Fairway "Face-lifter"Saves nicipal courses the job was occupying at Seattle $7800 a Year least four men an average of 40 days a year. And they appeared to be fighting a By WILLIAM F. STEEDMAN losing battle. Each year it seemed there ACE-LIFTING for fairways has be- were more holes than the year before. F come a much simpler operation At last Pete got an idea. Why not raise through the use of a method devised by the depressed surface to the level of the Pierre M. (Pete) Masterson, Seattle's di- surrounding fairway by forcing soil UN- rector of municipal golf. DER the turf by some method of injec- An enthusiastic and capable golfer him- tion, so as to avoid the actual cutting of self, Masterson has personal acquaintance with the tribulations of the player. Like others, he often has had the frustrating experience of having the reward of a good drive canceled by a bad lie in the middle of the fairway. Playing 'em as they lie is a principal of golf Pete is willing to accept. The lie in a divot hole he can take as a torment that's part of the game. But there are bad lies that can be prevented and he be- lieves in doing everything possible to prevent them. Masterson Injector forcing mud filling into fairway depression. The golfer, he contends, is just as much entitled to good fairways as to good the turf itself and the long process of greens. "A bad lie on the fairway," he healing the scars? says, "can be just as disastrous and un- His experimental equipment was an in- deserved as a missed putt resulting from teresting adventure in improvisation. It a badly kept green." was assembled by using the motor from Among the preventable causes of bad an abandoned green-mower and an old lies are those spots on fairways where pump. The device was tried out on the the ground drops abruptly below the level city's municipal courses and the results of the surrounding turf. Such depressions surpassed the inventor's fondest hopes. may be caused by burrowing animals or, Soil in semiliquid form was injected un- as frequently is the case in the Pacific der the sunken turf through a nozzle. The Northwest, by the rotting of long-sub- surface was forced up to the level of the merged tree roots. adjacent fairway in a matter of seconds. Over such spots the mowers pass with- Evenness was easily obtained by making out effect, leaving holes in which the the injections from different angles. And grass is long, tough and tufty. The player there was the bad spot all leveled up with whose drive down the middle finishes in the surrounding ground without injury to one of these spots will encounter a lie the surface of the turf. that is anywhere from difficult to abso- Further, experience showed th^t the lutely unplayable, while his opponent's turf thus raised stayed put. The injector ball, no better hit, lies a foot away on plan produced a solid surface, packed perfectly groomed turf. firmly in every corner. That meant few All kinds of efficient methods and "repeats." The machine isn't a cure-all for equipment had been introduced for mani- large depressions but it has been com- curing and upkeep of the course, but here pletely satisfactory in filling old mole and was a fairway problem that was as old as gopher runs and small declivities where the game itself and that was being han- tree stumps have decayed. dled by methods just as old. Standard practice was to cut away the In actual practice Masterson has found sod, fill the hole with soil, tamp down that two men, using the new method, can firmly, replace the sod and wait for it to fill 350 holes in an eight-hour day. By the knit together again. Such scars sometimes old method four men could fill 70 holes. took a long, long time to heal. Almost any type of soil can be used in the injector operation. A soil heavy in Losing Maintenance Battle clay content appears to be particularly Surely, Masterson told himself, there adaptable to the purpose. Whatever soil must be some more efficient way of han- is used, it must be screened through a dling the problem. On Seattle's three mu- mesh of not more than half an inch. Masterson has made important im- naming Bobby as a beloved representa- provements on his original machine. A tive of the pioneer pros who have served special feed device permits the use of a splendidly in promoting the uniquely soil much more nearly solid than the mud American policy of "the pursuit of happi- that was used at first. The new equip- ness." ment is a compact affair, weighing- about 250 lbs. It is mounted on pneumatic tires that will permit its use on wet fairways Hopkins Trophy Matches without damaging the turf. A 25-ft. hose Come to La Jolla, Calif. provides a range of 50 ft. as the machine FTER three successful years in Can- moves along the fairways. ada, where it had its premiere, the The Seattle Park Department's engi- InternationaA l PGA team matches between neer estimates that use of the new the U. S. and Canada, for the Hopkins method will save $7,800 a year in the Trophy, will be held at La Jolla (Calif.) maintenance of the city's three municipal CC, Jan. 18 and 19. courses. The City Council has shown its Originated in 1952 by John Jay Hop- appreciation by voting Masterson a sub- kins, international industrialist, the Hop- stantial cash award for his invention. kins Trophy Matches will be played as a Manufacture of the Masterson injector prelude to the $15,000 Convair-San Diego has been started by the Turf Services Co. Open. of Snohomish, Wash. A number of the The 1954 Open and PGA Champions machines are in active use on a rental both will be members of the US profes- basis. The rental plan has been adopted sional golf team which will defend the in view of the fact that the work the Hopkins Trophy. machine is designed to accomplish is not Ed Furgol, the Open Champion, and ordinarily a year-round job. Chick Harbert, the PGA champion, will head a team including Bob Toski, Jack Craigs, 41 Years Audubon Burke, Jr., Marty Furgol, Jerry Barber Pro, Retires and Cary Middlecoff. The Canadian team, which will be OBBY CRAIGS, 41 years pro at Au- headed by Vancouver's Stan Leonard, B dubon CC, Louisville, Ky., and his Canadian PGA champion, will receive wife, Clementine, were guests of honor at coveted invitations to the famous Bing a club dinner Dec. 16 at which Bobby's Crosby tournament. As each player has retirement was officially announced. his travelling expenses to and from San Virtually the club's entire membership Diego paid, and also receives $750, those attended. Craigs and his wife were pre- who desire can go south early and play sented with a round trip ticket to visit in the PGA sponsored events prior to the the old home town in Monifieth, Bobby was Hopkins matches. given a substantial pension for the rest of his life and a gold card of honorary mem- bership in Audubon and cuff links from Ryder Cup Matches, Nov. 5 and 6, caddies. Mrs. Craigs was given a large At Thunderbird, Palm Springs framed colored photograph of Bobby. A portrait of the old pro was unveiled in HUNDERBIRD Ranch & CC, Palm the clubhouse by two of his amateur pro- TSprings, Calif., will be the site of the teges, Chris Brinke and Bobby Nichols. 11th Ryder Cup matches on Saturday and Charley Vittitoe and Alvey Humes Sunday, Nov. 5 and 6. spoke for the PGA and Bobby's pro The British team is tentatively set to graduates and presented Craigs with a leave England around October 13, in order traveling bag from the Kentucky PGA. to permit them to play at least one Eight of Bobby's former assistants, now match on the way to Palm Springs and master pros, were present. allow them requisite practice time there, Col. Lee Read, with cooperation of club according to Robert Hudson, a member of officials and Bill Kaiser, engineered the the PGA National Advisory Committee, affair, biggest ever held for a home club who was instrumental in arranging the pro. Telegrams from prominent pros and matches. amateurs to Craigs decorated the club While the makeup of the United States entry hall. Tommy Armour's telephone team is still in doubt until the Ryder Cup call from Delray Beach, Fla., in tribute standings are compiled, the 1955 PGA to Craigs added hearty sentiment. champion will be an automatic member Herb Graffis, GOLFDOM editor, spoke, of the team.