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JSPayne

  • Karma: +0/-0
Notice anything missing?
« on: December 30, 2007, 09:40:30 AM »
A GREAT list of the many areas in which superintendents are expected to be knowledgable nowadays, but needs to be posted to this site for one, special reason.....

.....notice anything missing from this list?
----------------------------------------------------

GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENT RESPONSIBILITIES & SKILLS REQUIRED
 
Today's golf course superintendent must possess a certain amount of knowledge and expertise in the following subject areas:

 
Accounting
Agronomy
Aquatic plant management
Arboriculture
Basic contract law
Budgeting
Business management
Community relations
Computers
Drainage
Electrical
Engineering
Entomology
Equipment repair
Environmental compliance
Facility maintenance
Financial
Genetics
Golf course operation
Golf course renovation
Golf course set-up
Golf issues
Government relations
Hazard communication
Horticulture
Hydrology
Integrated pest management
Inventory management
Irrigation
Irrigation repair
Labor relations
Landscaping
Long-range planning
Management
Master planning
Meteorology
Microbiology
Mower adjustment
New equipment evaluation
Rules of golf
Personnel management
Photography
Plant nutrition
Plant pathology
Plant physiology
Playability issues
Play of the game of golf
Public relations
Pump station technology
Purchasing
Soil chemistry
Soil physics
Soil sample interpretations
Surveying
Technical information interpretation
Tournament preparation
Water chemistry
Water quality
Weed science
Wetlands
Wildlife management
Worker safety (OSHA)

List by Tommy Witt,
Director of Golf Course Operations,
Northmoor Country Club
Highland Park, Ill.
"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing it's best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle any human being can fight; and never stop fighting." -E.E. Cummings

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +2/-1
Re:Notice anything missing?
« Reply #1 on: December 30, 2007, 10:07:22 AM »
Psychology?

JS - What appeals to me about golf architecture is that there are so many different things which enter into it.  Your list of areas of expertise makes it appear that a golf course superintendent should feel equally engaged -- but it strikes me that's not the reason you posted it.

John_Cullum

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Notice anything missing?
« Reply #2 on: December 30, 2007, 10:08:36 AM »
Frankly, I see alot of redundancy
"We finally beat Medicare. "

wsmorrison

Re:Notice anything missing?
« Reply #3 on: December 30, 2007, 10:14:25 AM »
Playing golf is not listed and is helpful in truly understanding playability.  Though I guess carefully watching golfers play suffices.

Understanding the maintenance practices best suited to the course architecture (and an understanding of golf course architecture) might be inferred from some of the general categories, but as it is one of the most important aspects of a superintendent's role, it deserves special mention.

Mike_Young

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Notice anything missing?
« Reply #4 on: December 30, 2007, 10:14:32 AM »
The only thing I see missing is "the list" of phone numbers for the people that can help one with your list....
I hear the same stuff all the time about architecture and all of us are supposed to say we know all of that stuff but I call BS on most of it....what one needs is the time and experience to know where to go to get the answer for all of those items....ME  I just call Tom Paul...I think he could help you.
Mike
"just standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona"

D_Malley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Notice anything missing?
« Reply #5 on: December 30, 2007, 10:18:30 AM »
the main thing i see that is missing, and probably the one thing that most supers are really bad at is: customer relations

JSPayne

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Notice anything missing?
« Reply #6 on: December 30, 2007, 10:32:01 AM »
Wayne: Thanks for hitting the nail on the head. The whole reason I posted this here. Any wonder why this director of golf didn't have "golf course architecture" as a necessary understanding for the field of golf course maintenance? How many other superintendents are unaware or simply uninterested in the underlying architecture of the course they are trying to maintain? (I myself claim guilt to this up until a few years ago......thanks for setting me straight Tully!)

Mike: Excellent point. As with any profession, it can often be how good you are at being able to FIND the answer than actually knowing it firsthand. However, I do believe there is a sliding scale wherein the more involved the membership in the maintenance, the more a super really needs to be able to spout off and speak intelligently and convincingly about on an impromptu and regular basis.

George: Valid addition. I myself find the following skills also lacking: Foreign language (specifically Spanish), Landscape design/installation (although that could go under landscaping in general)

Tom: Interesting in picking out Psychology.....are you speaking of that of the golfers or of the sup's employees?  ;)
"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing it's best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle any human being can fight; and never stop fighting." -E.E. Cummings

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +2/-1
Re:Notice anything missing?
« Reply #7 on: December 30, 2007, 10:48:58 AM »
JS:  I looked for "golf" or first but I figured that's what "golf issues" meant.  As for psychology, it is useful for everyone who has to deal with others to get their job done well.  (Besides, both MacKenzie and Robert Trent Jones put it among what they considered credentials for golf course architecture.)
« Last Edit: December 30, 2007, 10:49:37 AM by Tom_Doak »

JohnH

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Notice anything missing?
« Reply #8 on: December 30, 2007, 10:49:36 AM »
Frankly, I see alot of redundancy

I would agree 100% with this point.


JSPayne

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Notice anything missing?
« Reply #9 on: December 30, 2007, 11:08:49 AM »
The redundancy is somewhat apparent. However I would argue that while there exist general catagories in the list that other items could fall under (i.e. Finances: Accounting, Budgeting, Long-Range Planning, etc.) that you could devote an entire semseter in school to each of the "branches" of finance and the rest of the listed items can only come from years of hands-on experience (golf course set-up, equipment repair, irrigation repair). As such, the vast amount of knowledge required in each small area should suffice it to stand out as an individual skill. If the list should be made LESS redundant it should only be to remove the broad catagorical listings and expand upon the individual areas of expertise.
"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing it's best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle any human being can fight; and never stop fighting." -E.E. Cummings

Craig Sweet

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Notice anything missing?
« Reply #10 on: December 30, 2007, 11:13:31 AM »
I think there are many superintendents that maintain their course by "calender"....they pull out last years calender and do whatever maintinence practice they did last year on that date...

So I think what's missing is the ability to read a calender.. :)
No one is above the law. LOCK HIM UP!!!

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