Tim Moraghan
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Golf Course Industry
Lover of KAM, The Doors, The New York Rangers and the low country.
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Articles by Tim Moraghan
Build it right: Part 2
Tim Moraghan | February 2023 Renovations, restorations, “reimaginings” or whatever we’re calling them these days … superintendents at well-funded facilities must be prepared for big-project action at almost any moment. Last month, we explored factors to consider before a project begins. This month, we’re providing final pre-project reminders, then getting you ready for construction and post-construction. Speak up or … Ask questions if you see something that doesn’t look right or make sense.
Public welcome - Golf Course Industry
“Joe Six Pack.” You hear that term thrown around a lot these days, usually referring to politics and economics. We also hear it attached to the daily-fee golfer. I don’t like it. It’s demeaning and in just three words discriminates against about 75 percent of all golfers. Should we start calling the other 25 percent, those who play at private clubs, “Francois Merlot” golfers?
Looking for a new job 101
Tim Moraghan | September 2022 As part of my company’s current services, I find superintendents to fill open positions at clubs across the country. I really enjoy this work, plus it gives me great personal satisfaction to help a club while helping one of our own with a new career opportunity or the chance for professional advancement. But it never fails to amaze me how unprepared or uninformed people can be about getting a new job.
2022 Grainy Awards
Tim Moraghan | December 2022 It was another strange golf year, when our business looked even more like Hollywood, with almost as much action on courses and screens as there was in courtrooms. Because we prefer comedy to drama, here are the Grainy Awards for 2022. Please keep your acceptance speeches short.
Thanks a Lot! - Golf Course Industry
Tim Moraghan | November 2022 The price of turkey is out of sight, airfares to visit faraway relatives are even higher, and I think there’s another LIV Golf tournament (or is it an exhibition? Maybe a tea dance?) about to be played somewhere I’ll never go. That means it’s the season to reflect on what I am most thankful for in my life and in our profession. It’s certainly been an interesting year, and I’m thankful for … The golf boom.
Ideas take teamwork
Tim Moraghan | June 2022 Key to being a great superintendent is being a good leader. And key to being a good leader is acknowledging and embracing the good ideas from others on your team. If you think you’re the only one with good ideas or don’t encourage, credit and embrace the good ideas coming from others, you’re hurting your course, your staff and yourself. If all the good ideas are yours, then you’re probably doing a bad job encouraging others to contribute.
Share this: A letter from your superintendent
Every author likes compliments, but I was especially gratified while playing a new course recently with some fellow superintendents that they all, in one way or another, said something like this: “We read your column every month. You write the stuff we all want to say but can’t, and we really enjoy it. It’s a shame that more people —specifically our general managers, golf professionals, low-handicap golfers and architects — aren’t reading it, too.
Firm and fast: Gone at last?
Tim Moraghan | August 2022 Most people watching the recent 150th Open Championship at St Andrews saw a thrilling contest that concluded with the crowning of the “Champion Golfer of the Year” and the awarding of the Claret Jug. What I saw — and likely what you did, too — was “firm and fast” taken to ridiculous extremes. Granted, there’s been a severe drought in the UK this summer and climate change is upon us. But really?
The 2022 Grainy Awards
Tim Moraghan | December 30, 2022 It was another strange golf year, when our business looked even more like Hollywood, with almost as much action on courses and screens as there was in courtrooms. Because we prefer comedy to drama, here are the Grainy Awards for 2022. Please keep your acceptance speeches short.
Putting money where their mouths are
Tim Moraghan | April 2022 The current golf boom has had many unexpected consequences, among them more golfers, new golfers, filled tee sheets and busy golf shops. More greens fees, increased sales and bursting memberships means more revenue than clubs—private and public—have seen in a long time, if ever. This infusion of funds is allowing clubs to dust off plans that have been on the drawing board, but also the back burner, for months, maybe years.
Buckle up, the vibe is different!
Tim Moraghan | March 2022 Has golf ever gone through a change like the one it’s going through right now? The game is booming, we’re overwhelmed with new participants and spectators. Private clubs and public courses can’t keep up with the demand. It’s a new day for golf — and it’s no longer our father’s game. Our staid sport has become a mix of college-football tailgate parties, NASCAR and a whole lot of Vegas.
PBI-Gordon announces executive leadership transition
Steve Clifford will become the president and CEO or PBI-Gordon. Courtesy of PBI-Gordon Steve Clifford elevated to president and CEO effective Nov. 1, 2020. The board of directors of PBI-Gordon Corporation announced Donald Chew will become executive chairman of the board and W.E. Mealman will become chairman emeritus. Steve Clifford will become president and CEO of PBI-Gordon and its subsidiaries Pet-Ag and Pegasus Laboratories. These changes will become effective on Nov. 1, 2020.
North Carolina course reopens ahead of schedule following regrassing
Courtesy of Rumbling Bald Turf leader Matt Lovell oversaw transition from bentgrass to Champion Bermudagrass greens on Apple Valley course at Rumbling Bald. The Dan Maples-designed Apple Valley Golf Course at Rumbling Bald, the 36-hole golf resort on Lake Lure, North Carolina, officially reopened on Aug. 24 with new Champion Bermuda greens on all 18 holes.
Company funded by venture capitalists introduces autonomous mower for turf markets
Many lessons have been learned since the 2008 crash, and here we go again as the repercussions from COVID-19 have canceled outings and other revenue streams. Superintendents have once again demonstrated leadership skills by preparing different maintenance operating budgets and playing conditioning standards scenarios for their employers to consider.
How to handle a member meeting
Many lessons have been learned since the 2008 crash, and here we go again as the repercussions from COVID-19 have canceled outings and other revenue streams. Superintendents have once again demonstrated leadership skills by preparing different maintenance operating budgets and playing conditioning standards scenarios for their employers to consider.
How to handle a member meeting
Opened in 1929, Pasatiempo Golf Club is considered one of Alister MacKenzie’s finest designs. © photos courtesy of Justin Mandon/Pasatiempo golf Club Marion Hollins developed it. Alister MacKenzie designed it. Juli Inkster grew up around it. Within Pasatiempo Golf Club are carefully restored bumps, barrancas and bunkers. The layers of historical and architectural significance inspire superintendent Justin Mandon each time he passes through the gates of the semi-private club in Santa Cruz, California.
Short, splendid and series worthy
Golf Course Industry Magazine August 2020 Columns - TEEING OFF July 30, 2020 Guy Cipriano The rise of high-quality short courses represents a trend and a revelation. Their presence provides a reprieve from the big-course boom and allows operators to unveil fresh products even during a global pandemic. From the Monterey Bay to the Carolina Sandhills, operators believe less space will yield more revenue and customer enjoyment.
Wanna get away!
Golf Course Industry Magazine August 2020 Columns - america’s greenkeeper © Terry | adobe stock I seem to recall advertisements within the past two decades for Southwest Airlines and Snickers with taglines about getting away and taking a break. I think it is safe to say we all would like to get away from the chaos of 2020. But doing so is one of the hardest things for golf course superintendents to execute. It’s hard to believe the summer of 2010 was a decade ago.
Play golf now!
Golf Course Industry Magazine July 2020 Columns - outside the ropes July 1, 2020 Tim Moraghan © adobe stock I occasionally use this column to get a message to golfers, usually about maintenance issues they should be aware of. But this one is different because the times are different. Golf is the perfect pandemic activity and the game is seeing a healthy “bump” in play that we’d like to see continue.
In a crisis, communicate
Golf Course Industry Magazine May 2020 Columns - outside the ropes May 1, 2020 Tim Moraghan © adobe stock As the COVID-19 pandemic has proved, there’s a big difference between real “news” and people just talking. Noise and distractions can blur what’s important. As a result, critical information can get lost in a sea of chatter. Chances are, none of this comes as a surprise to you.
It’s the science
Golf Course Industry Magazine March 2020 Columns - outside the ropes March 4, 2020 Tim Moraghan © Photobank | adobe stock The last few months, I’ve heard from many superintendents — and seen for myself — some unusual situations while in the field. Whenever I encounter something odd on the course, I call the preeminent weed and turf scientist (and my good friend) Dr. Fred Yelverton of NC State University for the facts.
All politics is local
©Kiawah Island Golf Resort Golf lost its greatest living example of ingenuity Jan. 9, 2020. Pete Dye designed – and motivated people to build – courses on swamps, coal mines and air bases. He never officially moved mountains or oceans, but his designs hugged stunning landforms from the California desert to the Dominican Republic coast. His creations transformed sleepy places such as Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida; and Kohler, Wisconsin, into global destinations.
Impressions of a Golf Industry Show rookie
Years before Walt Disney decided Orlando would be the home of his second eponymous theme park, he considered Niagara Falls (which was, of course, too cold) and St. Louis (where August Busch Jr. might have called him crazy for not wanting to sell beer). A flight over the developing roads of central Florida — on the same day JFK was assassinated — cinched the deal. Disney loved those roads. He also loved the room.
The A Word
About this series Golf Course Industry is partnering with John Deere to provide an inside look at three unique tournament venues. As the part of the project, social media tours of each facility will be available @GCIMagazine and podcast interviews can be found at www.golfcourseindustry.com.
Golf Course Industry Magazine
March 2019 Departments Columns Features Cover Story Driven Dynamo A superintendent, general manager, terrific golfer and champion curler. Meet Silver Bay Golf Course’s Norma O’Leary. Agronomics What if it happens again? A late-arriving spring ruined agronomic plans for superintendents in multiple regions last year. Experts offer lessons from the miserable season. Making the Cut A Special Series Presented by JOHN DEERE Making the cut Big crowds, famous holes and acres of prized turf.
Determining success
Golf Course Industry Magazine March 2019 Columns - america’s greenkeeper adobe stock | Gajus What does success look like? I’ve traveled both sides of the Atlantic in the past two months, speaking to peers, assistants, deputies and other industry professionals about this very question. At first glance, you may have thought my pal, Lee Strutt, course manager at Royal Automobile Club, and I planned to stand before you at industry conferences and talk about ourselves. You would be wrong.
Respect your elders
About this series Golf Course Industry is partnering with John Deere to provide an inside look at three unique tournament venues. As the part of the project, social media tours of each facility will be available @GCIMagazine and podcast interviews can be found at www.golfcourseindustry.com. Part 1 February: TPC Scottsdale; Part 2 March: TPC Sawgrass; Part 3 May: Trinity Forest The Champions Course is one of two courses maintained by the TPC Scottsdale agronomy team.
Stupid beats none
Viacheslav Iakobchuk | adobe stock After attending my 33rd consecutive Golf Industry Show, it occurred to me that I am now, officially, one of the “old guys.” My hair is greyer and there is less of it. I have a brand-new knee. And I opt to wear soft shoes instead of sleek loafers. Trust me, however, Sans-a-belts are not in my future! So why, after all these years, do I still attend? More than anything else, it’s to meet new – and see old –friends. And to learn.
Golf Course Industry Magazine
February 2019 Departments Columns Features Cover Story What happens at the end? Recently retired superintendents reveal the emotions of leaving the golf course and beginning the next phases of their respective lives. Industry Small school, big experience A hands-on turf management program is helping continue the agricultural legacy at a suburban Philadelphia university. Making the Cut A Special Series Presented by JOHN DEERE Making the cut Big crowds, famous holes and acres of prized turf.
The times call for change
USGA Green Section director of education Adam Moeller. One of the highlights of a terrific visit to the Ontario GSA annual conference was spending time with USGA Green Section director of education Adam Moeller and hearing his marvelous presentation on agronomic and course management trends he sees around the country. I won’t steal his entire presentation, but here are a few of his key observations: Irrigation: Manage water for playability, not color.
Practice protocol
Illustrations by Graham Hutchings Sponsored by As this year’s State of the Industry report once again shows, the golf industry continues to evolve. As it does, Textron Specialized Vehicles is changing with the times and positioning its brands to serve you better. 2018 continued to be a year of transformation, with E-Z-GO®, Jacobsen®, Cushman® and Textron Fleet Management continuing to deliver new equipment and technologies.
Conference Season
natali_mis | adobe stock (Editor’s Note: This year, BASF and GCI are working together to tell the story of how a new active ingredient is coming to life for the golf market. The idea is to help you learn the scope of the R&D, testing, investment and plain hard work that goes on behind the scenes of product development. The specific formulations are not yet approved by EPA but indications are they will be available in 2019.
Call Me Old Fashioned
photos by donovan maguigan Maguigan Aperture, shutter speed, vignette, ISO, bokeh, f-stop, macro. Bored yet? Those are all heavy-duty photography terms that are completely unnecessary to understand in order take great photographs. Complicated setups, special lenses, filters, flashes and an expensive digital camera are also unnecessary. If you have a smartphone, the tool for you to take quality photos of your golf course has been in your pocket the whole time.
Love and leadership
illustration: freshidea | adobe stock In the early years of golf course management, it was common that young, aspiring assistant golf course superintendents apprenticed under veteran and more established superintendents. It was also common that superintendents in the same area gathered together to play golf or attend education, or to have lunch and talk about greenkeeping, weather forecasts, and how to solve the issues of the day.
Balancing Act
photos by donovan maguigan Maguigan Aperture, shutter speed, vignette, ISO, bokeh, f-stop, macro. Bored yet? Those are all heavy-duty photography terms that are completely unnecessary to understand in order take great photographs. Complicated setups, special lenses, filters, flashes and an expensive digital camera are also unnecessary. If you have a smartphone, the tool for you to take quality photos of your golf course has been in your pocket the whole time.
Unleash Your Inner Ansel Adams: Digital Photography for Turfheads
photos by donovan maguigan Maguigan Aperture, shutter speed, vignette, ISO, bokeh, f-stop, macro. Bored yet? Those are all heavy-duty photography terms that are completely unnecessary to understand in order take great photographs. Complicated setups, special lenses, filters, flashes and an expensive digital camera are also unnecessary. If you have a smartphone, the tool for you to take quality photos of your golf course has been in your pocket the whole time.
Travels with Terry
Welcome to the 2018 edition of The Grainys, my highly subjective awards for the best and worst of the golf year just past. To be honest, it was a rather dull year, but that didn’t stop The Grainys crew from finding some memorable achievements. Now on the tee, the envelopes, please….
The Grainys - 2018 Edition
Welcome to the 2018 edition of The Grainys, my highly subjective awards for the best and worst of the golf year just past. To be honest, it was a rather dull year, but that didn’t stop The Grainys crew from finding some memorable achievements. Now on the tee, the envelopes, please….
Worthy of the name
Superintendent Kyle Macdonald and architect Bobby Cupp discuss the changes at Bobby Jones GC in Atlanta. Photo: Guy Cipriano Clutching a set of sketches and routing plans on a sweltering late-September afternoon, Bobby Cupp stops on a hillside overlooking the 6th green of the Azalea nine at Bobby Jones Golf Course. Cupp begins describing the green and the flow of the hole while general manager Brian Conley gazes at a hillside adjacent to the fairway.
Volunteer U
I thought the idea above had made it in to the “Book of Common Wisdom in Golf Course Design” long ago. However, now that I am renovating more older courses, I find not everyone has read that book. Specifically, I am amazed at how many courses with partial paths only at tees and greens have problems that could be avoided with proper design, so I dedicate this column to explaining the concept again.
Golf from above
I have been designing golf course irrigation systems for over 35 years and I am amazed at how much installation work is currently out there. There are so many courses – private, public, country club, resort, mom and pop, 9-hole, 18-hole, multiple holes – looking at refurbishing or replacing their irrigations systems that it has outpaced the number of contractors available to do the work. As a result, prices have basically sky rocketed.
Attitude of altitude
courtesy of Mammoth Mountain At two of the country’s most high-altitude golf courses, the pressures of operating at elevation aren’t just limited to the thin air. Best known as popular California ski destinations, Sierra Star Golf Course (8,050 feet above sea level) in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., and nine-hole Bear Mountain Golf Course (7,000 feet) in Big Bear both trade the poles and snow for wedges and turf come the eventual late spring thaw. Not that the transition isn’t without elevated pressures.
A Few Words of Thanks
While the phrase has recently become popular in the news, golf has always known it had an “Alt Right” problem. Specifically, architects know that average golfers usually miss to the right, and typically have trouble escaping sand bunkers, so we need to come up with alternate hazards on the right side of greens and fairways, which I have always called alt right hazards. What they are talking about on nightly news, I have no clue.
Travels with Terry
Locating quick coupler valve, gate valve, isolation valve and air relief valve covers in mulched or pine straw beds is made easier using surveyor’s whiskers. They are attached by drilling holes in the center of the valve box covers and screwing them into the underside. The Swanson MWOR61000 6-Inch Marking Whiskers Orange Colored 25 pack is available on Amazon Prime for $5.99/each, which are also available in other fluorescent colors.
Golf Course Industry Magazine
Maintaining quality golf conditions on elevated sites presents unique pressures for a pair of California courses. The final event of the PGA Tour schedule attracted a diverse group of turf managers to a historic venue within a bustling city. SMART, GREEN and LINKED are more than acronyms. They could be the keys to taking your career to a higher level. Remember this formula. 45 minutes a month: 30 days at half-a-minute and one 30-minute meeting will pay big dividends for your crew’s safety.
Golf Course Industry Magazine
A golf course with a major championship pedigree molded by Donald Ross in its infancy, Columbus Country Club is relying on throwback tactics to attract a multi-generational membership. The former Acacia Country Club is a living example of how an ecological plan can return land to space where wildlife plays. Rochester Golf & Country Club embarks on an ambitious project to honor its renowned architect while modernizing what lurks below the surface.
Rules Of The Road
Golfers can get an awful lot of instruction in the game. How to swing, how to think, how to follow the Rules (hey, just because they CAN get it doesn’t mean they DO). But one critical skill that no one teaches is how to drive a golf cart — or more correct, a golf car. Put a golfer in a golf cart and he thinks he’s Mario Andretti or Dale Earnhardt Jr. They get just as interested in making donuts as making birdies, and pay little attention to one another let alone the golf course and its maintenance.
What You Should Know About Driving a Golf Cart
So, it’s time to install a new irrigation system and your knee deep in the planning process. You have a design, a contractor, the chosen manufacturer and supplier, and the money. So, your all set to go? Well maybe not. Have you thought about permits? People believe a permit is required for an irrigation system when it is part of a golf course renovation project because that requires earth-moving permits and irrigation is covered in that permit.
…Ross in reverse
Cleveland Metroparks Acacia Reservation is the site of a former Donald Ross-designed private golf course. © guy cipriano On a hazy, humid August day when the landscape at the former Acacia Country Club golf course in Lyndhurst, Ohio, might have been dotted with golf balls and players focused on the game, a couple sits on a picnic bench and admires swaths of wildflowers. A bicycler pedals on a path originally designated for carts.
Buffalo Turbine implements 10-year warranty
Buffalo Turbine has announced its products as Sept. 1, 2018 are now backed by a 10-year warranty. Offering a warranty that far exceeds the industry standards allows Buffalo Turbine to showcase its commitment to customer care. Since 1945, Buffalo Turbine has focused on designing and building the highest quality products that the industry has to offer and will continue to employ the same practices for decades to come.
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