This month on Superintendent Radio Network: September 2024

Most turf pros will never work on a truly private golf course. Prestigious private clubs have hundreds of members, and even the most private — ever sign an NDA before you step up to the first tee? — are played by at least a handful of people every day. Carey Hofner, though, is not most turf pros. After five years at The Club at Cordillera in Edwards, Colorado, the Ohio native is now concluding a unique six-green, 17-tee grow-in for a client so private that Hofner shared only the state where she is currently working: Montana. “I wanted a new part of the country, they had this open, and I said, ‘Why not?’ My only request, when I decided to move up here, was, ‘I have to be in mountains,’” Hofner told Rick Woelfel on the new episode of the Wonderful Women of Golf podcast. “I just love being in the mountains,” she says. “Growing grass in the mountains can be challenging, but it’s very rewarding when you can actually get it done right.”

New assistant editor Kelsie Horner made her Greens with Envy debut this month, talking with publisher + editor-in-chief Guy Cipriano about their recent trip to a quartet of Michigan courses — including Forest Lake Country Club, Pine Lake Country Club, Oakland Hills Country Club and Saint John’s Resort, where she recorded her first hole-in-one. “I was definitely expecting to learn a lot and get to talk with a lot of interesting people,” Horner said. “And my experience exceeded my expectations. I learned so much more than I thought could be possible about the golf courses we visited. My golf knowledge has grown tremendously just from those two days.” BONUS FUN FACT: Michigan is currently home to more golf courses than all but two other U.S. states: Florida, of course, and …

California! The Golden State and the many challenges faced by its 961 golf courses were the subject of the most recent episode of Beyond the Page. And who better to talk with about those challenges — wages and water chief among them — than longtime industry advocate Craig Kessler? Now a public affairs consultant with the Southern California Golf Association, I talked with Kessler for more than an hour about the present and future of California golf. “The economic argument is not the argument for golf courses. Period,” he said. “It’s a bad argument. We would lose every time to something else.”

Is there a Reel Turf Techs bump? When John Michael Clark talked with Trent Manning on our most recent episode of Reel Turf Techs, he was the equipment manager at McLemore Resort in Rising Fawn, Georgia. By the time the episode dropped, he had moved to Frenchman’s Creek Beach & Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens. New jobs aside, Clark’s story is fascinating and, at times, hilarious. Every episode of Reel Turf Techs is worth your time, and the latest is no different. “Week three,” he said, “our mechanic just didn’t show up.” That’s the start to lots of great stories.

Keith Cutten might be the youngest guest in the now-nine-year- and 99-episode-history of Tartan Talks. He started college in 2003! Youth is no impediment for the talented Canadian, who shared stories with Cipriano about writing a book, forming a business partnership with a pair of mentors, and loads more, including his personal approach to golf course architecture and design-build. “The biggest difference is the fact that we actually get out there and operate equipment,” he said. “We use contractors to get dirt in the right spot on site the big mass cut hauls and fills are done by our direction prior to our arrival, even some rough shaping is done ahead of time. When we show up, it’s the fine detail work, the craftsmanship of those intricate details that make a green special, that make bunkers special that make fairway contouring special and how those are layered on each other. The importance of 5 or 6 inches can make in the field of seeing something or not. Those are the things that we labor over and those are the things that only really can be dialed in with a lot of onsite presence.”

Corteva Agriscience research field scientist David Hillger has a holistic approach to turf and turf challenges. He also has a deep understanding of what it takes now to succeed later. We talked about setting up for spring success on the latest episode of Talking Turf Weeds — his debut on the series, and I hope he returns soon. “This is a perfect time of year to take a look at your area and really identify where the problem areas are,” he said. “You get to see what you did last year, and leading up to this year, and did it work? Did you have sedge show up? Where was the crabgrass? And it really does start with identifying where challenges are.”

Matt LaWell is Golf Course Industry’s managing editor.