What the hell is TRIZ

By Michael Vogt, CGCS

TRIZ (pronounced like Treez) is a problem solving method based on logic and data, not intuition, which may accelerate the ability to solve problems in a different and more creative way. "TRIZ" is the (Russian) acronym for the "Theory of Inventive Problem Solving." G.S. Altshuller and his colleagues in the former U.S.S.R. developed the method between 1946 and 1985. TRIZ is the study and theory of the patterns of problems and solutions.

TRIZ is spreading into the corporate world on many paths. TRIZ is increasingly used alongside the Six Sigma processes, in project management, customer satisfaction and risk management systems, and in many organizational initiatives.

How can TRIZ apply to the world of golf course management? We all know that problem solving relies on a relatively small set of solution patterns. For instances, when the superintendent has a problem or task the first reaction is to break the problem into small sets of easily accomplished tasks; like aerification of greens.

Figure 1 Greens Aerification

Whether you know it or not you use the basic principals of TRIZ for most of your golf course maintenance projects and problems. But not so fast - TRIZ theory gets into the problem solving methods even further. TRIZ research began with the hypothesis that there are universal principles of creativity that are the basis for creative innovations that advance technology. If these principles could be identified and codified, they could be taught to business leaders to make the process of creativity  more predictable. The short version of TRIZ is:

“Somebody someplace has already solved this problem (or one very similar to it.)

Creativity is now finding that solution and adapting it to this particular problem."

There are three primary fundamentals of the TRIZ theory:

• Problems and solutions are repeated across industries and sciences. The classification of the contradictions in each problem predicts the creative solutions to that problem.

• Patterns of technical evolution are repeated across industries and sciences.

• Creative innovations use scientific effects outside the field where they were developed.

Much of the practice of TRIZ consists of learning these repeating patterns of problems and solutions and then applying the general TRIZ patterns to the specific situation that confronts the problem solver. The simple graphic in Figure 2 below describes this process.

Figure 2

In Figure 2 above, the red arrows represent transformation from one formulation of the problem or solution to another. The two red arrows represent analysis of the problems and analytic use of the TRIZ databases. The blue arrow represents thinking by analogy to develop the specific solution. This four-step problem solving approach forces the user to overcome inherent psychological bias that is typically referred to as “psychological inertia” (we get easily stuck in how we normally “think”).

Examples of Golf Industry and Change of Thinking

For example, a powerful demonstration of this method might come from the turf chemical industry. Hypothetically, a new group of information suggests that Garlic can control turf pathogens. Low concentrations of garlic extract can be safely applied to turf and control a wide range of turfgrass harming fungi. Today we’re studying the specific problem; can the turf industry find an ecological friendly way to keep turf from fungal infection. The general problem is a low cost, easily applied method to keep turf “fungi – free”. The general solution in this case might be a natural garlic product applied to the turf canopy. And the specific solution is elimination of dollar spot and brown patch without using expensive, ecologically unfriendly chemical compounds. I am not saying that garlic extract will eliminate or replace Daconil; I am just using this example of looking at a problem with a new theory that might augment a particular line of reasoning.

Another two great examples of general problem solving at the highest level was perhaps the chemistry behind the Aliette® brand fungicide; it is the only fungicide to deliver true, two-way systemic protection against certain turf pathogens. With multiple modes of action, Aliette® attacks fungi at multiple growth stages for better overall fungal control. Aliette’s® unique double action not only attacks and controls fungi on contact, but also stimulates the plant's own defense mechanisms. In addition to Aliette®, Heritage®, the active ingredient, azoxystrobin, belongs to a class of fungicides named strobilurins. This class of fungicide possesses a mode of action, which inhibits mitochondrial respiration in fungi, stopping their energy supply. Imagine this discovery, natural occurring woodland fungi use to treat fungi! Although these two chemistries are older, consider, Civitas, and its new mode of action has many in the turf industry reconsidering the turf plants ability to ward off disease within the plant itself, not unlike Aliette® but having chemistry far safer than that of Aluminum tris.

The 40 Principals

In the course of solving any one problem, one TRIZ tool or many can be used. The 40 Principles of Problem Solving are the most accessible "tool" of TRIZ. These are the principles that were found to repeat across many fields, as solutions to many general contradictions, which are at the heart of many problems.

A fundamental concept of TRIZ is that contradictions should be eliminated. TRIZ recognizes two categories of contradictions:

Technical contradictions are the classical engineering "trade-offs." The desired state can't be reached because something else in the system prevents it. In other words, when something gets better, something else gets worse. Classical golf course examples include:

• Growth regulators reduces mowing (good), Must re-apply throughout the season and suffer a trampoline affect after last seasonal application (bad)

• Controlled release nitrogen feeds the plant slower (good), but costs more than soluble forms of nitrogen (bad)

• Pre-emergent herbicides use to stop annual grassy weeds from germinating also stops desirable seed from germinating

Physical contradictions, also called "inherent" contradictions, are situations in which one object or system has contradictory, opposite requirements. Everyday examples abound:

• Trees on golf courses are visually stunning, however, the more trees on the course the more difficult it is to grow turf.

• More play on a golf course equals more revenue, but more play slows the speed to which it takes to complete a round.

Several examples of common golf business contradictions:

• We need to reduce labor costs on the golf course, but maintain current levels of playing conditions.

• Our 100 year old club needs to attract new members; regardless of a new club with better facilities for the same cost just one mile away.

• Native areas on the golf course reduce mowing and other maintenance but can slow play with golfers looking for lost balls.

TRIZ research has identified 40 principles that solve the Technical / Tradeoff contradictions and principles of separation that solve the Physical / Inherent contradictions. Additional examples include:

• School administrators: Creativity has been greatly enhanced in situations ranging from allocation of the budget for special education to building five schools with funding only for four, to improving racial harmony in the schools.

• Waste processing: Dairy farm operators could no longer dry the cow manure due to increased cost of energy. TRIZ led the operators to a method used for the concentration of fruit juice, which requires no heat.

• Warranty cost reduction: Ford used TRIZ to solve a persistent problem with squeaky windshields that was costing several million dollars each year. Previously, they had used TRIZ to reduce idle vibration in a small car by 165 percent, from one of the worst in its class to 30 percent better than the best in class.

A Description and Examples of the 40 Inventive Principals and the TRIZ Matrix

Use these 40 Inventive Principals with the TRIZ matrix. On the pdf downloadable TRIZ matrix sheet find the intersect of your specific situation and search the far right column for the Inventive Principals that apply to your specific problem or process. The following is the 40 basic rules to the process of TRIZ problem solving (Inventive Principals, far right hand column) with example(s) for each principal.

1. Segmentation

Divide an object into independent parts.

Example: Golf course syringe hoses can be joined together to form any length needed.

2. Extraction

Extract (remove or separate) a "disturbing" part or property from an object, or extract only the necessary part or property.

Example: Most irrigation computers will deliver run-times based on certain factors (evapotranspiration, angle of incidence, type of soil, variety of turf), most superintendents disable this feature.

3. Local Quality

Have different parts of the object carry out different functions and place each part of the object under conditions most favorable for its operation.

Examples: A pencil and eraser in one unit.

4. Asymmetry

Replace a symmetrical form with an asymmetrical form if an object is already asymmetrical, increase the degree of asymmetry.

Example: While spreading moist topdressing sand through a symmetrical spreader, the sand forms an arch or bridge above the opening, causing irregular flow. A bin of asymmetrical shape or conveyor belt eliminates the arching effect.

5. Combining

Combine in space homogeneous objects or objects destined for contiguous operations or combine in time homogeneous or contiguous operations.

Example: A greens aerifier has an attachment to windrow plugs for ease of removal.

6. Universality

Have the object perform multiple functions, thereby eliminating the need for some other object(s).

Examples: An irrigation computer that gathers weather data and soil moisture data and calculates water needs for the turf plant. DryJect® machine aerifies topdresses and applies soil amendments in one pass.

7. Nesting

Contain the object inside another which, in turn, is placed inside a third object. Pass an object through a cavity of another object.

Examples: The old greens dew whips that stored inside an aluminum tube for transport, or a mechanical pencil with lead stored inside.

8. Counterweight

Compensate for the object's weight by joining with another object that has a lifting force. Compensate for the weight of an object by interaction with an environment providing aerodynamic or hydrodynamic forces.

Example: A rear wing in racing cars which increases pressure from the car to the ground.

9. Prior counter-action

Perform a counter-action in advance if the object is (or will be) under tension, provide anti-tension in advance.

Examples: Reinforced pre-stressed concrete column. Hollow vertical turbine pump thought the motor shaft.

10. Prior action

Carry out all or part of the required action in advance. Arrange objects so they can go into action in a timely matter and from a convenient position.

Example: Install a pressure relieve valve (Cla-Val) on a pump station to protect components from high water pressure.

11. Cushion in advance

Compensate for the relatively low reliability of an object by countermeasures taken in advance.

Example: Grinding a relief on a reel to only have to grind a small portion of the reel blade surface in the future.

12. Equipotentiality

Change the working conditions so that an object need not be raised or lowered.

Example: Build a loading dock or ramp to load equipment on trailers or truck beds to transport on and off site.

13. Inversion

Instead of an action dictated by the specifications of the problem, implement an opposite action. Make a moving part of the object or the outside environment immovable and the non-moving part movable. Turn the object upside-down.

Example: Abrasively cleaning parts by vibrating the parts instead of the abrasive.

14. Spheroidality

Replace linear parts or flat surfaces with curved ones; replace cubical shapes with spherical shapes. Use rollers, balls spirals or replace a linear motion with rotating movement; utilize a centrifugal force:

Example: The difference between a PlanetAir machine and a conventional turf / greens slicer that slices in a straight line.

15. Dynamicity

Make an object or its environment automatically adjust for optimal performance at each stage of operation. Divide an object into elements which can change position relative to each other. If an object is immovable, make it movable or interchangeable.

Examples: A flashlight with a flexible gooseneck between the body and the lamp head. A rotary mower with many floating decks to mow contours more evenly opposed to a single fixed rotary deck.

16. Partial or overdone action

Figure 3 Tee jet Air Induction Nozzle

If it is difficult to obtain 100% of a desired effect, achieve somewhat more or less to greatly simplify the problem:

Examples: Fine droplets in a spray pattern guarantee good coverage (high pressure, lower volume) but have high drift potential. Nozzles designed for greens spray have an air induction system that greatly reduces spray drift and delivers a fine spray pattern.

17. Moving to a new dimension

Remove problems with moving an object in a line by two-dimensional movement (i.e. along a plane). Use a multi-layered assembly of objects instead of a single layer. Incline the object or turn it on its side.

Example: A stacked bowl vertical turbine pump rather than a single stage centrifugal pump.

18. Mechanical vibration

Set an object into oscillation. If oscillation exists, increase its frequency, even as far as ultrasonic. Use the resonant frequency. Use ultrasonic vibrations in conjunction with an electromagnetic field.

Example: When spin grinding a reel; the stone and the spinning reel have a frequency that matches the diameter and thickness of the metal blades on the reel. The correct frequency will accomplish the job better and faster.

Figure 4 Reel Grinder

19. Periodic action

Replace a continuous action with a periodic (pulsed) one if an action is already periodic, change its frequency, use pulsed between impulses to provide additional action.

Examples: An impact wrench loosens corroded nuts using impulses rather than continuous force. A warning lamp flashes so that it is even more noticeable than when continuously lit.

20. Continuity of a useful action

Carry out an action continuously (i.e. without pauses), where all parts of an object operate at full capacity. Remove idle and intermediate motions.

Example: When a reel drops to the turf surface it engages the reels automatically when lowered.

21. Rushing through

Perform harmful or hazardous operations at very high speed.

Example: The up and down movement of an aerifier tine is potentially harmful to turf at slower speeds causing turf to be pulled away from the soil, a fast moving tine is less apt to injure turf.

22. Convert harm into benefit

Utilize harmful factors or environmental effects to obtain a positive effect. Remove a harmful factor by combining it with another harmful factor. Increase the amount of harmful action until it ceases to be harmful.

Example: A USGA specification green is waterlogged, causing turf to wilt, with no air holding capacity for root respiration, introducing heavy irrigation will break the false water table and drain the green to normal air / water ratio.

23. Feedback

Introduce feedback, if feedback already exists, reverse it.

Examples: Water pressure and volume from an irrigation system is maintained by sensing output pressure and flow and turning on a pump if these parameters are too low. If the system detects high flow (like a mainline leak), the system will shut-down. A golf course sprayer moves up and down hill and maintains constant pressure and volume based on forward and reverse feedback (based on speed, pressure and volume).

24. Mediator

Use an intermediary object to transfer or carry out an action. Temporarily connect an object to another one that is easy to remove.

Examples: Tailoring a walking greens mower to a specific set of greens with a motorized cart. A material handler can move sand from a sand storage area and spread sand within the bunker.

25. Self-service

Make the object service itself and carry out supplementary and repair operations.

Examples: Tires filled with a special compound to seal small leaks. A filter system on an irrigation pump station, back-flushes itself when flow and downstream pressure is dissimilar by a predetermined factor.

26. Copying

Use a simple and inexpensive copy instead of an object which is complex, expensive, fragile or inconvenient to operate or replace an object by its optical copy or image. A scale can be used to reduce or enlarge the image. If visible optical copies are used, replace them with infrared or ultraviolet copies.

Examples: Find out stress areas on turf with the use of infrared red photos. As-Built drawings reduced to booklet size for irrigation service and repairs.

27. Inexpensive, short-lived object for expensive, durable one

Replace an expensive object by a collection of inexpensive ones, forgoing properties (e.g. longevity).

Examples: Disposable shop towels, plastic spray nozzles, packing rings on pump motors, plastic hydraulic motor couplings to reel drive on triplex greens mowers.

28. Replacement of a mechanical system

Replace a mechanical system by an optical, acoustical or olfactory (odor) system. Use an electrical, magnetic or electromagnetic field for interaction with the object.

Example: Magnetic bedknives, magnetic bedknife grinding tables, barcodes on equipment for servicing requirements.

29. Pneumatic or hydraulic construction

Replace solid parts of an object by gas or liquid. These parts can use air or water for inflation, or use air, water or hydrostatic cushions.

Figure 5 Toro Hydroject Aerifier

Example: Fertigation, hydraulically driven reels, high lift rotary mower blades, Toro Hydroject aerifier.

30. Flexible membranes or thin film

Replace traditional constructions with those made from flexible membranes or thin film. Isolate an object from its environment using flexible membranes or thin film.

Examples: To prevent water evaporation from plant leaves, polyethylene spray is applied. After a while, the polyethylene hardened and plant growth improved, because polyethylene film passes oxygen better than water vapor. Reverse osmosis membrane for water treatment.

31. Use of porous material

Make an object porous or add porous elements (inserts, covers, etc.) If an object is already porous, fill the pores in advance with some substance.

Example: The use of porous concrete to add hard surface parking areas without increasing drainage capabilities. The addition of the gavel layer below the sand layer in greens construction to move water out of water saturated sand.

Figure 6 USGA Specification Green Profile

32. Changing the color

Change the color of an object or its surroundings or change the degree of translucency of an object or processes which are difficult to see. Use colored additives to observe objects or processes which are difficult to see if such additives are already used, employ luminescent traces or tracer elements.

Examples: To check to see if a drainage system is functioning properly add a dye to the water and time its travel. Add reflectors dots or floor stripes inside maintenance building to locate parking areas for equipment, designate safety areas and mark stairways and curbs.

33. Homogeneity

Make those objects which interact with a primary object out of the same material or material that is close to it in behavior.

Examples: The metal at the bottom of a flagstick (ferule) is made out of a metal that is similar in hardness to a metal hole-cup. The hardness and composition of steel in reel mower bedknives and reels.

34. Rejecting and regenerating parts

After it has completed its function or become useless, reject or modify (e.g. discard, dissolve, evaporate) an element of an object. Immediately restore any part of an object which is exhausted or depleted.

Examples: Reel mower bedknives, new nozzles for irrigation heads, packaging for turf chemicals that dissolve in water.

35. Transformation of the physical and chemical states of an object

Change an object's aggregate state, density distribution, degree of flexibility, temperature.

Example: Changing the pH of water to increase the efficacy of the spray mix. Add gypsum to irrigation water to help mitigate salt build-up in the soil.

36. Phase transformation

Implement an effect developed during the phase transition of a substance, for instance, during the change of volume, liberation or absorption of heat.

Example: Irrigation VFD drives are cooled with irrigation water piped though a radiator device with irrigation water under pressure. Solvent weld PVC primers and glue.

37. Thermal expansion

Use a material which expands or contracts with heat. Use various materials with different coefficients of heat expansion.

Examples: To control the opening of roof windows in a greenhouse, bimetallic plates are connected to the windows. A change in temperature bends the plates, causing the window to open or close. To control equipment engine temperature an engine thermostat is use and operates on temperature of coolant water inducted to a metal spring and valve.

38. Use strong oxidizers

Replace normal air with enriched air, Replace enriched air with oxygen.

Examples: To obtain more heat from an acetylene torch, oxygen is fed to the torch instead of atmospheric air, to enrich and add power to the internal combustion engine turbo-charges and superchargers are use to push more air into the combustion chambers.

39. Inert environment

Replace the normal environment with an inert one or carry out the process in a vacuum.

Example: To make some turf chemicals easy to handle and mix with water, inert water-soluble ingredients are added to active ingredients.

40. Composite materials

Replace a homogeneous material with a composite one.

Example: Military aircraft wings are made of composites of plastics and carbon fibers for high strength and low weight.

Conclusion

The examples above are not necessarily technologies born form TRIZ theory but the value of a thought process to bring about change and improvement in a repeatable fashion is something that should be considered.

Phases like “Thinking Outside the Box”, “Change is the Only Constant” and “Paradigm Sifting” have been thrown around around like a football on Thanksgiving. The most successful leaders in their field will be the ones that solve the basic problems fast and the complicated problems faster than their competition.

The best way to learn and explore TRIZ is to study the process and begin a problem that you haven't solved satisfactorily!

The art and science of hiring the best crew ever!

By Michael Vogt, CGCS

How often have you been in a hiring situation? With the majority of golf courses using seasonal and part time employees the task of finding the right fit is difficult at best. And the results; you’ve used your best interviewing techniques and questions. You’ve checked his references and they were great. Your gut instincts said, “He’s a winner.” You and your assistant have poured your heart and soul into training him and now, two months later, he’s late for work, doesn’t follow through on his jobs, and gives you every excuse in the book why he can’t perform up to expectations. You have to let him go.” Sound familiar? It has happened to all of us.

One of the most difficult tasks a superintendent faces today is finding the right person for the job. Most follow an old fashion interview and trust their instincts. They hire the individual and hope that with proper training and motivation, the individual will succeed. The difficulty with this approach is that it is human nature to hire people we like and that have similar personalities to our own.

You are a superintendent and hiring top positions on your team, like assistant superintendents or spray techs, you probably have a 50% chance of hiring the right person for the job. These positions are generally committed people with a definite career track. But, if you are hiring for a laborer or equipment operator or even a head mechanic position chances are you will fail and the position will become a revolving door. With the average hiring mistake in the golf course industry costing a club upwards of $5,000, for an avoidable miscalculation in most cases. Especially in this economy, competitive pressures make hiring right the first time a necessity.

There is a better way. I have learned that the key to golf course productivity is having the right people in the right jobs. I call people with the skills, motivation and work ethic to do the job Hour Savers. Put the Hour Savers in the job and you will have a top producer; someone you wish you could clone. Put many Hour Savers in the job and you will have a highly productive, exciting maintenance team that is fun to work with; a team that your fellow superintendents wish they could clone. An analogy that illustrates selecting the best employees this is a bus, the bus has many seats (jobs), hiring right puts the correct person in the correct seat, hiring poorly forces you to kick riders off the bus completely (firing them). Don’t let anybody on your bus that can’t find their seat and stay on for the whole ride.

Job Compatibility

The first question to answer is “Is the individual compatible with what you are asking them to do (will they fit into the seat)?” Many golf maintenance operations today have extensive cross-training assignments for their employees. The notion is based on the idea that the broader the experience, the better the employee. Unfortunately, many employees are miserable in cross-training assignments because their personalities are not compatible with what they are being asked to do. Their performance lags. They become frustrated and what was once a rising star becomes a management problem with an attitude. Usually, the employee leaves before the busy superintendent can determine the root of the problem. Doesn’t it make sense to determine a person’s compatibility with a new job BEFORE they are hired and/or promoted?

How is this done? I recommend the use of a personality profile. First, test your most successful people in the position you’re hiring. The results will uncover their dominant job related traits. This program will then model the results through a process called “benchmarking" or "base lining.” This process creates a hiring or promotion personality trait standard, by which you can compare your applicants or employees to the successful people in the job. Find out what makes Ralph the best cup cutter, or Joe the best fairway mower, just ask them some questions, find out what makes them tick! Use those traits to screen your applicants and voila, a better than average chance the applicant will fit the job profile. Ask questions that probe into their likes and dislikes, attention to detail, typical day on the job, you’ll be surprised what you learn.

Skills, Knowledge, Experience

The second question to answer is “Does the individual have the skill set to do the job?” This can be determined through good interviewing questions, checking references, and giving the applicant a skills test that is relevant to the position. Recent research has shown that many applicants lack the basic skills to do the job. I sincerely recommend the use of a basic skills test, if you’re looking for a greens mower, and you walk mow greens ask if walking is something the applicant has an affinity for, like 3 miles per day. At a company I used to work with we used tests that were developed by an employment consultant to uncover certain personality traits that might be congruent to the different positions we offered. Bottom line, what good is it to hire someone who can’t or doesn’t want to walk 3 miles to mow greens and have the desire to be at the job before the sun rises? Make sure they have these basic skills before you hire.

If you want to know if an applicant knows how to operate a mower, I sincerely recommend the use of a demo as part of the applicant screening process. It puts the applicant in typical mowing situation and then measures their responses against a known group of top producers. I am sure you have witnessed an employee that was trained without much effort; they most likely turned out to be excellent hires. Take the applicant to the nursery green with a greens mower and observe the basic walk, turn, throttle use, grip on the handle; the basic aptitude on their relationship with a walking greens mower. The stiff, apprehensive fellow might never find a balance in walk mowing greens.

Work Ethic

The third question we must answer is “Will the individual work?” Below is an assortment of interview questions mostly for salary or core staff members, to help you determine the applicant’s work ethic.

Mission/Sense of Purpose

• Who is the most successful person you know?

• What is your goal in life?
• Tell me about your 5-year goal? Your 10-year goal?
• Is there any reason why you wouldn’t be willing to commit to working 5 am to 3:00 pm, five to six days a week?
• Is there any reason why you wouldn’t be willing to commit to working weekends and holidays?

Tenacity/Perseverance
• Tell me about something you have accomplished that required great perseverance?
• Tell me about the jobs you have had that required self-discipline and perseverance?
• Tell me about something that made you decide to give up and why?

Time Management
• What method do you use to track time, appointment book, day timer, calendar
• At home how do you prioritize your “To Do” list?

Character and Credit History
• When we conduct our character and credit checks, will we find anything questionable?
• Check driving, credit, criminal, and employment history.
• Check personal references.

For hourly positions, the questions we must answer are different. We want to know:

• “Will the applicant show up for work?"
• "Will the applicant steal from the company?"
• "Will the applicant take drugs on the job?"
• "Can the applicant accept supervision?"
• "What is the applicant’s attitude toward customer service and communication?”

There are several tests that have proven to be very effective at screening out people with absenteeism, tardiness, drug, theft, supervision, safety, job hopping, and customer service problems. These tests are now given online and are available in English or Spanish, results can be returned in as little as 10 minutes speeding the process up considerably. Per test costs will vary but in most cases these tests can uncover attributes that are good and bad for your team.

Retention

The final question we must answer is “If I hire this applicant, who inside of my organization is best to manage the new hire and jump start his/her productivity?” How many times have you hired the “right” applicant, seen them perform excellently during the “honeymoon”, then watched their productivity slowly fall into the abyss? In my experience I have found that personality conflicts account for about 50% of the employee turnover. In a recent research study, it was discovered that often a new hire had all the “right” ingredients for success. The new hire was then assigned to a manager or trainer with whom they were incompatible. The result was after a month, the new hire became de-motivated, disheartened and left.

How can this be prevented? By making sure that the new hire and training supervisor are compatible. While opposites may attract socially, they usually like oil and water at work. If the differences are not as extreme, then have an initial conference and show the new hire and manager how they are alike and how their differences can benefit each other. Often, just showing two people how they can attack a problem from their different perspectives is enough to promote teamwork and often can jump start productivity.

Conclusion

With hiring mistakes costing golf courses real money, competitive pressures necessitate “hiring right and promoting right” the first time. In order to do this, you must have a complete picture of an applicant or employee’s strengths and weaknesses and how they will fit into your organization. This picture must include an assessment of their skills, their personality, their work ethic and consideration of compatibility with the immediate supervisor and/or trainer.

We all remember that magic year that we had the best crew ever, good morale, on time everyday, responsible team of just great people. The rush of spring often has the superintendent making quick “warm-body” decisions to fill needed positions at the beginning of the year. Resist the temptation to just hire the friend of a good employee or someone not known to you off the street. Take some time and research that applicant, your job will be better for it and it could be that “best crew ever”.

Carbon Footprint, Why is it Important to Me?

By Michael Vogt, CGCS

This is the best definition I can come-up with:

“The total amount of greenhouse gases emitted directly and indirectly to support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of either carbon or carbon dioxide.

Direct greenhouse gas emissions can include tailpipe emissions of CO2 from motor vehicles, methane from landfills, and hydro fluorocarbons from leaking refrigeration or air conditioning equipment. Indirect greenhouse gas emissions arise from coal and other fossil fuel-based energy generated to power residential, commercial, and industrial activities. Indirect emissions also arise from fossil fuel combustion used in the manufacture, transport, storage, disposal, and recycling of commodities and manufactured products.”

How about the golf course, what’s involved in calculating carbon foot prints for a golf course maintenance operation?

• Gasoline and diesel fuel for machinery and delivery trucks
• Heating and cooling the Turf Care Center
• Plastic packaging
• Electricity for irrigation pumps

Virtually everything, (products and services) used at the golf course has an associated carbon foot print. As soon as we use these products and services the green house gases (GHG) that help manufacture and delivered these products and services are assigned to the end user.

Basic Carbon Dioxide Chemistry:

• Chemical Formula: CO2
• Molecular Weight: 44.01
• Temperature of Solid CO2 ("dry ice"): -78.2° C or 108.4 below 0 F
• Common Uses of CO2:
     Refrigeration (dry ice)
     Fire fighting, fire extinguishers
     Carbonated beverages
• CO2 in the Atmosphere: The Earth's atmosphere is about 360 ppm (parts per million) carbon dioxide gas. This concentration is an increase from 315 ppm in 1960.
• CO2 Production: You produce 1/2 lb (pound) of carbon dioxide when you watch television for an hour.
• Geometry: The CO2 molecule has a linear shape. This means that the atoms in carbon dioxide are arranged like the picture below. The Black circle represents one atom of carbon and the two Red circles represent oxygen atoms.

• One Pound: One pound of carbon dioxide gas has the volume of 8.2 cubic feet. You could store two pounds of carbon dioxide in the average kitchen refrigerator.

Lets run the numbers

Calculating CO2 emissions:

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines for calculating emissions inventories require that an oxidation factor be applied to the carbon content to account for a small portion of the fuel that is not oxidized into CO2. For all oil and oil products, the oxidation factor used is 0.99 (99 percent of the carbon in the fuel is eventually oxidized, while 1 percent remains un-oxidized.)

Finally, to calculate the CO2 emissions from a gallon of fuel, the carbon emissions are multiplied by the ratio of the molecular weight of CO2 (44) to the molecular weight of carbon (12): 44/12.

CO2 emissions from a gallon of gasoline = 2,421 grams x 0.99 x (44/12) = 8,788 grams = 8.8 kg/gallon = 19.4 pounds/gallon

CO2 emissions from a gallon of diesel = 2,778 grams x 0.99 x (44/12) = 10,084 grams = 10.1 kg/gallon = 22.2 pounds/gallon

Thus, for every gallon of gasoline your equipment burns 19.4 pounds of CO2 are released into the atmosphere, and for every gallon of diesel fuel 22.2 pounds are released.

Soil below turfgrass areas can trap CO2

Agricultural Research Service soil scientist Ronald F. Follett and Colorado State University researcher Yaling Qian have studied soil records from 16 Denver-area golf courses. Follett says they found that carbon sequestration in the soil under turfgrass occurred at a "significant rate that is comparable to the carbon sequestration rate reported from U.S. land that has been placed in the Conservation Reserve Program." That voluntary program, run by USDA's Farm Service Agency, pays agricultural landowners to "establish long-term, resource-conserving covers on eligible farmland," which helps trap carbon.

Follett explains that golf course managers generally keep excellent soil records; some of the records used for this research go back 45 years. The scientists found that carbon sequestration lasts for up to 31 years in fairways and 45 years in greens, after which the rates slow or become negligible. While carbon sequestration exists on tees, it was not nearly as much as those on fairways and greens. The researchers are still investigating why this is the case.

A rapid increase in carbon sequestration occurs the first 25 to 30 years after the turfgrass is established. The study found that greens and fairways each store nearly a ton of carbon per acre per year. An average size golf course can be responsible for better than 100 tons of CO2 per year.

The comparison is this, a golf course can use 100 gallons of fuel and still be carbon neutral if the course is younger than 30 years and has at least 100 acres of turf less tee surfaces.



CO2 gases are believed to be the major contributing culprit in global warming.


If you are a believer in global warming, CO2 disaster, there you have it. However, if you think this global warming thing is a big scam by the elite left wing educated and big government the above doesn’t mean anything!

Mike Puts the Grip on Mike

      

Notice The Firm Handshake, I Think Iron Mike is Wincing From the Grip!

"We Have Met the Enemy... and He is Us"

By Michael Vogt, CGCS

Modified USGA specification greens, sand bunkers with pure white sand also add expensive fabric liners to these bunkers so we can flash sand at ridiculous slopes, oh, and don’t forget blemish free turf from tee to green. Is it harder to let go of the tiger than it was to catch him by the tail? We are the victim of our own technology; let’s examine just two basic problems with technology, golf design and maintenance and see if we have identified the enemy.

Let’s examine the green:

In an article by James Moore, Director of USGA’s Construction Education Program states that, “After 20 years the greens will probably not drain well internally.” The highly modified and engineered USGA specification sand greens that dot the golf landscape are each dying a slow 20 year death, according to the USGA!

We build high content sand greens to encourage rooting, increase gas exchange in the root zone, drain water so we don’t miss an available tee time, reduce compaction to allow root space and allow golf designers the ability to contour the putting surface as they seem fit. How is it we create these superior surfaces and now have the added expenses of hand watering, constant fights with thatch, rolling to increase ball speed, fight moss and bacterial invasions, add fans to increase air circulation and have to limit the natural growth of the turf with plant growth regulators? Do we aerify greens less today on sand greens than we did on soil greens? No. With dense new bentgrass cultivars these new super grasses seem to produce even more thatch, so instead of aerification to just relieve compaction we need this process to remove accumulated thatch and pore clogging organic matter.

International Sports Turf Research Center (ISTRC) a physical soil test lab in Kansas, is so convinced in the importance of removal of thatch that they recommend in most of their soil reports that 20% at a 3 inch depth of the green surface be removed annually just to “manage” the thatch layer. That equates to at least 2, 5/8 inch hollow tine aerifications annually, followed by introduction of pure sand into the hole to act as a conductor for water and gas exchange in the root zone. The ISTRC guidebook should be required reading for all golf course superintendents that mange sand greens, the guidebook can be found at: ISTRC Guidebook

Old push up style greens I have observed lately compared well with these fancy sand based wonders of technology. Poa annua (Annual bluegrass) is still no less of a problem in most geographic regions with or without sand based greens. So, what have we gained by building greens with scientifically selected sand size? Elaborate drainage systems and a complete greens replacement schedule of every 15 to 30 years and this schedule was reviewed and endorsed by the USGA, GCSAA, CMAA, GCBAA, NGF, NGCOA and compiled and distributed by the American Society of Golf Course Architects.

Let’s grab this tiger by the tail and run the numbers. The cost of 19 new greens is perhaps, on the low side, $600,000 (about $4.00 per ft²). If the greens in a drastic situation needed to be replaced after 15 years (minimum time frame set forward by the above golf associations) a course would have to save, in today’s dollars, $40,000 per year. That’s nuts! Even if the greens endured for the maximum time, the course is on the hook to put away $27,000 per year! That means as soon as the first putt rolls in the cup at least one dollar per round, forever, needs to be saved for rebuilding of the greens, in today’s money!

A soil green, (of which there are many great examples in the USA) can be built under the strictest specification and be built for a fraction of the cost. These greens often have better soil microbial activity, use far less water, play firmer and support very good populations of turf.

Apparently, most people believe the USGA specification green building and subsequent renovations are worth the extra money or not as many people would be requesting the fancy sand greens; but how long can courses sustain these expensive modifications, maintenance and green rebuilding schedules?

Another driving force in the favor of sand green is the golf course architect, the reason being is they can shape a green with extreme contours and not be concerned with surface drainage as the old soil based greens. The type of sheet drainage (old style greens) that was said to lead to soggy approaches and waterlogged greens surrounds. Those soggy areas around greens are easily solved by installation of drainage at a fraction of the cost.

Let’s examine the sand bunker:

Bunkers are even more absurd than greens! Flash sand bunkers with laser sharp edges is also a function of fad; golf course architects piling sand on ridiculously steep banks for visual effect, not necessarily for playability, because they could create a visual stunning look from the tee and/or second shot.

In these cases form followed newly functional and improved building techniques, golf course architects used these new and expensive building and maintenance techniques to build extreme cost and high maintenance golf course sand bunkers. The life of sand bunkers is said to be only 5 to 7 years. I completed a complete sand bunker renovation during 2008 on a Tom Fazio design golf course, the bill, $650,000. That’s a whopping, $92,857 per year of bunker life based on 7 years of asset in service.

As mentioned earlier if you amortized the cost of just bunkers and greens the course would have to reinvest $132,857 per year. That’s just for bunkers and greens renovations or replacements, from day one the asset was put into service.

Whom else to blame?

The superintendents are the next nemesis of the grand old game. Their ever increasing expertise demonstrated that super-green, blemish free turf could be achieved, at a substantial additional cost!

Golf course designers have been practicing one-upmanship for the last 50 years. The golden age of golf architecture with practitioners such as Maxwell, McDonald, McKenzie, Tillinghast and Ross are lauded today for their design genius, even today. They understood the game of golf on a higher level than most and based their designs on what was available to build with on site. They never moved 100,000 cubic yards of soil; they designed the greens to surface drain properly. Trees, as a rule, didn’t have a purpose on golf course design except for an occasional grove of apple or pear trees to supply the walking golfers with a treat during the dog days of summer.

The cost of golf has increased dramatically due to these advances in design, construction and maintenance. With today’s economic pressures, over-supply of golf, reduction in leisure time and lenders and banks classifying golf as “Toxic Assets” we have built high maintenance features without the forethought of cost. Golf maintenance has never been inexpensive; however, golfer, owner, members and superintendent demands strive for ever-increasing pristine conditions and visual perfection. These elements have driven the cost of golf into the stratosphere. Slowly the game will once again be reserved for the ultra-rich with ample time and resources to enjoy.

Let’s examine the maintenance cost:

Now that the other shoe has dropped the buzz is, maybe less is more in golf design and maintenance, to wit, Bandon Dunes, Chambers Bay and Barnbougle Dunes. These are wildly popular courses that focus maintenance on play areas, have little or no trees and have sand bunkers that are truly hazards; not perfectly groomed, white sand, lined maintenance headaches.

We are now experiencing the perfect storm, less free time, less disposable income, high maintenance costs, banks and intuitional lenders turning their back on golf and a mass exodus of members fleeing the private club sector. Perhaps less is more in golf design and maintenance, to wit, Bandon Dunes, Chambers Bay and Barnbougle Dunes. These are wildly popular courses that focus maintenance on play areas, have little or no trees and have sand bunkers that are truly hazards; not perfectly groomed, white sand, lined maintenance headaches.

Million dollar maintenance budgets have become the norm at just average golf courses from coast to coast. Should we attempt to look at golf course design, building and grooming and accept a through-back principle to less expensive, simpler times? There will always be golfers willing to pay a premium for super-ultra private club golf courses. I just find it hard to imagine the average small business owner or upper wage earner spending an average of $130.00 per round (at a club) of golf before the first beer.

What do you think, email me with your view?