They are always out there—cutting the fairways and the greens, trimming trees and bushes, smoothing sand traps, placing various signs on fairways and making sure that the tee boxes are tended to. These remarkable men—the golf course maintenance crew, happen to be the unsung heroes of our golf courses.
We frequently see them when we are out golfing and we see them when we walk the courses early in the morning, as they go about tending to the courses. But there is more than meets the eye regarding this amazing group of men (right now there are no women on the crew). Let’s take a look.
In June, I was out walking, early in the morning, and the maintenance crew was out on the SaddleBrooke course of HOA-1. The course was shut down for two weeks while it was aeriated, slice cut and sanded. Huge pieces of equipment were on hole nine of SaddleBrooke. I was curious, so I got closer to the crew and the equipment.
Amazing, just amazing! I said to myself. If the golfers only knew what went on behind the scenes in order to meet all of our golf course needs.
Then, in August, I reached out to Mike Roddy, Director of Golf and Grounds, SaddleBrooke, to get a better idea of what transpires on our golf courses. Here is some feedback from Mike…
How much sand was ordered for the three SaddleBrooke courses for this year?
- Greens: 200 tons
- Fairways: 650 tons
- Bunker Sand: 300 tons
- 1 ton = 2,000 lbs.
How many grounds maintenance crew are there?
Mike Phillips has 20 employees under him on the team: Assistant Superintendent, Equipment Manager, Course Foreman, Spray Technician, Irrigation Technician, Equipment Technician and various levels of operators.
Do your grounds maintenance crew men work every day?
The staff works an alternating weekend schedule, with fulltime employees working 40 hours per week. The weekend shifts are usually around three hours, often known to the staff as “mow and go.”
How many pieces of equipment are used to maintain the courses?
The team uses and maintains over 80 different pieces of equipment; some they use on a daily basis and others are seasonal or used less often. It is big job to keep all of the equipment operating in top form and safe for the staff on a daily basis, handled by the Equipment Manager and his assistant.
Other comments…
Maintaining the courses is challenging but rewarding work for the grounds maintenance crew, often physically demanding, especially during adverse weather conditions. The crew really appreciates the friendly waves and the acknowledgment of their efforts. They also appreciate the residents’ efforts to “leave the course as they would like to find it,” as it helps the staff from adding to their already challenging workload.
