Dottie Pepper has walked and played plenty of different golf courses during her decades on the LPGA Tour and, more recently, for her work as a television commentator. She relayed some of her favorite memories — and some of her opinions on modern course layout and agronomics — during the most recent episode of Wonderful Women of Golf. “I think we’re getting back to the space where we understand air movement and drying conditions,” she tells Rick Woelfel. “If we have to lose a few bad trees, it’s OK. If we can make the turf conditions good on their own where Mother Nature can be a friend rather than a foe, we’ve done a great job. I think that’s where the biggest change in 35 years for me has been. Everybody just wanted to run the water, now we’re realizing that it’s not all that healthy all the time.”
Keeping an eye (or two) out for various diseases is a big part of the job for golf course maintenance teams, but how can you best control for diseases during golf course renovation work? BASF senior technical specialist Kyle Miller returns to Disease Discussion to talk with Guy Cipriano about just that topic: “The last thing you want is to pour a bunch of money into a sprigging or a sodding job and lose the turf to disease,” Miller says. “What’s important is to make sure you are protected from diseases that can be present when you’re doing the project.”
Nicolas Garibay landed on our June cover but the Florida superintendent isn’t the only turf pro in his family. His older brother, Eddie Garibay, has worked in the industry for decades and recently started as an assistant superintendent at John’s Island Club in Vero Beach. Eddie talked about his career — from the time he worked alongside his family picking fruit on farms in Michigan and Florida, to today — on the latest episode of Beyond the Page. “Growing up, it was tough to change schools, but we were always excited for the ride, for the trip to Michigan, the stops at McDonald’s and Taco Bell, the family moments,” Garibay says. “Michigan showed us how to work. We thank our parents for showing us how to work from a young age. It was not easy at all.”
Brian Zimmerman is a golf course superintendent by education and training but does something different today. Now in his 14th year as the CEO of Cleveland Metroparks, Zimmerman oversees 24,000 acres, 800 employees, 18 reservations, eight golf courses (with more in the works), and, for good measure, a zoo. He appeared on a rare in-person bonus episode of the podcast to discuss all that and more, including how he and his team get everything done: “You look at pushing rounds and revenue, then you look at the superintendent’s gray hair and you’re like, ‘Am I causing them undue stress?’ We try to close nines to give them unimpeded access to the property. You do have to be patient. Projects do get interrupted sometimes because you have constant play from sunup to sundown.”
Trent Manning is fast approaching 100 episodes of the Reel Turf Techs podcast. His guest on Episode No. 97 is Erin Miller, assistant equipment manager at TPC Piper Glen in Charlotte, where she started out working on the tennis courts. A self-described quick learner, Miller added irrigation work and clubhouse landscaping before landing in the shop. “I always wanted to do mechanical work,” she tells Trent. “My Dad was a mechanic and I just love working with my hands, fixing things, just making improvements. Any time I was around the shop, I would go in and bug them. I just kind of weaseled my way in.” Her next goal? Running the whole shop.
Tartan Talks wraps up its seventh(!) full year with dedicated hiker, high school coach and, yes, golf course architect David Johnson, who tells Cipriano that, at least at the start of each season, a lot of the younger golfers have no idea about his day job. “Throughout the season, the word starts to get around that I do have a real job and it’s golf design,” Johnson says. “A lot of the players are interested in golf course architecture and design. They step up to ask me about the profession and what I have designed. Unfortunately, I can’t say Augusta or Pebble Beach, and that loses the interest of some of them.” Still, he says, “It’s fun to tell them about my career, and many do have a lot of interest.”