dalhamer mowing designs... prefers his first cut to begin in the middle Our big club invitational is approach- of the fairway - which is perennial ryegrass Being an older course, Rivera's many tee- Oing, and I want to give our golf course - angling from 4 o'clock to 10 o'clock and ing grounds aren't lined up perfectly to the a tournament look for our members and the second cut angling from 8 o'clock to 2 middle of the fairway and don't match up guests. When deciding whether to stripe or o'clock, which will produce the diamond as far as back-to-front alignment to the golf not, what options should be considered? image desired. hole. This off-line, varying tee-shot option The most difficult mower pass is the first has a 6-o'clock-to-12-o'clock stripe pointing Follow the advice of Bob DiRico, golf pass on a sharp dogleg. In this case, Holt the player toward the proposed landing A course superintendent at Brae Burn will stand at the back of the putting green zone; the stripe is off-center to prevent the Country Club in West Newton, Mass. and guide the mower stripes based on the course from looking crooked. Though Brae Burn is a Donald Ross classic, design of the golf hole. However, a sharp Professionals are always checking with DiRico believes the great design is best dogleg can produce a silly stripe with an their caddies or each other during practice shown off with no striping. But during a unusual bend to it. rounds to confirm they're aligning with big event, DiRico realizes members want Beginning three weeks before the event, their target. Consider this issue when cut- to impress their guests. The "wow" factor to enhance the stripe patterns, Dalhamer ting your teeing grounds. To test the best, becomes important to give a great first will monitor fertility to peak the week of you might wish to cut side to side, as Mor- impression of the golf course to those who the event, use brushes on the back of the ton does, to get the competitors thinking haven't been to Brae Burn before. mower reels to highlight the stripe, set his about something other than their next shot. Like it or not, a great first impression height of cut, apply Primo, double-cut daily usually stems from intricate mowing and monitor mower overlap to produce a While attending the LPGA's match play designs, stripes and diamond cuts. In full stripe for each pass. Qevent at Hamilton Farm Golf Club in many instances, the "wow" factor can aid Long Valley, N.J., I was curious.