By Jason Blanchard
The world of golf course maintenance is one that the average golfer doesn’t much think about while they are out playing their round. The only thought that may pop into their head is Bill Murray blowing up a golf course, trying to kill that one little gopher that’s ruining it. They just know the greens were cut that morning, the bunkers were raked, the fairways and tees were mowed and, of course, the cups were cut and flags were put out.
Before the first tee is ever put in the ground, the course has been a buzz for hours.
At Summerfield, our maintenance crew starts their day at 5 a.m. All those tee markers are moved and the greens are either cut or rolled, taking up to three hours to complete.
All those mowers need to be constantly maintained. Think about the fact your lawn is cut at about three inches. Our greens are cut at .15 inches and fairways and tees at a half an inch.
Needless to say, keeping those blades sharp is not an easy undertaking and requires precision machines to help maintain the equipment and the course.
That company that sprays your lawn once a month for bugs could never think about hand-spraying the 130 maintainable acres we have here at the club. Most courses spend tens of thousands of dollars on insecticides, pesticides and fertilizers trying to keep those little blades of grass happy.
Golf courses pump an average of 350,000 gallons of water using 200 sprinkler heads every night to irrigate the course. That would be the equivalent to 13 residential pools worth of water.
Next time you tee off, take a moment and think about the countless hours that go into that tee box you’re standing on and the more than 100 acres that are maintained every week.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email at golfguyosprey@gmail.com.
