So, apparently, a friend of mine suggested that my previous post about the PGA Championship coverage may have potential to get me in trouble at work, and it may. He also suggested that it is more of a "bitch" piece than informative, and it was. This blog is not intended to be informative to the audience which I've already indicated is really only me. It is a means of verbalizing my frustrations into a visable format. This allievates some of my need to voice my opinions, which could get me in a lot more trouble more quickly.
Back to the previous post; I do not believe that all PGA Professionals are at odds with their course counterparts. I'm sure a large number of them really do appricate the work that goes into providing a beautiful golf course. There are many players on the PGA tour who credit the maintenance team constantly. In fact, I would say this is the rule rather than the exception on tour. My position lies solely with my experiences with the PGA personel I have worked with in my short tenure as a golf course superintendent. Watching and listening to the broadcast over the weekend just stirred some bitterness within me and I decided to write about it.
Again, I realize that not everyone associated with the PGA is an ass. I was upset and dissapointed that during their best opportunity to showcase the symbiotic relationship it has with the GCSAA (Golf Course Superintendent's Association of America) and its members it failed to do so. Perhaps its "younger brother syndrome."
Monday, August 17, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
PGA aka "Pretentious Golfing A-holes"
I work in a fairly thankless profession. On the surface, we grow grass. Anyone can do it, hell, I grow grass at home, what's so difficult about it? I'm not going to go into the various duties a golf course superintendent has in his charge, just understand that maintaining 100 plus acres of highly manicured, overly trafficked grass is not as simple as mowing a lawn once a week. Part of our job is to be "unseen" by the people who play our properties. We start before the sun rises, everyday, and prepare the course for use. For those golfers who are not attempting to tee off before there is even adequate light to see their ball, the fact that we exist at all may not fully be appreciated. I can understand this to some degree. After all, I understand when I turn on my water at home I don't fully appriciate the work that goes into getting there.
However, there is one component of the golf course management team that should have an intimate knowledge of what exactly we do as grass managers. The PGA professionals who are usually in charge of the entire facility and often our bosses.
PGA (Professional Golfers Association) members are typically the general managers and teaching professionals of a golf course operation. Their job is to sell the product that we produce. They teach the game to beginners, give tips to the hacks and fine tune the swings of scratch golfers. They are in charge of the clubhouse and the most visable and accessible to the paying public. In too many cases, they have become the people who make the decisions on when necessary maintenance occurs on the course. It matters little to them if their decisions make agronomic sense as long as it benefits the short term collection of green fees. But I digress a bit.
My point is that the representative of the golf course is the person who understands the least about what it takes to actually maintain a golf course. Sure they understand the difference between a tight lie and a ball sitting up in the fairway. Sure they understand how green speed affects putting technique and how firm bunkers differ from fluffy sand. What they don't understand, in many cases, is how the superintendent manages to achieve the conditions the players want. Again, describing in detail the lengthy list of inputs and variables one must consider on a day to day and case by case basis is not worth my time to type nor your time to read. Just assume it is considerable and generally not as simple as flipping a switch.
The under appreciation we receive from our clubhouse counter parts was never more obvious to me than during the broadcast of this years PGA Championship on pga.com (viewed in my house on Direct TV). With increasing frequency, our profession has been receiving more and more press from golf announcers. A perfect example was during this year's US Open at Bethpage Black where deplorable weather conditions did not prevent the superintendent and his staff from producing a beautiful and very playable course. This effort was applauded both on television and in print. Fast forward a couple of months to Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota. Now, keep in mind I am watching this not through national coverage on CBS, but with PGA commentators on PGA's own website. I sat through hours and hours of self congratulatory pats on the back on how hard the PGA had worked and how well their event had gone off without ever, ever mentioning the hard work of the superintendent and his staff.
The golf course looked immaculate on my HD television, and I am sure the superintendent had started his preparation months ago. Probably as soon as the last snow had melted off of his greens. Countless hours had probably been worked in the weeks leading up to the event, and weeks after the PGA professionals had finished their congratulatory cocktails over stories of triumph, he will still be working on recovering from tens of thousands of people trampling his grass. Sod will have to be laid. Fertilizer will need to be applied and the course will undoubtedly need to be aerified to relieve the compaction caused by hosting a major championship.
And where will the PGA professional be? Back in the clubhouse receiving praise for having such a beautiful golf course. No doubt taking all of the credit and praise without even a mention of who is really to thank.
However, there is one component of the golf course management team that should have an intimate knowledge of what exactly we do as grass managers. The PGA professionals who are usually in charge of the entire facility and often our bosses.
PGA (Professional Golfers Association) members are typically the general managers and teaching professionals of a golf course operation. Their job is to sell the product that we produce. They teach the game to beginners, give tips to the hacks and fine tune the swings of scratch golfers. They are in charge of the clubhouse and the most visable and accessible to the paying public. In too many cases, they have become the people who make the decisions on when necessary maintenance occurs on the course. It matters little to them if their decisions make agronomic sense as long as it benefits the short term collection of green fees. But I digress a bit.
My point is that the representative of the golf course is the person who understands the least about what it takes to actually maintain a golf course. Sure they understand the difference between a tight lie and a ball sitting up in the fairway. Sure they understand how green speed affects putting technique and how firm bunkers differ from fluffy sand. What they don't understand, in many cases, is how the superintendent manages to achieve the conditions the players want. Again, describing in detail the lengthy list of inputs and variables one must consider on a day to day and case by case basis is not worth my time to type nor your time to read. Just assume it is considerable and generally not as simple as flipping a switch.
The under appreciation we receive from our clubhouse counter parts was never more obvious to me than during the broadcast of this years PGA Championship on pga.com (viewed in my house on Direct TV). With increasing frequency, our profession has been receiving more and more press from golf announcers. A perfect example was during this year's US Open at Bethpage Black where deplorable weather conditions did not prevent the superintendent and his staff from producing a beautiful and very playable course. This effort was applauded both on television and in print. Fast forward a couple of months to Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota. Now, keep in mind I am watching this not through national coverage on CBS, but with PGA commentators on PGA's own website. I sat through hours and hours of self congratulatory pats on the back on how hard the PGA had worked and how well their event had gone off without ever, ever mentioning the hard work of the superintendent and his staff.
The golf course looked immaculate on my HD television, and I am sure the superintendent had started his preparation months ago. Probably as soon as the last snow had melted off of his greens. Countless hours had probably been worked in the weeks leading up to the event, and weeks after the PGA professionals had finished their congratulatory cocktails over stories of triumph, he will still be working on recovering from tens of thousands of people trampling his grass. Sod will have to be laid. Fertilizer will need to be applied and the course will undoubtedly need to be aerified to relieve the compaction caused by hosting a major championship.
And where will the PGA professional be? Back in the clubhouse receiving praise for having such a beautiful golf course. No doubt taking all of the credit and praise without even a mention of who is really to thank.
Introduction
Welcome.
I've been considering (and simultaneously avoiding) creating a blog for some time now. Just the term "blog" and how its become such an prominant part of our lexicon annoys me and prevented me from succombing to my desire to share my rambling thoughts until this point. Quite honestly, I'm still not comfortable with it, but I suppose I might learn to accept it over time. Afterall, I've learned to enjoy and rely upon Facebook in ways I never thought imaginable just one year ago.
Why did I create this blog and who is it's intended audience? I created it as an outlet for my general frustrations in life. I have always felt an emotional release using pen and paper (or in this case, fingers and plastic) as a means to vent to no one in particular. Therefore, my intended audience is me. Think of it as a diary stored in a public library. If other people read it I hope they enjoy, but I don't anticipate promoting its existence anytime soon.
I hope to make regular entries into this blog; some angry, some insightful but most humorous. I also hope that I make little to no grammatical errors. I fear that this will befall the same fate as most things I start in my life; two to three posts and out. Time will tell.
A mini biography of myself before writing my first official post (introductions do not count in my opinion). I am a 33 year old male who has a wonderful wife and two lovely children. I live in Las Vegas, Nevada and spend my working days caring for an aging golf course in the heart of the city. Thus the name of the blog, "Super National." I'm sure she will occupy the theme of most of my entries.
So, then, I guess its time to begin.
I've been considering (and simultaneously avoiding) creating a blog for some time now. Just the term "blog" and how its become such an prominant part of our lexicon annoys me and prevented me from succombing to my desire to share my rambling thoughts until this point. Quite honestly, I'm still not comfortable with it, but I suppose I might learn to accept it over time. Afterall, I've learned to enjoy and rely upon Facebook in ways I never thought imaginable just one year ago.
Why did I create this blog and who is it's intended audience? I created it as an outlet for my general frustrations in life. I have always felt an emotional release using pen and paper (or in this case, fingers and plastic) as a means to vent to no one in particular. Therefore, my intended audience is me. Think of it as a diary stored in a public library. If other people read it I hope they enjoy, but I don't anticipate promoting its existence anytime soon.
I hope to make regular entries into this blog; some angry, some insightful but most humorous. I also hope that I make little to no grammatical errors. I fear that this will befall the same fate as most things I start in my life; two to three posts and out. Time will tell.
A mini biography of myself before writing my first official post (introductions do not count in my opinion). I am a 33 year old male who has a wonderful wife and two lovely children. I live in Las Vegas, Nevada and spend my working days caring for an aging golf course in the heart of the city. Thus the name of the blog, "Super National." I'm sure she will occupy the theme of most of my entries.
So, then, I guess its time to begin.
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