Behind the music of Golfdom

Seth Jones

The member/guest was only 48 hours away. Then two guys pulled a no-call/no-show. Then there was an irrigation line break. Just when it couldn’t get any worse, Mother Nature reminded you that she’s in charge, and washed out bunkers across the course.

Somehow your team pulled it off, even though you had to fake a few things to get through it. The member/guest was a success. Maybe you got a pat on the back, but you probably didn’t. One thing is for sure: None of the golfers wanted to hear about the two jackwagons who no-showed, or about how deep the hole was you had to dig to fix that irrigation line …

… they were just happy to enjoy the results of your hard work. There was no need for a VH1 “Behind the Music” recap of the rise, fall and rise again of your workweek. The devil is in the details.

Similarly, no one asked for a Behind the Music of this issue of Golfdom — and if you’re expecting Mötley Crüe levels of depravity, you’re going to be disappointed. But I’m going to give you my version of this month’s member/guest.

Starter: This section details our recent success at the annual TOCA and Azbee awards. I’m proud to see our magazine recognized, and I’d like to point out that Golfdom has reclaimed the “Best Column, Series,” award. That makes three of the last four years (Matt Neff in 2016, my column in 2015 and now 2018) that the award resides within the pages of Golfdom. And I challenge my fellow Golfdom columnists to pry that award from me.

Cutting to the Chase: Speaking of the quality of columns this magazine is known for, three months ago, I was worrying about the hole I had in my stable of regular columnists since the untimely passing of my friend Steve Wright, CGCS. Then an idea … I should reach out to Carlos Arraya, CGCS at Bellerive CC in St. Louis. Carlos is well known in the industry, not just because of his success hosting the 2018 PGA Championship, but also because of his passion for empowering his crew. I’m thankful he has accepted the challenge of being a columnist for Golfdom, and I look forward to seeing what he brings to the magazine. Interesting note: Carlos and Steve were longtime friends. I’m sure Wright would be happy that Carlos is the person stepping up to share his thoughts with the industry.

Six senses: Immediately following this year’s GIS, I got an email from Jeff VerCautren, superintendent at Rich Harvest Farms, Sugar Grove, Ill. Jeff had already published this story in the Northwestern Illinois GCSA publication, Turfgrass Times. Fellow NIGCSA members told Jeff, “That’s a pretty good story … you should submit it to Golfdom.” He did, we loved it and here it is. A further nice touch: Jeff refused to be paid for the story and instead asked that we donate to the Wee One Foundation on his behalf.

Left glove: Matt Cavanaugh started writing for us five years ago, when he was a research scientist at the University of Minnesota. The superintendent lifestyle lured him back to the grass-growing game, and now he’s back at Rush Creek GC in Maple Grove, Minn. His creativity often is unleashed on the turf world via the Twitter feed @RushCreekGC … it’s like the Saturday Night Live of golf maintenance. I’m glad Cavanaugh is on our side.

Clark Talks Turf: In dramatic VH1 narrator voice — But then the day came when there were nematodes!

19th Hole: Always my favorite page of the magazine, always fun to write. But there’s no awards category for this page. There’s also no need. When you love doing what you do, it shows in the work.