Staley Farms Assistant Golf Course Superintendent: Grant Sherwood

I would like to introduce the blogosphere to Staley Farm's new Assistant Superintendent, Grant Sherwood.  Grant is already proving himself as a vital asset to our team and golf course though he has only been here for a month.

Being a native of Platte City, MO, Grant attended many years of summer golf camps at Shiloh Springs Golf Course.  This led to becoming a member of their course maintenance team and a passion for turfgrass management.  Grant took this passion to the University of Missouri where he completed his degree in Plant Science-Turfgrass Management.  He took advantage of internships at TPC Southwind, Trump National Bedminster, and Austin Country Club as well as volunteering at several PGA events.  Straight out of college, Grant accepted a job as Assistant Superintendent at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, TX where his team hosted the AT&T Byron Nelson.  After Trinity, he followed his passion for bentgrass to an Assistant position at Austin Country Club.  Side note..........wanting to grow bentgrass in Texas is nuts!!  A good, confident kind of nuts though.  This April Grant accepted the Assistant Superintendent position here at Staley Farms, a course that he has always held in high regard.  He is excited to be a part of the team and the pursuit for constant improvement. 

Verticutting Greens

Hello everybody, and welcome to my first blog entry.  Today I wanted to throw some information out there about the benefits of verticutting our putting greens.  This is a cultural practice that I plan to implement in the spring and fall each year.  Our team performed this task this past monday before mother nature opened the flood gates. The process uses many thin vertical blades to cut grooves into the surface of the green and then a light sand topdressing is applied to fill the grooves.  The cutting action removes thatch as well as a small amount of leaf tissue which allows better water, nutrient, and air infiltration.  Another benefit is a smoother surface which leads to a truer ball roll.  This is produced because the grain of the grass is reduced. This process adds stress to the bentgrass which is why I will only do this in spring and fall when I know the turf can recover well. Below I have added a picture of our practice green after the verticutting process.

In other news, my Assistant Golf Course Superintendent has started and is going to be a huge asset for Staley Farms and myself.  His name is Grant Sherwood and I will be adding his bio on this blog shortly.  

Mother Nature has told me that there will be no mowing this week and she is threatening me about next week being the same.  Staley has received near 4" of rainfall in the past 4 days.  We have been able to squeeze in greens mowing and that is about it.  So we have worked on some details like sprinkler and cart path edging. Hopefully this trend will change soon or we will be dealing with a large clipping mess the next time we do get to mow.  Until next time, hit em long and straight.