**Ask a golf course employee**

[POKEROMGLOL]

1. serious question: are you mexican?

i am in texas and i have never seen a white grounds crew worker (except for the super superintendent obviously). Is it a lot different in minnesota?

2. you guys do all of the work, good job. I worked as a cart boy/bag boy for 3 or 4 years and was always amazed at how little we do compared to the grounds crew. There were about 100 things everyday where I would think "Well who in the hell does that?" and the answer was always someone from the groundscrew.

3. As a golfer, I always got the feeling that the groundscrew really doesn't care if you hit into them. I mean i try not to if there is a significant chance of hitting them, but you can't just sit there and wait for them to mow the entire fairway.

[westhoff]

What height do you cut everything at? The course I grew up on we cut the tees/fringes at 1/2", fairways at 5/8", and greens at 5/32".

Is there any play December-February?

[nehianh]

1. not mexican, two mexicans on the crew, everyone else white so i guess it is very differnt

2. yeah we do a lot of work and sometimes it feels like were under-appreciated but its really not a big deal its a summer job

3. i generally dont mind but then i also make an effort to get out of the way, having worked on a course i would never hit into a worker

[nehianh]

not entirely sure what everything is cut at but those do sound familiar so your guess is as good as mine, it says on all the machines but i never really pay attention to that, usually concentrating on cutting straight lines.

play ends depending on weather but usually the end of october until march or april depending on how mild the spring is

[esad]

So what's the grounds crew take on the guys that always have to pee in the bushes or on the trees instead of using the toilets? This seems to happen quite a bit at some courses even though the toilet is on the next hole or something.

[nehianh]

not a big deal we do it too

[nehianh]

plus its a private club so we really arent in a position to say anything

[duvvard]

What course do you work at? I got a degree from Anoka tech last year in turf management, have not actually worked since I graduated tho, so it was prolly a waste of time.

[duvvard]

[ QUOTE ]
What height do you cut everything at? The course I grew up on we cut the tees/fringes at 1/2", fairways at 5/8", and greens at 5/32".

Is there any play December-February?

[/ QUOTE ]

Those were the same lengths as the course I worked at except for our greens were 1/8th most of the summer except when we had the senior state amateur, and the club championship they were 1/10th.

The course I worked at was always closed the first week of Nov and opened in late march or early april. Some courses in central/southern MN do open on really warm days throughout the winter (50* degrees. and no snow on the ground obv which rarely happens).

[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.