The wild, wacky, wonderful world of golf maintenance
As the new year unfolds and my travels line up on the calendar, I’m reminded what a great career I’ve had as a superintendent and still being associated with the profession. The exposure to human...
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Seashore paspalum: Finding the right plant for the right place
Seashore paspalum turfgrasses certainly offer a new option for golf course turf, but like all those that came before and those that will come after, there is no “silver bullet” turfgrass. The only...
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Mother Nature’s Polar Vortex fools golf turf managers
The old saying, “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature,” was a real oxymoron this year as she pulled the plug on turf managers north of the Mason-Dixon line. Mother Nature did all the fooling around with...
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Joel Jackson: Golf’s positive impact on the economy
Every spring I make a Joel’s Journey through Florida covering six to seven traditional chapter events. These are their primary fundraisers for the year. That got me thinking about the We Are Golf...
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Keeping an “Open” mind when golfing
Watching the back-to-back men’s and women’s U.S. Opens took me down memory lane to the days when I worked at Disney and we hosted the Oldsmobile Scramble and Disney Classic back-to-back. Many...
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Summertime blues… and greens at Lake Omigosh GC
A look at No. 16 approach at Pinehurst No. 2, taken at the U.S. Open. Since I’ve been on the road a lot this spring and early summer, I haven’t been to the Lake Omigosh Golf Club’s 19th Hole and Whine...
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Joel’s Journeys: Florida Sen. Wilton Simpson asks supers to ‘come talk to us’
Florida State Senator Wilton Simpson The Florida Turfgrass Association (FTGA) recently held it’s conference and show in the Orlando area. The FTGA is the umbrella organization that unites all of the...
View ArticleState of the golf industry: The big wheel keeps on turning
Updates on the state of the golf industry keep coming from all facets of the game. I think of the industry as a big wheel and the spokes are made up of the many specializations that go into the single...
View ArticleThe “Lowe”– down on 2014
In keeping with the theme of this issue, which is “Year in Review” according to my official 2014 Golfdom Editorial Calendar, I decided to contact Todd Lowe, senior agronomist with the USGA Green...
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Observing California’s drought
I was recently in California and was able to take a firsthand look at the drought forcing golf courses to come under tough restrictions on water use. I’ve been following the articles and postings...
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Punching holes in golf course cultural practices
Welcome to the wonderful world of golf course cultural practices. I recently attended a regional educational day hosted by the West Coast, Suncoast and Ridge chapters of the Florida GCSA presented by...
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Back to the future
Last summer I wrote about the complex water regulatory system in California and since then Gov. Jerry Brown went to the mountaintop and discovered much to his surprise that he couldn’t even build a...
View ArticleGolf Day reflections
Back in April during National Golf Day, the annual GCSAA-organized trip to Washington, D.C., our delegation reminded legislators that the U.S. golf industry generates $70 billion in economic impact...
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WOTUS is really ‘Woe Unto Us!’
The new Waters of the U.S. regulatory effort by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, known as WOTUS, is so far reaching it is more of a PR project to give the appearance...
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Communicate about the need for seasonal turf maintenance programs
There was an interesting comment online recently about how some folks refer to our most invasive cultural practices as “evils” because they mark up the playing surface for a week or two, often less....
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Contributor Joel Jackson moves from the Sunshine State to the Golden State
This column deadline really snuck up on me. You say, “Well, Joel, why didn’t you plan ahead?” Well, folks, I did, but this time I’ve got a good excuse — my wife and I packed up our Orlando, Fla., home...
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2015 in the golf industry: The good, bad and ugly
Joel Jackson I am not naming names, but this column title almost sounds like it could be a slogan for the 2016 presidential nomination race. Or maybe it’s just an evaluation of the whole field. It’s...
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Is the golf biz much different than show biz?
Joel Jackson Every day that I read The Los Angeles Times I’m reminded of the old entertainment saying that is the headline of this column. We’re deep into motion picture awards season, and not a single...
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Superintendents for all seasons: Snow belt versus sun belt
Superintendents are people for all seasons. Even though I have moved cross-country I am still in the Sun Belt (for agronomic purposes). Although California’s unique geography provides a wide variety of...
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Is El Niño a boom or a bust?
California ranks No. 2 nationally in total number of U.S. golf courses, behind No. 1 Florida. After the recent multi-year drought, which sparked mandatory water restrictions to all sectors of water...
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