**Ask a golf course employee**

[nehianh]

Thought this could be interesting.

I've worked as a grounds crew worker for 3 years and feel I know quite a bit about how things work.

ask me stuff and i'll answer if i know.

if this is no good please delete

[4Tay]

How often do you cut the grass (fairway, rough, greens)?

How often do you water the grass (fairway, rough, greens)?

What's your typical day like?

Biggest peeve about golfers?

[nehianh]

1. we cut the greens everyday, fairways are cut 3-4 times during the week depending on the events for that week and rough is continually cut by one old retired guy.

2. the course is in minnesota so depending on how much rain we get the grass is watered in cycles everynight and if we have not had rain in a while watering is done during the day both with sprinkler systems and sometimes by hand on areas like green collars.

3. my day this summer consisted of getting to the course at 6am and complaining about how tired i was. in the morning from about 6-10 is when greens, tees, and fairways are cut and the bunkers are raked. i usually cut tees which is done with a walking mower or i cut approaches on the fairway. all mowing is done on a riding mower except for tees. then there are odd jobs like divot service on some fairways and tee boxes, and trimming around the club house or weed whipping-the worst job.

4. biggest pet peeve are golfers that are too impatient to wait until a mower is out of range before hitting a shot either from the tee or on the fairway

[tuq]

n,

How much interaction did you typically have with golfers? Given your role I would say far less than cart shed or pro shop folks. Particularly since your job was specifically to get there before them and/or stay out of their way.

Also, is there a general air of disdain towards golfers by staff? I get this feeling from pro shop staff when I'm in there that they're fairly miserable in their moderate-paying jobs and hate the whole customer service aspect of it. It just seems to hang in the air. Then again I may be projecting that on them because when I was in the service industry "the customer is always right" mantra was the thing that drove me the most batshit crazy. That said, even if your job didn't pay as much the whole being left alone thing probably made up for it quite a bit.

[nehianh]

interaction is different from member to member, some of them are real jerks while others will talk to you, lets say if you are working on a tee. its probably like any other line of work some people are nice some are not. arrogance is a large problem you could say.

there are certain members that everyone on our crew will put effort into not getting out of the way in a polite manner.

[tuq]

Until this last post I didn't know it was a private club. Interesting.

Also, it's always been a dream of mine to be the guy that cuts the holes, but I think it would get old after a day or two. Plus I think Troll completely missed your day-to-day job so I'm not sure you can answer his questions.

[Troll_Inc]

In season, how many grounds crew workers work per day?

And how much does this differ between a good private course and a decent daily fee course?

Do you move the pins everyday? (Who decides pin placement?)

How many groundhogs live on your course and have you ever tried to dynamite them?

How many un-fixed ballmarks are there per day and do you fix them (all)?

[duvvard]

[ QUOTE ]
In season, how many grounds crew workers work per day?

[/ QUOTE ]

35 on M/W/F...around 25 Tues and Thurs

[ QUOTE ]
And how much does this differ between a good private course and a decent daily fee course?

[/ QUOTE ]

As few as 5 may be on the crew at a crappy 9 holer. I know the TPC course here has 60 on the crew leading up to the senior PGA tour event. The course I worked at w/ 36 was at a very nice city owned 27 hole course.

[ QUOTE ]
Do you move the pins everyday? (Who decides pin placement?)

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, maybe not in april, and beyond mid sept on really crappy days when hardly anyone will play.

Whoever cuts the cups decides the pin positions unless there is a big event, in which case the superintendent cut the cups where the 'Director of golf' told him to put them.

[ QUOTE ]
How many groundhogs live on your course and have you ever tried to dynamite them?

[/ QUOTE ]

There was one that used to try and burrow thru the wall of a bunker, not sure what happened to him.

[ QUOTE ]
How many un-fixed ballmarks are there per day and do you fix them (all)?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd say 5-15 (from a full shot not hardly noticeable ones) per green. Whoever mowed the green was supposed to fix them, with a really simple device that does not require bending over at all.

[nehianh]

i work at Southview Country Club

[ntnBO]

Here's one I'll throw out there that is a pet peeve of mine.

Most courses have different colored flags to indicate front, middle and back. Unfortunately, most courses simply use a pattern that rotates. For instance, flag on #1 is front, #2 is middle, #3 is back and so on. Front, middle, back, front middle, back. The next day it is middle, back, front, middle, back, front, etc. Add and repeat.

Now I know why this is, when cutting the holes in the morning, the worker simply works backwards and takes the pin from #18 to #17, #17 to #16 and so on. It's easy. Well, I don't know about you guys, but I get sick and tired of knowing where every pin is going to be after I play the first hole. To make matters worse, my home course has 3 par 3's on the back nine, #11, 14 and 17. So the pin is always the same on every par 3! That bites.

But let's look at it one step further. Most courses are closed on Mondays and nothing is done with the pins. In keeping with the rotation, this means that the pins are in the same depth every Tuesday, or Thursday, or whatever. Imagine you only get to play golf on Saturdays. Well, using this system the pins are going to be in the same place every single time you play. EVERY TIME! That really bites.

I just don't see why more course don't just randomly cut the holes and stick the appropriately colored flag into them. That way you might have 3 straight fronts, or a 7 hole stretch with no backs.

BO