Michigan Golf Journal September 2020

Michigan Golf Journal Covid and Golf Course Care As we head into the later part of the golf season in the Michigan, I reflect on the challenges we have overcome. A typical season is a grind with its own unique adversities, but 2020 will go down as one to remember for Golf Course Superintendents. As I look across the property at lush green short mowed areas against a backdrop of scars of brown through the rough, certainly the environmental impacts of heat stress with inadequate precipitation can be seen. Some detail work could be crisper, and some needed spring projects not accomplished are delayed until 2021. We have been here before and realize that with cooler weather on the horizon the grass will rebound quickly. Yet what will define 2020 is the impacts and decisions we had to make due to the uncertainties of Covid-19 way back in March . Superintendents are built for adversity but are without the experience of managing the variables of not having a golf season; how do we keep our team safe, daily health checks, budget restrictions, and can I even maintain the property as an essential worker. This last point really impacted me this spring while I was on the Sand Pro raking a bunker and was pulled over by local law enforcement. “Is what you are doing essential?,” I was asked . Of course, I explained the benefits of raking the trap and was allowed to go on my way, but that moment Covid-19: One Golf Course Superintendent’s Perspective By Ryan Moore, Superintendent,Forest Lake Country Club