At the turn

GCI online poll

Do you purchase used mowers regularly?

No - 70 percent
Yes - 30 percent

Slow play – myth or reality?

In a recent nationwide survey, adult golfers were asked how long it takes to play an 18-hole round of golf on average. Respondents included golfers at public and private courses. The most common answer was four hours. Significantly, 90 percent indicated they play in four and a half hours or less.

Regardless of how long it takes to play a round of golf, more than three-quarters (78 percent) said their pace is about right; 20 percent said it’s slow; and 2 percent said it’s fast. Of the 20 percent of golfers who said their pace was too slow:

• 20 percent said it bothers them, and they play less as a result;
• 56 percent said it bothers them, but it doesn’t cause them to play less; and
• 24 percent said it doesn’t really bother them.

The first group represents about one million players or 4 percent of all adult golfers. Six in 10 of these players are occasional golfers (one to seven rounds annually), so they have a minimal impact on rounds volume.

While three out of four golfers feel their pace is about right, it doesn’t necessarily eliminate the need for slow-play solutions. In fact, it might be because of combating slow play the problem isn’t perceived to be as bad as it might.
Source: National Golf Foundation

Quotables

“In today’s climate, it’s more about economics than agronomics. I spend more time examining Excel spreadsheets than I do turf. The time I used to spend calibrating spreaders and sprayers have been replaced by calculating labor hours and line-item expenditures.” – Kerry Satterwhite, CGCS, superintendent of golf course maintenance for the city of Bloomington, Ill.

“I wish every college kid could go through the construction process to see how much work is involved. It’s not easy.” – Richard Hurd, assistant golf course superintendent at Saddle Rock Golf Course in Aurora, Colo.

“Massachusetts has no regulations on wash water, or rinsate, so, in essence, we were polluting. To coin a phrase I’m fond of, ‘the past belongs to the future.’ What we’re doing now will influence future generations.” – Paul Miller, CGCS, Nashawtuc Country Club in Concord, Mass.

“If you don’t learn, it’s because you don’t want to.” – Rafael Barajas, CGCS, at Hacienda Golf Club of La Habra Heights, Calif., about the opportunities to learn new skills or enhance existing ones because of the availability of so many resources accessible to superintendents, regardless geographic location or work schedule