Short Game Got You Down?
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sures such as buffing or fine steel age room. It's a good time to check Leather—in all cases apply a wooling the shafts to remove rust for such things as worn-out grips, good leather grip conditioner to and dirt, replacing broken or frayed loose shafts, frayed wood head soften and restore tackiness. whippings, dipping or spraying a whippings and wood heads which • If an iron club has plastic fer- coat of clear finish over a lightly need refinishing or rejuvenating. rules that are dull and scratched, steel wooled wood head, and clean- After having gone through all the they can be made new looking again ing the face grooves in both woods golf clubs, phone each member or by wiping them lightly with ace- and irons and paint filling them. drop him a note to obtain permis- tone. This also works on grip collar Trade-ins are not very desirable sion to repair his clubs. Most all trim rings and plastic wood club fer- commodities at many country clubs golfers appreciate this spring tune- rules, which are sometimes used in- because of the type of clientele. In up service simply because they are stead of whippings. many cases, the professional at this usually too busy to think of it on • Finally, wipe the golf bag type club will be willing to sell his their own during the off season. This clean, apply saddle soap or a spe- used clubs for what he has invested type of service is becoming more in them. Here, it is an asset to know cial lubricant to the zippers, and put popular with northern pros in par- the clubs back in the bag. the present value and the potential ticular, who refer to this service as value of used golf clubs. Acushnet "winterizing" and usually charge Note: A good idea is to cover publishes a used club guide that is around $20 to $30 for a complete set the bag and clubs to protect them very helpful in this respect. The used of woods and irons and bag. Here's from dust and dirt during the stor- golf club business can be very profit- a checklist of what usually is in- age period. The large paper or clear able and grow quite large if you cluded in winterizing: plastic bags that dry cleaners use maintain a reputation for fair deal- work perfectly for this and are only ing and selling used clubs in the • Either fine steel wool or buff a few pennies apiece. peak of condition. all shafts to polish and clean them. So, if you're ready to reach out • Replace whippings on woods for a little extra business and pro- if necessary. vide more assistance to your mem- • Clean and rejuvenate grips if bers, then you're ready for the extra THE GOLF CLUB required. repair business. It's another way to MANUFACTURERS (OR WHAT Rubber—if slick, lightly rough- pursue increased self-satisfaction and ABOUT BECOMING AN up with coarse sandpaper. more profit. • AUTHORIZED REPAIR SERVICE CENTER) Some manufacturers have es- tablished authorized repair service PITCHinG UJ€DG€ centers throughout the United SHORT States. If a repair facility is needed in your area and you write the golf manufacturers, you may be con- GAME tacted by a company representative who will usually stop in and check your facility to see if you can han- GOT YOU dle the work load and if the quality of your work is adequate. He will probably explain how many spe- DOWN? EXCLUSIVE CONCAVE SOIE DESIGN cific repair items that you would have to maintain in inventory. #001 /ROD UU€DG€ #007 /ROD UU€DG€ THE CLUB STORAGE ROOM (OR HOW TO GET BUSINESS IN THE WINTER MONTHS OR SLOW SEASON) Many golf professionals work in regions where it is impractical to play golf during certain times of the year and consequently they are closed or very slow. Usually, this GET 2 UP on your competition . the would be in the winter months in the CON-SOLE PITCHING WEDGE and ® either the #001 Standard or the #007 "Big northern regions. Aside from spend- Face" SAND WEDGE. CON-SOLE S new con/oie ing a month or so in Florida, clos- approach to wedge design with its unique GOLF CORPORATION ing the books for the year and order- concave sole, can give you a whole new ap- proach to your game. Get your shot up faster Brandywine Summit Center ing merchandise for spring delivery, with less effort, open face or square without P.O. Box 137, Route 202 the northern golf pro usually has skipping into the ball, even off the hard pan. Chadds Ford. Pa. 19317 some idle time on his hands. This is Ask your professional . it works! Phone: 21 5-GL 9-5464 an ideal opportunity to go through the members' clubs in the club stor- For More Details Circle (119) on Reply Card Have You Created A Maintenance Monster? During the last few recession years, Have course maintenance have spoiled the golfer rotten with golf courses, especially the private expensive around-the-clock groom- country clubs, have been in a se- standards been set too high ing. Now we have the high cost mon- rious financial situation because of over the years? This Mid- ster looking over our shoulder with skyrocketing operational costs. west superintendent feels hungry fangs, and we cannot afford These operational costs have in- that with soaring costs and him for a pet anymore. creased so much that many clubs are How much can you save? Here is now having difficulty keeping their tight money, overgroom- what I did. I went over my time heads above water. ing is indeed overspend- sheet from April to October and Some have sold out to home ing. came up with these figures. Mowing builders and high-rise developers. roughs at $3.50 an hour, 700 hours Others are desperately looking to fill by Paul N. Voykin = $2,450. Mowing around greens their decreasing memberships and Briarwood Country Club and some tees, plus the practice tee, reluctantly lowering the application Deerfield, Illinois 350 hours = $1,225. Triplex around standards in order to exist. Boards tees and green and fairway traps, of directors and club management come to the rough which is also 400 hours = $1,400. Rotaries are working hard at most clubs to mowed too short and too fre- around trees, 250 hours = $875. find means of surviving for the fu- quently, but my members love it Total grooming cost is $6,000.1 only ture, without drastically cutting out that way. The fairways are mowed chose these items because they are the gracious living familiar to coun- from 5/8-inch to 3/4-inch with a strip four maintenance items which I feel try clubs. How does the superin- or two outside our fairways which I could reduce by 50 percent or tendent fit into this? we call intermediate rough. about $3,000. It would still give the Superintendents are in a serious Next example is our tees which, membership a presentable, but rut, and they are responsible for except to be level, are really not that slightly tougher and a definitely their position. They have brought important. They are mowed too fre- more interesting course. themselves to this predicament. The quently, seeded, sodded and fertil- Maybe $3,000 does not sound best among the ranks are to blame ized too often. The tee banks are like much. But we can also accom- for the situation all superintendents also mowed constantly so as not to plish other important savings in ma- face. They have set the standards look shabby. The precarious mow- chinery. I know I could save an im- too high. The problem, as I see it, is ing of fairway bunkers and the la- pressive amount on machinery over over-grooming of golf courses. We borious hand-mowing around all the years because, instead of having do too much of it. The desire to im- trees on the golf course also devour my present two or more pieces of prove and excel in the maintenance a lot of time and expense. equipment for the four jobs I men- of our golf courses has been carried There are many superintendents tioned — rotaries, triplex, rough to a ridiculous and costly extreme. who have to contend with other and pro — I could get along with If we did less grooming, the country time-consuming, relatively unim- one piece of machinery in each cate- clubs could save money and have portant jobs, like mowing high creek gory because of less demand for more challenging golf courses with banks and cultivating shrubs around grooming. There is $5,000 more fewer headaches. I am not in any trees, over-edging of traps, pruning saved right there. Not to mention way talking about reducing the up- too high under low-branched trees saving in mechanical upkeep and keep and management of our greens and perhaps raking traps that do not gasoline. and fairways, I am only talking come in to play, mulching every leaf Also, there would be a substan- about possibly reducing the costs of that drops in autumn and mowing tial saving in having to use less fer- grooming other areas that we do so out-of-the-way areas that really do tilizer and pesticides because the diligently maintain now. not have to be groomed at all. I grass would be longer and therefore At Briarwood, we mow our found this out a couple of years ago be stronger and better able to cope greens at a tight 3/16-inch and our when I left unmowed all season two with the elements with less atten- widebent collars at '/2-inch or less.