[JSPayne]

I love the picture threads, so this could be fun......especially for all of you that may not always see what goes on "behind the scenes" in the world of golf course maintenance. I've been in the business a relatively short time compared to most superintendents I know, but here's a few of my not-so-fond memories.

ENJOY!

No......this is not the new course fountain....


New zebra striping for the rough? Nah.....just a little fertilization misapplication.....


So YOU'RE why sprinklers keep mysteriously popping up and shooting golfers in the butt!


The Damage.....


And the Culprit.....


Why you try to avoid major construction in the winter.....


Case #1 against tree planting


Case #2 against tree planting


The NEW #1 handicap hole due to a "light rain"


Fun with irrigation piping


Cutting the corner one too many times.....


Mole heaven.....


And bonus points to someone who can tell me what this picture is showing.....not just the problem, but how it occured:

[Joe Hancock]

Great pictures!

On the last pic I'd guess someone forgot to put the gas cap back on the mower after refueling.

Joe

p.s.- I might have a few fun construction mishap pictures if you want me to find them.

[Ken Moum]

All those little round spots?

Hail?

Ken

[Tom Yost]

What did that little bastard do?  Unroll all the rolls of sod (looking for insects I suppose...)? 

[JSPayne]

Joe......partially right, a mower was involved, but the spots aren't from gas. And I'd love to see some construction pics. I've always kept these figuring that sometimes mistakes are the best way to learn a hard lesson.

Ken.....not hail.

Tom......yeah, we resodded the whole fairway on that hole and they came and tore it up. EVERY NIGHT. Just looking for food. It was actually a whole family and I think over a couple weeks we caught about 5 of them. The netting you see covers sod they already pulled up, but whereever the net wasn't, they went to town. It literally took one guy a few hours every day to put all the sod back together. Eventually, the best way to get rid of them is to spray an insecticide and kill their food source. They eventually figure out that it's gone and move on.

[Kalen Braley]

JS,

I thought tunneling as shown in that bunker only happened in cartoons...yikes!

I'm guessing the spots were due to a leak in the hydraulics on the mower. 

[Adam Clayman]

I'd guess the spots were from some sort of alcoholic beverage?

Keep the lessons coming!

[JSPayne]

Kalen.....yeah, and unfortunately I don't have a picture, but those tunnels are even more fun when they're running through a green!  Also, not a hydraulic leak......

Adam......love the answer.....but not it.

Think more natural. Also, there's a way to prevent this problem from occuring, but once it's there, not really a way to prevent the kind of damage you see in the picture.

Also, I hope it's visable in the picture that there is a bit of a pattern to the damage. I use the picture mainly to help me explain how easy it is for a small problem to become a big problem.

[Kalen Braley]

JS,

I do notice a bit of a star configuration to the damage, but haven't the foggiest how it could have happened from a mower. 

My initial thought was some type of bug infestestation because I'll get little circles like that late in the summer from the pests here.

[Joe Hancock]

Pythium is a fungus that moves, or tracks readily by equipment or golfers. Anthracnose is another fungus that is easier to prevent than it is to cure. I was thinking a bit more along the lines of human error in my first response.

Joe

[JSPayne]

Joe's close enough.

The damage is from the disease, Pink Snow Mold (Microdochium nivale). The disease can usually be warded off with preventative fungicide spraying, but is still VERY common here in NorCal on Poa greens in the winter and spring.

This particular example though started out as just ONE spot (or leasion) which usually doesn't warrant much attention or an expensive spray. However, in the morning this disease produces mycelium (like spider webs) that you can actually see when the dew is still on the greens. This mycelium spreads the disease. The pattern exists because, like most courses, we rotate the mowing direction daily to get the best cut, and mycelium was picked up from the main, central leasion everyday on the roller and was tracked in the path of mowing, creating a star pattern of new disease. We eventually sprayed curative fungicide and it subsided, but it's just an example of how easily and quickly (each streak is one day, so maybe a week's worth of mowing there) disease can spread and ravage a green.

[TX Golf]

Is the picture with the ripped up sod the Meadow Club??

[JSPayne]

Sure is Rob......#14.

[James Bennett]

Connecting a new bunker drain to an existing drain line.  Sounds simple, until you keep digging to find the existing drain line depth!  (and that is clay!)

PS.  Re -  the spreading of the disease by a mower on damp greens in winter (especially poa components.  Yes, we have 'enjoyed' that down under in the Adelaide Hills.  Often.  Nothing like removing some trees (if possible) to increase the breeze that can dry off the green surface.  Or, perhaps thinning the branches to get some breeze through.



James B

[Chris Cupit]

Connecting a new bunker drain to an existing drain line.  Sounds simple, until you keep digging to find the existing drain line depth!  (and that is clay!)

PS.  Re -  the spreading of the disease by a mower on damp greens in winter (especially poa components.  Yes, we have 'enjoyed' that down under in the Adelaide Hills.  Often.  Nothing like removing some trees (if possible) to increase the breeze that can dry off the green surface.  Or, perhaps thinning the branches to get some breeze through.



James B

Only because I have seen a terrible trench collapse situation can I say that this picture of the guy standing neck deep in a trench that does not appear to be supported by any safety devices (and the trench isn't even tapered back at all) is an absolute accident waiting to happen!!  The nightmare of having to dig a deep trench is nothing compared to a trench collapse that can bury a guy quicker than you can ever imagine

Get that guy out of that trench!!

[K. Krahenbuhl]

Only because I have seen a terrible trench collapse situation can I say that this picture of the guy standing neck deep in a trench that does not appear to be supported by any safety devices (and the trench isn't even tapered back at all) is an absolute accident waiting to happen!!  The nightmare of having to dig a deep trench is nothing compared to a trench collapse that can bury a guy quicker than you can ever imagine

Get that guy out of that trench!!

Through spending a lot of time dealing with the strict regulations of the large oil companies when I'm not at the golf course the same thing jumped out at me from this picture.  It wouldn't take much for things to end very poorly for that guy in the trench.  That is a seriously bad idea.

[Chris Cupit]

I've seen the stuff you guys work on--I can't imagine those bad boys collapsing!  I do wonder if the trench is as bad as our idea was to polish off that "starter" keg was a few months ago in Houston--I'm still bloated like a tic   I am in training and promise not to eat anything a week prior to next year's tournament.

[James Bennett]

Chris, Kyle

in a previous life, I worked for the Water and Sewerage company.  Much exposure to sewerage trenches, shoring and the like.  I can guarantee you that that clay isn't going anywhere.  It is the equivalent of rock.  Rate of water percolation (?) is 1mm an hour vertical, 0.1mm an hour lateral.  That is about an inch a day vertical and an inch every 10 days lateral!

I also recall a trench fatality that occurred elsewhere in that company in a deeper, open battered trench adjacent to a local road.  Local traffic caused enough vibration for a lateral soil slippage.  Nearly 30 years ago, but I remember that one.

James B

[Jon Wiggett]

Trench colapses was a subject that was covered in a recent course I was on. There was a case of a man who was trapped by a collapsing trench at a flower show last year here in Britain. He only was trapped below the knees but they took almost 30 minutes to dig him free. This meant that the blood trapped in his lower legs through the pressure of the collapsed earth was very low in oxegen causing a heart failure once he was released.

A sad story that illustrates one of the many dangers that we often are unaware of 

[Jeff_Brauer]

Connecting a new bunker drain to an existing drain line.  Sounds simple, until you keep digging to find the existing drain line depth!  (and that is clay!)

PS.  Re -  the spreading of the disease by a mower on damp greens in winter (especially poa components.  Yes, we have 'enjoyed' that down under in the Adelaide Hills.  Often.  Nothing like removing some trees (if possible) to increase the breeze that can dry off the green surface.  Or, perhaps thinning the branches to get some breeze through.



James B

I thought about trench collapses looking at that photo as well. Nothing to take lightly.

I also thought about how I usually design my drain lines as deep as I can get them, knowing that the deeper they are, the further some future superintendent can run a pipe downhill and use them as a connection.  So, James, while the digging is deep, thank your gca for at least giving you the opportunity to dig!

[Jon Wiggett]

What James could have done was step the trench so to minimise the danger. I would add that as the ground was as James described it there was little danger but maybe prudence is the key word.

[Chris Cupit]

Chris, Kyle

in a previous life, I worked for the Water and Sewerage company.  Much exposure to sewerage trenches, shoring and the like.  I can guarantee you that that clay isn't going anywhere.  It is the equivalent of rock.  Rate of water percolation (?) is 1mm an hour vertical, 0.1mm an hour lateral.  That is about an inch a day vertical and an inch every 10 days lateral!

I also recall a trench fatality that occurred elsewhere in that company in a deeper, open battered trench adjacent to a local road.  Local traffic caused enough vibration for a lateral soil slippage.  Nearly 30 years ago, but I remember that one.

James B

James,

Not to belabor the point but even in Class A soils--clay/silt--very, very stable soils that have the least likliehood of collapse, OSHA regulations require a 1/2:1 minimum taper.  And, the minimum taper is 3/4:1 if the trench is exposed for more than 12 hours.  These standards are for ALL trenches less than 20 feet deep and the 1/2:1 exception is only allowed if the trench is also less than twelve feet deep.  That soil may not be going anywhere but it is not rock and OSHA would not approve.

The collapse I saw was in GA clay.  The trench had been tapered although not as much as it should have been, the trench was about 6 feet deep and we were in the midst of a dry summer.  It "shouldn't have collapsed" but it did trapping one guy for about 2-3 minutes.  Fortunately he recovered but it was the scariest moment I have ever had.  The architect was on site and once the collapse occurred thank God we had the back hoe and two guys (Mike Riley was one of them) digging their hearts out to save this guy.

OSHA came and three guys and I went to the classes to get certified to dig holes on a golf course.  Even experienced "trenchers" can estimate soils incorrectly and the time saved not laying back ANY trench is not worth risking the safety of anyone.  I had no idea how dangerous trenches were and I apologize if I am as bad as a "reformed smoker"  in preaching about this subject but I had all the nightmare I ever needed one day 

[James Bennett]

Chris and all

points taken.

Why did I post such a picture in the first place?  Because of the 'maintenance nightmares' that can occur when what appears to be a simple task involves so much more work than expected.  Hook-up a new drainage line to an existing line - sounds simple.  However, reality often bites when the actual drainage lines are found.

I can't recall whether I was present when that photo was taken - It was three years ago.  I know I was surprised at how deep the trench was.  We had dug many 3 feet deep trenches across that course in the preceding few years as part of drainage works, so I was confident that the guys knew what soil types they were dealing with.  The guys are building a new green at the moment, which I will see this weekend (I am not involved now).  The depths of bunkers and drains in the new build will probably be less than the other project.  We will see.  However, I expect the course crew will again encounter hard and dry ground.

James B

[JSPayne]

I think one of the main points of these "nightmares" is the simple fact that just when we think we've seen or know it all.......something absolutely bizarre shows up.

It's actually one reason why I love the job, as it keeps me on my toes, but in the same breath, having to figure out what to do in these rare, possible one-time-only occasions like James' trench problem, can be a HUGE hassle, and often just becomes a bother at a time when you're in the middle of something much bigger, and time, budget and managers are all bearing down on you, and you're trying to do all you can just to get the job done. There's no excuse for cutting corners, but when you're not digging 6 foot deep trenches daily as part of major course construction and are just tying together a simple drain line, I think I would have been stuck in the same position as James......not knowing unless somebody told me (as I do now thanks to all you!) about specific OSHA regs and construction reqs.

Whoever said supers get paid too much for this job (*COUGHJKCOUGH*) will hopefully see this thread and get just a glimpse of the chaos we often have to struggle through to keep these wonderful courses performing optimally and understand a little better why nowadays it DOES take a college degree and a supers job IS worth the money they get paid.

[Chris Cupit]

Whoever said supers get paid too much for this job (*COUGHJKCOUGH*) will hopefully see this thread and get just a glimpse of the chaos we often have to struggle through to keep these wonderful courses performing optimally and understand a little better why nowadays it DOES take a college degree and a supers job IS worth the money they get paid.

Amen   I have no problem having my super being my most highly compensated employee since he is in charge of far and away my most important asset.

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