I currently work and have worked at a golf course for four plus seasons. I just finished my AIT/intern summer at the golf course I've been working at. I decided to enroll in environmental landscape management to have a different look at turf and overall how to use that to my advantage. I've realized my end goal is to become a superintendent and work with I realized that this program is great, but it doesn't go in depth into some turf stuff. Is getting great work experience something that I can fill the void in and learn about better agronomy, or do I go for more education, like a short course? What is your guys' advice?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Hi Guys,
I’m in Australia, just wondering what you guys overseas and in the US use in shaded areas. We usually use rye grass. It works but I’m not a fan. Generally the majority of lawns I care for are Couch and Kikyuyu.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking into ways of improving the turf on our golf course fairways and I’d really like to hear about the practical experience of other turf professionals and greenkeepers.

What grass species or mixtures do you normally use or recommend for fairways — for example Poa annua, perennial ryegrass, fine fescues, Bermudagrass, or other species?

I’m particularly interested in grasses with:

• good drought tolerance;
• good resistance to common turf diseases;
• relatively low irrigation requirements;
• low fertiliser requirements;
• good recovery from traffic and divots;
• good playing quality;
• good adaptation to golf course fairway conditions.

I’m also interested in how you establish or overseed these grasses while minimising soil disturbance and disruption to play.

For example, do you normally use:

• slit seeding;
• direct drilling;
• aeration followed by overseeding;
• overseeding followed by light topdressing;
• or another method?

For some context, the course is located in northern Portugal, with relatively cool and wet winters and increasingly hot and dry summers.

The fairways have not been seeded for more than 20 years and have never really had a defined seeding programme. At the moment, the turf cover is very heterogeneous and is largely made up of naturally occurring vegetation and different weed species.

The intention is to start improving these areas gradually and maintain the fairways at a cutting height of approximately 20 mm, with mowing twice per week.

The aim is not to completely renovate all the fairways at once, but rather to understand the best way to gradually introduce more suitable turfgrass species, while minimising soil disturbance, costs and disruption to play.

I’d like to know which grass species or mixtures, seeding rates, equipment and establishment methods have worked best in your experience, especially on courses with hot, dry summers where reducing irrigation, fertiliser inputs and overall maintenance requirements is important.

Thanks in advance for any advice or experience you can share.

To those who have done both how different did you find the parks job day to day vs golf? Was it less repetitive? Did you end up doing more project based work? Improvements etc. I am currently an assistant, this was my 5th summer working there. Worked my way up from a seasonal hire. I have a 2 year turf degree plus a business associates degree as well as other hands on skills that would apply to parks jobs such as carpentry/woodworking. I don't see myself really wanting to become a super due to the headaches, hours etc. I love problem solving and building things (off season renovation projects on the course are my favorite) but the idea of spending another summer doing the same monotonous maintenance tasks is not appealing and I feel like I need to branch out.

I'm a college student researching a ball mark repair tool and would really value input from people who actually maintain greens.

The idea: a small circular tool a golfer presses over the ball mark once. Thin prongs go in around the edge, then move inward together to push the turf toward the center, the way the USGA recommends, instead of lifting it. The goal is a proper repair in one motion, even from golfers who don't know the technique.

From what I've read, earlier tools with inward-moving fingers tended to tear the turf into chunks and didn't handle the raised mound on some marks. So I'd love your take:

1. Would this kind of repair actually heal well, or would it cause damage?
2. What's the biggest problem you see with how golfers fix marks now?
3. Do the one-push tools your crews use (Greenskeeper, AccuFix, etc.) do a good job?
4. Would you want golfers using something like this, or would you rather they just use a regular tool correctly?

Honest opinions welcome, including "don't build this." Not selling anything, just trying to learn before making a prototype.

Hi everyone 👋

I’m currently working on a UX research project for a sports turf booking and management application.

I’m looking to hear from turf, cricket ground, football turf, badminton court, or sports facility owners/managers about how you currently manage bookings and day-to-day operations.

I’d especially like to understand:

• How do you currently receive and manage bookings?
• Do you use WhatsApp, phone calls, walk-ins, or booking platforms?
• How do you track available and booked slots?
• What problems do you face with cancellations or rescheduling?
• How do you manage payments?
• What challenges do you face during peak hours?
• What features would actually make managing your facility easier?

📝 Short survey:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdsDlIMR-1nSix3zY7tt3kRQhpbnkvDGhLChcfVGl7YuoBLlw/viewform?usp=sharing

The survey is only for research purposes. I’m not promoting or selling a product.

If you're a turf/sports facility owner or manager, your experience would be really valuable. Thank you! 🙌