First I have a new favourite person online... or should I say Entity as you really can not just call him a person.. Randy Wilson..
Now I never used to get him and Buddy to be honest, thought they were some mad bad US idea of comedic Greenkeeping but then I had the realisation that they were actually ripping the piss out of just about everything.. Brilliant!
But it is the way that the true irony of what we believe, are all told or indoctrinated with by the industry is sledgehammer hit home (Or in the case of Mama panned!) ((Is it me or is there something kinda HOT about Mama?)) (((Just me then ok......)))
If you haven't seen, clear your mind, embrace the irony and lookie at http://www.turfnet.com/blog/3-randy-wilson-here-at-the-rock/
Right....
Now I have a view but it ain't no more important to the sum total than anyone else's but all I will say is how come one poxy picture of some squiffy, bit bald, bit of poa turf and a ball get jumped on by the Anti's to go 'Look at this its shit ... Why are our cotton wool wrapped super stars having to put on this... Why does that look so bad... Pah you greenkeepers are shit' tirade when all I could see was some grass and a ball... If it was so shit as a Green? then WTF .. WHERE was the flag? Pic taken by a Pro? well must be the first twat of a club swinger to walk up to a Green and NOT be looking at the hole...
Now I know just about every course I been on has those awkward little corners, whole greens or just bits that just won't do what they should despite the kit, chems or sweat and it looks like this is one of them...
I can also see what the USGAs intent was, they know what is coming, they know the days of false perfect are numbered for many parts of the world and they want to ease the pain in... make the transition easier..... show what REAL Golf is like to The Masses
Said I wouldn't dwell didn't I... tsk.. Anyway the point is IF you have 100% PERFECT cover and swards everywhere I tip my hat at you,... NO ... I bow before you! and I admire your budget and ability to fight off wear and Mother Natures Seasonal foibles... OR I know you a a deluded fool who needs to open their eyes or mind a little... OR even worse .... You are a Megalomaniac of a 'Consultant' maybe.... who is selective with vision and pr.....
For the Non Turfies out there...
'Pristine' comes at a price... limitless staff levels, kit availability, budget and plenty of sand, chems, feed and water will get you 'Pristine'.... as long as you don't mind periods of NOT being allowed out there etc...
For the rest of the Real World it is ALL about staff levels, kit, budget and how much it has been squeezed dry last few years added to the ever dwindling 'treatments' available for the problems caused by chasing 'Pristine' and restrictions on water for many the reality is unless your some pocket bottomless sugar daddy who injecting the wonga take a few minutes next time your whinging to STFU and start to respect the guys and girls who doing far far more each year for less and less and realise that nature has no master, we all can but steer it a little and hope it don't break free.....
Soooo.... What else has been happening?
Well been busy enough between the bouts of day to day distractions of work.. tsk ... and moments of clarity from the brain fog now and again have meant a few things been done..
YES! Been growing more than I killed .... I KNOW! Amazed too to be honest but yes got different things growing in different things,. Even got the ol Fish Tank outside now and root racing Poa against Fescue Bent (I know cruel eh) having spent an age racing Poa against itself.
Oh.. btw.. it is NOTHING like a sponge... Well after initial wetting anyway that is as similar as it gets...
So I also managed to evolve on from this lil thing to something a bit more Techy...
Been picking up as much information as possible going out and about whenever I can with the ol Delta-T Theta Probe.... I like this... a lot.....
It is certainly better than this below and far less time consuming ALTHOUGH the ACTUAL moisture is often different to a meter that reads set parameters but it is the patterns that form that is of importance so will still do an odd on but trying to rely on the Meter as much as possible now, looking as objectively as it will allow.
Far less of this now... Weigh, dry, weigh, dry, weigh, dry.................
Right this one popped up whilst looking for pics above, this is a Green on a Course with a man there who got some vision..... and Danglys... which has seen some IMMENSE changes in the last couple of years, some of the most notable being those lil white things poking out the bottom of a 200mm core... YES ROOTS! Lots of em... Down there!!... and not straggly lil 'Aargh Aargh don't touch the sides' roots down tine holes either.. these are throughout.... more on that another day...
I am also still slowly working on the old Hydrophobic Soil and Wetters niggle that annoys me so much..... I am too sad..... collecting as many samples from as many surfaces and courses as possible to compare.. Like for Like.. regardless of regime or treatment I want to know what is where and to what degree,..
Quite fascinating actually and SOOOO much better than the Water Droplet Penetration Time Test as it is far far less subjective or potential to be... LOVE the MED Method
Still a bit of work to do before can say much about this and the other things but it is coming... slowly... Data takes time you know.... building it, looking for patterns....
Continually trying out lots of other things too, see if they have value, some do, some don't as too much seasonal or subjective variation to be 'certain',
One or two show up some interesting changes...........
Right... some days I can't help meself... I read something and I get mischievous or it annoys the hell outa me so what do I do...
And what do I say to myself after each time when the replies are rattling back in thick and fast and its getting deeper?
And how does it feel like its about to get in far too deep.....
or worse!
But fuck I love it! Hahahaha
Lastly a bit of #GolfLove for the far too numerous Greenkeeper Teams that either had a really shitty Saturday or Monday gonna be a bummer.... out of 'respect' for the ones affected I have hunted pics on line rather than use any of their own.. just til the pain dies back a little
It's been a bit thundery for some after the driest June for a while and record temps in SE for many and inevitably dry sand and that intensity of rain destroys the Bunkers
Is there an answer? Can any of the systems out there cope with that intense drop of rain on powder dry sand? Is the lack of 'our bunkers are fine' pics down to it being the Weekend and no ones got time or was it just luck?
Is it that we really need to look at Bunker Sands and see are they actually doing what we need?
Silence from some of the 'notables' who are dictating to many about what a Bunker should be is deafening.........
Dunno.....
But for anyone who having the mare... spare a lil thought for the guys up country who got a 'Biggy' coming up shortly...... Just imagine what you would be thinking sitting in this!!!
To them and everyone else with major comps coming up be it major like this or at Gullane wish you the best.....
