Inexpensive Ideas for improving courses appearance Cancel The title field is required!

1. Thomas Slevin

   

   0 posts
   
   3/12/2017 1:03 PM

   I will be stepping in next week to my first assistant position. The course is city owned and has little in the way of extra resources. The previous assistant did a great job improving the bones I.E. irrigation and drainage. I see my first large task as improving the overall appearance of the course. I have some ideas, but thought I would ask the great minds at work on the forum! My course is 18 hole, park land style-ish, heinz 57 turf, small club house.

   
   
   
   
2. Ronald Conard

   

   4 posts
   
   3/13/2017 8:03 AM

   Hi Thomas,
   
   I'd start by focusing on the cleanliness of the entrance, the clubhouse exterior and surrounds, the restrooms, the exit and the condition of the greens. If those are all good most people are usually happy. Everything else is secondary.

   
   
   
   
3. Stephen Ravenkamp

   

   1 posts
   
   3/13/2017 8:03 AM

   First and last impressions....
   Detailing around the entrance and clubhouse, first and tenth tees, 9th and 18th green.

   
   
   
   
4. Andy Jorgensen

   

   1 posts
   
   3/13/2017 9:03 AM

   Same as others - things we have deemed the 100 yard zone. Clubhouse, front entrance and 100 yards around a green and tee.
   
   On course restrooms have a large impact on the appearance of the facility and should be kept to a high regard. A pressure wash and fresh coat of paint goes a long way.
   
   Cleanliness of the entire course. No weeds, leaves, pines straw, etc...in playing areas.
   
   Solicit feedback. You may find there is a common complaint among the players. It could be as easy as cup locations, or as difficult as a certain tree in play. If there is anything you can handle on the operational side, then it should be an easy fix.

   
   
   
   
5. Christopher Thuer

   

   101 posts
   
   3/13/2017 9:03 AM

   Look for ways to reduce the amount of mowing in order to shift the related labor savings to other areas.
   
   We made several changes when faced with a shrinking staff size. One of the first things we did was we increased growth regulator rates and went from mowing fairways, tees, and aps from 3 days a week to 2 with no negative effect on playability. We then began doing the half and half, classic, euro, etc, whatever you want to call it cut on fairways and reduced mowing time about 25%. We reduced the amount of rough mowing by over 12 acres. We incorporated buffer strips around the water bodies reducing the amount of string trimming by about 1 mile.
   
   All those changes plus others allow our quality to still be pretty good while reducing staff from 15 of us to 9.

   
   Chris Thuer, CGCS, Bear Slide Golf Club, Cicero, IN
   
   
6. James Schmid

   

   1 posts
   
   3/13/2017 12:03 PM

   Christopher Thuer, CGCS said: Look for ways to reduce the amount of mowing in order to shift the related labor savings to other areas.
   
   We made several changes when faced with a shrinking staff size. One of the first things we did was we increased growth regulator rates and went from mowing fairways, tees, and aps from 3 days a week to 2 with no negative effect on playability. We then began doing the half and half, classic, euro, etc, whatever you want to call it cut on fairways and reduced mowing time about 25%. We reduced the amount of rough mowing by over 12 acres. We incorporated buffer strips around the water bodies reducing the amount of string trimming by about 1 mile.
   
   All those changes plus others allow our quality to still be pretty good while reducing staff from 15 of us to 9.

   
   
   
   All this stuff. Cost of additional growth regulators is cheap if you compare it to the cost of mowing. Save time wherever you can by making your processes more efficient. Look at travel routes, every wasted minute you can shave off a task is a minute that you can do detail work. Mowing patterns, speeds, travel routes, combine tasks where possible. Spend that extra time on something that makes an impact

   
   
   
   
7. Gary Carls

   

   19 posts
   
   3/13/2017 3:03 PM

   Kind of like others have mentioned. Focus on the things that are most visible to every customer that comes to your facility. Make sure litter and debris get cleaned up as soon as possible. Fix or mark off wet or damaged areas. An eye for the details will make a good impression with very little expense.

   
   Gary K. Carls, CGCS, President - Oakland Turfgrass Education Initiative
   
   
8. Peter Bowman

   

   11 posts
   
   3/13/2017 8:03 PM

   One-time labor cost to remove all flowers that aren't native.

   
   
   
   
9. Diaz Robert E

   
   3/23/2017 9:03 AM

   Make sure all the reel mowers are sharp and cutting well and heights set properly. As crazy as it sounds lowering the mowing heights on fwys, collars and tees. we went from.520 tees and collars to .460 really looks good.
   Fwys from .660 to .560 throughout season again huge improvement in turf density and visual appearance.
   Also agree with all above posts on cleanliness and areas of high traffic. Straight O.B. stakes and overall housekeeping. And yes focus on the greens, good greens hides a lot of other issues.Good luck.

   
   
   
   
10. Steven Scott

    

    0 posts
    
    4/24/2017 9:04 AM

    Growth regulators will help tremendously, not only in the appearance but the decrease in mowing will allow you to move what labor assets you have to work on other areas plus you should theoretically save a little of your fuel budget. Also, cleaning up your in-play areas will go a long way towards the appearance. Pre-emerge herbicides aren't cheap when you are working on a tight budget but if you figure up how much you would spend on post emerge later and how much more often you are having to mow "weedy" areas it is easy to justify. My last employer always said the best mower we had was a good sprayer....
    I agree completely with the 100 yard rule though, if you have good greens and good green complexes golfers will overlook the other areas (as long as they can find their ball).
    I operate an 18 hole course in rural West Tennessee on a less than shoestring budget, what I've learned is to prioritize. Before I took over a lot of money was being spent on things that essentially did nothing for the course itself. Country Clubs may have "social members" but golfers go to a public golf course or a municipal course to play golf, not to sit in the clubhouse or swimming pool.

    
    
    
    
11. James Smith

    

    112 posts
    
    5/10/2017 2:05 PM

    remove things that you cannot upkeep. plant beds may be nice looking but not if they are weedy and a eyesore. garbage cans everywhere may be nice but only if they are dumped regularly My cartshed guys find it too hard to dump a garbage can so now they have three full cans outside. I have told them time and time again just dump the one when it is halfway full, its a lot lighter.

    
    
    
    
12. Erik Carson

    

    0 posts
    
    8/21/2017 8:08 PM

    -Buy generic products to save money. Many mainstream companies offer 'fighting' brands to compete against generics if your not comfortable. Syngenta offers 'Podium' for much cheaper than 'Primo'. Ask your rep about the fighting brands, they all have them for a much lower cost.
    -If you have weeds around clubhouse and you can't afford to control them. Mow that area more often. No member or visitor is going to kneel down to say they found a weed if it's mown low. Treat them when you can or when you can afford to.
    -Make sure everything is weedeated around... trees, posts, yardage markers, etc. A big thing where I am is having yardage on the irrigation heads and them being trimmed. Precision Tools online has a bunch of things that help us attach head edgers to weedeaters.
    -Ask your staff for ideas and recognize them for good ones
    -I agree with all the other members on keeping near clubhouse (1,9,10,18,19) tidy. But just try things that you may be doubtful about them working and they may be the best solution... MacGyver'ing your problems sometimes, is the greatest thing.
    
    Best of luck!

    
    
    
    
13. James Smith

    

    112 posts
    
    8/25/2017 12:08 PM

    Seek to find easier or faster ways to accomplish things. while certain task will always take a certain amount of time, like mowing greens, others may be made quicker like using roundup to keep back your driving range that you might find is hard to keep up with. We started spraying ours with 20oz acre of Round Up to knock it back because we cannot cut it twice a week (and we dont fertilize it). while this will brown it up it does not kill it out (like bare dirt) but gives us a few weeks without having to deal with it. you will find members may be ok with higher brown weeds so you may not have to weedeat if you just keep them sprayed.

    
    
    
    
14. James Mazowieski

    

    0 posts
    
    10/6/2017 7:10 AM

    Edge bunkers. Always felt like this made a huge, immediate impact. edge and weedeat beds and remove tired, unsightly plant material.

    
    
    
    
15. Mark Van Lienden

    

    14 posts
    
    10/7/2017 7:10 AM

    Put yourself in a place to present what you are doing. If you have people cleaning the front entrance check their work when the most people are driving in. Same around the club house. Be ready to tell all who will listen what you are doing as many will not even think about it unless you tell them. Give other's credit if a golfer or an employee comes up with a good idea you will already get credit for implementing it share the light with your team.