Maintenance IQ Test #2

[JSPayne]

Since this seemed to be a bit of a hit last time I put one up, and since I've had a few weeks to think of some more basic....yet still somewhat challanging and hopefully educational.....questions, I offer up to the treehouse Maintenance IQ Test #2:

(Since it's late and us supers have to get up at 4am to get to work.....or at least this one does....I'll just post 5 to start with tonight, with 5 more to follow tomorrow sometime.)

1)  What is the process of punching holes in turf called? (May seem easy, but then again....maybe not.  )

2)  Name at least 3 benefits to NOT overseeding warm season turf.

3)  Name at least 7 key maintenance positions/job titles that exist at most mid-to-high end 18+ hole golf courses.

4)  You need to get your greens speed up from 9'0" to 11'0" in a month for the Mens' Club Championship. Name at least 4 maintenance practices you could employ to attempt to reach this goal. (Note: key word is "attempt," as achieving a goal green speed can often be a very difficult, time & labor intensive task, and cannot always be guaranteed to work)

5)  Complete the following Golden Rule of Turfgrass Management (at least in my book): "The best defense against most any kind of pest, disease or damage is........." (this rule is also key to keep in mind when maintaining turfgrass in your own yard)

Good luck, enjoy, and good night. I'll come back with more questions and answers tomorrow!

Jeremy Payne
Superintendent, Empire Ranch Golf Club
Folsom, CA
http://ergcm.blogspot.com

[John_Conley]

1)  What is the process of punching holes in turf called? (May seem easy, but then again....maybe not.  )

2)  Name at least 3 benefits to NOT overseeding warm season turf.

3)  Name at least 7 key maintenance positions/job titles that exist at most mid-to-high end 18+ hole golf courses.

4)  You need to get your greens speed up from 9'0" to 11'0" in a month for the Mens' Club Championship. Name at least 4 maintenance practices you could employ to attempt to reach this goal. (Note: key word is "attempt," as achieving a goal green speed can often be a very difficult, time & labor intensive task, and cannot always be guaranteed to work)

5)  Complete the following Golden Rule of Turfgrass Management (at least in my book): "The best defense against most any kind of pest, disease or damage is........." (this rule is also key to keep in mind when maintaining turfgrass in your own yard)

1. Aeration or aerification, I've heard it called both.
2. a) you won't have trouble transitioning back, b) the stuff will go dormant and be easier to care for, c) the browned stuff actually putts quite well even though it may not be as nice to look at
3. Superintendent, Asst. Super, Mechanic, Irrigation Tech, Mower, Sand Kat Operator, Green & Hole Cutter
4. a) apply less water, b) mow shorter, c) roll, d) Aerate & Top Dress (not sure, but I have a month!)
5. healthy turf

[Adam Clayman]

1)  What is the process of punching holes in turf called? (May seem easy, but then again....maybe not.  )
Aerification, Tineing, core sampling?

2)  Name at least 3 benefits to NOT overseeding warm season turf.
Course does not close during the process, Saves money, Dormant Turf is firmer than the over seeded. Healthier sward ?

3)  Name at least 7 key maintenance positions/job titles that exist at most mid-to-high end 18+ hole golf courses.
Super, 1st Asst. Mechanic, Sand Pro guy, grunt 1, 2, & 3

4)  You need to get your greens speed up from 9'0" to 11'0" in a month for the Mens' Club Championship. Name at least 4 maintenance practices you could employ to attempt to reach this goal. (Note: key word is "attempt," as achieving a goal green speed can often be a very difficult, time & labor intensive task, and cannot always be guaranteed to work) Growth regulator, Top Dress, Double roll, ?

5)  Complete the following Golden Rule of Turfgrass Management (at least in my book): "The best defense against most any kind of pest, disease or damage is........." (this rule is also key to keep in mind when maintaining turfgrass in your own yard) diligence

[Matt_Cohn]

2)  Name at least 3 benefits to NOT overseeding warm season turf.

Can apply herbicide to kill weeds or poa annua since it will only affect invaders and not the dormant turf.

[Matt_Cohn]

4)  You need to get your greens speed up from 9'0" to 11'0" in a month for the Mens' Club Championship. Name at least 4 maintenance practices you could employ to attempt to reach this goal. (Note: key word is "attempt," as achieving a goal green speed can often be a very difficult, time & labor intensive task, and cannot always be guaranteed to work)

Verticut.

[Kalen Braley]

1)  What is the process of punching holes in turf called? (May seem easy, but then again....maybe not.  )
Aerification as has been mentioned

2)  Name at least 3 benefits to NOT overseeding warm season turf.
Save Money, turf grows in better the following year, Save Money 

3)  Name at least 7 key maintenance positions/job titles that exist at most mid-to-high end 18+ hole golf courses.
Greenskeeper, mower guys, asst. super, bunker raking guys, flower bed maintaince guys...can only think of 5

4)  You need to get your greens speed up from 9'0" to 11'0" in a month for the Mens' Club Championship. Name at least 4 maintenance practices you could employ to attempt to reach this goal. (Note: key word is "attempt," as achieving a goal green speed can often be a very difficult, time & labor intensive task, and cannot always be guaranteed to work)
Mow twice as often, roll greens

5)  Complete the following Golden Rule of Turfgrass Management (at least in my book): "The best defense against most any kind of pest, disease or damage is........." (this rule is also key to keep in mind when maintaining turfgrass in your own yard)
A healthy, non-stressed, piece of turf with thick grass

Good luck, enjoy, and good night. I'll come back with more questions and answers tomorrow!

Jeremy Payne
Superintendent, Empire Ranch Golf Club
Folsom, CA
http://ergcm.blogspot.com
[/quote]

[JSPayne]

Not bad so far guys......let's review the current answers:

1) Only one semi-correct answer so far, if you can believe that. I'll let you guys figure out why.

2) Money savings is a great one, both on seed and fertilizer. Kalen had another good answer saying turf grows in better next year.....basically, no interseeded grasses means the warm season turf has less competition coming out of dormancy. Any more reasons?

3) So far I think we've mentioned: Super, Asst. Super, Mechanic, Irrigation Tech, Landscaper (aka flower bed maintenance guys....nice Kalen) and we'll lump the rest into Greenskeeper. That's only 6. Can anyone this of another? Sometimes it can be rare to have someone doing ONLY this job, but still a legitimate title and important position at any course.

4) I think we've gotten the best combo of answers on this one: irrigate less (to create a drier, less plump and lush grass blade), apply growth regulators, increase mowing, increase rolling, and reduce thatch (aka aerate, verticut or topdress). Those are the main methods I had in mind. Any other bright ideas on increasing greens speed?

5) Glad to see Kalen got this one dead-on: The best defense against pests, diseases and damage is a healthy stand of turfgrass. Which is important for your home lawn too. If you're doing eveything right with mowing height, irrigation and fertilizer, you stand the best chance of keeping away unwanted blemishes. A good super always keeps this rule in mind when making any turfgrass maintenance decision, as this should be the end goal of all practices.

Keep plugging away on the straggler answers for these......5 more questions are on the way!

[Kalen Braley]

Jeremy,

I'm sort of ballfed on #1...perhaps I can list some other reasons why punching occurs even if I can't get the correct label for the process.

1)  Turf Compaction - Helps the dirt to loosen up so the grass has more space to live in.
2)  Thatch Control - Fairly self-explanatory, break up the thatch-web by punching a hole every inch or two.
3)  Getting oxygen & other nutrients deeper into the rootzone - perhaps the most common thought reason why they do this.
4)  When seeding, this enables the seed to get direct contact with the soil.

[Tom_Doak]

2. (c)  You conserve a lot of water by not overseeding.  Which also saves money, of course.

2. (d)  You don't have to close the course for 2-3 weeks in the fall if you don't overseed.

[Adam Clayman]

1. Plugging?

[Kyle Harris]

Since this seemed to be a bit of a hit last time I put one up, and since I've had a few weeks to think of some more basic....yet still somewhat challanging and hopefully educational.....questions, I offer up to the treehouse Maintenance IQ Test #2:

(Since it's late and us supers have to get up at 4am to get to work.....or at least this one does....I'll just post 5 to start with tonight, with 5 more to follow tomorrow sometime.)

1)  What is the process of punching holes in turf called? (May seem easy, but then again....maybe not.  )

2)  Name at least 3 benefits to NOT overseeding warm season turf.

3)  Name at least 7 key maintenance positions/job titles that exist at most mid-to-high end 18+ hole golf courses.

4)  You need to get your greens speed up from 9'0" to 11'0" in a month for the Mens' Club Championship. Name at least 4 maintenance practices you could employ to attempt to reach this goal. (Note: key word is "attempt," as achieving a goal green speed can often be a very difficult, time & labor intensive task, and cannot always be guaranteed to work)

5)  Complete the following Golden Rule of Turfgrass Management (at least in my book): "The best defense against most any kind of pest, disease or damage is........." (this rule is also key to keep in mind when maintaining turfgrass in your own yard)

Good luck, enjoy, and good night. I'll come back with more questions and answers tomorrow!

Jeremy Payne
Superintendent, Empire Ranch Golf Club
Folsom, CA
http://ergcm.blogspot.com

1. Cultivation

2. Money, Water, Less Cutting

3. Superintendent, 1st and 2nd Asst, Spray Tech, Irrigation Tech, Mechanic, Asst. Mechanic, Horticulturalist.

4. Lower HOC on bench setting, roll regularly, verticut/groom, double cut

5. ...healthy grass.

[JSPayne]

Kalen......you're on top of it! And well educated when it comes to the reasons for this practice. But the answers were only wrong due to a technicality.....sorry, it's a bit of a trick question. HINT: John Conely has the "semi-correct" answer, and using a dictionary may help.

Tom.....perfect....both great reasons to not overseed. Believe it or not, most courses that overseed here in NorCal don't even close the course at all.....not the best way to do it I'm sure, but necessary for some, so that benefit may be negated for some people.

Kyle got the last key maintenance position I was thinking of.....Spray Tech.


Now......for the second group of questions:

5)  Flip the tables: Name at least 3 reasons IN FAVOR OF overseeding (beyond pretty green grass aestheics).

6)  What is ET, what is it composed of (5 things), and what is it used for on most golf courses?

7)  Name 4 legitimate reasons why a fairway could be overly wet at 8:00am on a Tuesday that are NOT the result of poor maintenance practices.

  How is striping achieved on a golf course and why can it be more difficult to achieve on your lawn at home?

9)  Name at least 4 golf course features that a superintendent may be responsible for that have nothing to do with turfgrass (but still may consume a lot of their time and manpower!).

10)  A valve-in-head automatic sprinkler on the golf course will not turn on when activitated remotely (with a radio, irrigation control box, or central control computer). What is the first (and easiest) thing to check for first in diagnosing the problem? [I'm actually curious to see how quickly this answer comes up......it may only be the easiest for me because I deal with it on a regular basis]

BONUS CADDYSHACK QUESTION: Name two differences between a mole and a gopher.

Good luck and enjoy!

[Kalen Braley]

Kalen......you're on top of it! And well educated when it comes to the reasons for this practice. But the answers were only wrong due to a technicality.....sorry, it's a bit of a trick question. HINT: John Conely has the "semi-correct" answer, and using a dictionary may help.

Tom.....perfect....both great reasons to not overseed. Believe it or not, most courses that overseed here in NorCal don't even close the course at all.....not the best way to do it I'm sure, but necessary for some, so that benefit may be negated for some people.

Kyle got the last key maintenance position I was thinking of.....Spray Tech.


Now......for the second group of questions:

5)  Flip the tables: Name at least 3 reasons IN FAVOR OF overseeding (beyond pretty green grass aestheics).

Ummm, drawing blanks here, thought it was only for aesthics.

6)  What is ET, what is it composed of (5 things), and what is it used for on most golf courses?

ET Phone home....no clue on this one

7)  Name 4 legitimate reasons why a fairway could be overly wet at 8:00am on a Tuesday that are NOT the result of poor maintenance practices.

Rain, dew, flood, busted sprinkler head

 How is striping achieved on a golf course and why can it be more difficult to achieve on your lawn at home?

"striping" as in drawing lines on the course?  Coming up emtpy again...I suck!    

9)  Name at least 4 golf course features that a superintendent may be responsible for that have nothing to do with turfgrass (but still may consume a lot of their time and manpower!).

Man part 2 is kicking my butt.  Guesses...watering, bunker maintaince, tree trimming, tee/pin placements

10)  A valve-in-head automatic sprinkler on the golf course will not turn on when activitated remotely (with a radio, irrigation control box, or central control computer). What is the first (and easiest) thing to check for first in diagnosing the problem? [I'm actually curious to see how quickly this answer comes up......it may only be the easiest for me because I deal with it on a regular basis]

Make sure the water pressure is there, 2nd guess ensure the fuse isn't blown

BONUS CADDYSHACK QUESTION: Name two differences between a mole and a gopher.

Now this is Mole....yummy Mexican dish.  Sorry I fail part 2 of the test in spectacular fashion.




Good luck and enjoy!

[Tom_Doak]

JS Payne:

The only reasons I know of to overseed (besides aesthetics) are that ryegrass on a fairway will soak up rain water (minimizing winter drainage issues) and reduce wear on the dormant grass (although this is offset by the competition between grasses in the spring).

[TEPaul]

"4)  You need to get your greens speed up from 9'0" to 11'0" in a month for the Mens' Club Championship. Name at least 4 maintenance practices you could employ to attempt to reach this goal. (Note: key word is "attempt," as achieving a goal green speed can often be a very difficult, time & labor intensive task, and cannot always be guaranteed to work)."


Jeremy:

Sailing, cooking and golf course agronomy scare the hell outta me but I'm all over that one. You simultaneously lower the HOC and hope like hell you don't scalp the shit out of the little darlings' pates that way and then you force feed them with every kind of growth regulatory known to man while roll, roll, rolling the hell out of them. Then you just hope to God they make it through the club championship without puking anthracnose or some such all over you and if they don't you get down there and kiss them and say you're sorry and give them a Giants helping of fertilizers and either water or some chemical-based cool-aid and and thank them for surviving through the Men's club championship and the Great American Agronomic Emergency Ward with you.

And then IF, the green chairman or some other member tells you the greens weren't fast enough at 11 you just thank him for his informed opinion and then you DECK HIM, hopefully with one well delivered punch, and hopefully right in front of the little darlings like on the 18th green so they can applaud!

[JSPayne]

TEPaul.....

I hope you don't mind, but I've got to forward that procedure onto some of my friends. I think they would relish the stunning visual imagery you produced with your superb technical turfgrass vocabulary. Bravo my friend, bravo. 

Kalen's cracking me up to......brilliant attempts man, and I will give you credit for one and half questions! #7....rain and broken sprinkler were two I was thinking of and #9...checking water pressure, aka making sure the valve to that irrigation line is open, hits the bullseye! You'd be amazed at how often I've been the hero to a rookie greenskeeper by letting them in on that little, no-brainer tip.

Tom......you did nail two good reasons, but I can still think of at least one more, which is actually the most common reason for overseeding in my part of the country. I never said the reasons in favor for would be GOOD reasons, but they are rational reasons that always need to weighed against the opposition.

[Kyle Harris]

Kalen......you're on top of it! And well educated when it comes to the reasons for this practice. But the answers were only wrong due to a technicality.....sorry, it's a bit of a trick question. HINT: John Conely has the "semi-correct" answer, and using a dictionary may help.

Tom.....perfect....both great reasons to not overseed. Believe it or not, most courses that overseed here in NorCal don't even close the course at all.....not the best way to do it I'm sure, but necessary for some, so that benefit may be negated for some people.

Kyle got the last key maintenance position I was thinking of.....Spray Tech.


Now......for the second group of questions:

5)  Flip the tables: Name at least 3 reasons IN FAVOR OF overseeding (beyond pretty green grass aestheics).

6)  What is ET, what is it composed of (5 things), and what is it used for on most golf courses?

7)  Name 4 legitimate reasons why a fairway could be overly wet at 8:00am on a Tuesday that are NOT the result of poor maintenance practices.

 How is striping achieved on a golf course and why can it be more difficult to achieve on your lawn at home?

9)  Name at least 4 golf course features that a superintendent may be responsible for that have nothing to do with turfgrass (but still may consume a lot of their time and manpower!).

10)  A valve-in-head automatic sprinkler on the golf course will not turn on when activitated remotely (with a radio, irrigation control box, or central control computer). What is the first (and easiest) thing to check for first in diagnosing the problem? [I'm actually curious to see how quickly this answer comes up......it may only be the easiest for me because I deal with it on a regular basis]

BONUS CADDYSHACK QUESTION: Name two differences between a mole and a gopher.

Good luck and enjoy!

5. It's nice to have something growing so damage will heal. Provides a cover for the dormant grass.

6.

7. Dew, rain, busted irrigation line, busted irrigation head

8. Mowing direction. The light stripes are away from the view and the dark are toward. Helps to have rollers and reels, which most home lawnmowers do not have.

9. Clubhouse grounds, course setup, course facilities like bathrooms

10. Hydraulic or Electric? *edit* I'll modify this... pull the head up and see if anything is stuck in it. Check to see if it flags on if it's electric. If it's hydraulic, pull the hose and see if the head comes up from the box.

[Matt_Cohn]

5)  Flip the tables: Name at least 3 reasons IN FAVOR OF overseeding (beyond pretty green grass aestheics).

6)  What is ET, what is it composed of (5 things), and what is it used for on most golf courses?

7)  Name 4 legitimate reasons why a fairway could be overly wet at 8:00am on a Tuesday that are NOT the result of poor maintenance practices.

  How is striping achieved on a golf course and why can it be more difficult to achieve on your lawn at home?

9)  Name at least 4 golf course features that a superintendent may be responsible for that have nothing to do with turfgrass (but still may consume a lot of their time and manpower!).

10)  A valve-in-head automatic sprinkler on the golf course will not turn on when activitated remotely (with a radio, irrigation control box, or central control computer). What is the first (and easiest) thing to check for first in diagnosing the problem? [I'm actually curious to see how quickly this answer comes up......it may only be the easiest for me because I deal with it on a regular basis]

BONUS CADDYSHACK QUESTION: Name two differences between a mole and a gopher.

Good luck and enjoy!

5. Better playing surface(!), keeps dormant grass from being washed away, increases winter revenues, competition keeps out invading weeds/grasses(?).

6. No clue.

7. Flushing salt from paspalum?

8. Stripping on a golf course, it's unlikely people will see you, especially if you're behind a tree or something. Stripping on your lawn, the neighbors would probably notice and freak out. Oh wait, striping...

9. Cartpaths/edging, teemarkers/cups.

10. Whether it broke.

Bonus: spelling and syllable count.

[TEPaul]

"TEPaul.....
I hope you don't mind, but I've got to forward that procedure onto some of my friends. I think they would relish the stunning visual imagery you produced with your superb technical turfgrass vocabulary."


Jeremy:

Don't mind at all. I was in the process of edited it and improved it but before I could post it a violent thunderstorm appeared over my farm and shut my computer down. That's actually typical of my life and times these days. If anyone asks me how I'm doing, I've taken to telling them my life has become like trying to get through a constant series of yellow lights with a bit too much traffic in front of me---if you know what I mean!

[JSPayne]

I love the comic relief we're getting......laughter is the best medicine! 

[TEPaul]

Jeremy:

A bit off your subject but I do have a bit of valuable advice for supers or assistants out there looking to move on and move up. My advice is in the interview process most of the time these committees doing the interviewing give the candidates an opportunity at the end of the interview to ASK them a question or two.

My advice would be for most all serious candidates to say some variation of this:

"Thank you for that question and the opportunity to answer it. I would say that if you hire me you must expect that I understand more about agronomy than you do and if you constantly second guess me would it really bother you if I occassionally took a swing at your right ear and decked you for some stupid criticism or suggestion?"


Now, one of the most memorable remarks I've heard from a super about setting up for tournament conditions and dealing with the club or an association came from Rich Spears, highly respected Long Island Super and long time super at Piping Rock. He said to me when I visited him one time on my way to the nearby Creek Club that if he is asked to produce real firm and fast conditions, particularly in the dead heat of the summer, he just tells them: "Pick one, firm OR fast because I'm not going to give you both in the extreme!" 

I'm only half kidding. I've been on those selection committees and believe me honesty does get their attention and respect!

[Kalen Braley]

Tom Paul,

If you're serious about them rolling thunderstorms creating havoc then I have just what you're looking for:

http://www.directron.com/rs650b.html



Its a Universal Power Supply which will easily give you 15-20 minutes of un-interrputed power should the power go down which I'm guessing is only for a few seconds, but even if its for a few minutes, you'll still be well covered.  Plug your 'puter into this bad boy and it'll automatically failover and you'll never lose another one of those epic long posts again!!   

And the best part is the price....only $67

[Jason Walker]

Kalen-

I'm going to break every rule in my salesperson's body (namely, don't sell on leisure time)...BUT, having worked for a company for 15 years that has 80% of the uninterruptible power supply market....well,  I have to interject.  Tom, please visit my friends at Best Buy for a fantastic deal on a great UPS system...this model kept all my home systems running just fine during the same thunderstorm that passed by you...

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9307788&type=product&id=1218081368684

 

[TEPaul]

Kalen:

Thanks for the suggestion and the product recommendation----but me and my kind are sorta old fashioned; if the power goes out as it always does on these farms in the heat of the summer with the thunderstorms we don't think to buy generators and such, we just light candles and wait it out! 

[Adam Clayman]

6. Evaporative transportation

I'm thinking this is the rate at which the water evaporates from the soil. In low humidity areas like high deserts the ET rates are off the charts. So, the system (or super) has to calculate the ET rates and add that much water back into the soil just to keep up with the evaporation.

5 things? I have no clue.