Practical Golf Course Maintenance: The Magic of Greenkeeping (Second Edition)

 

Since the first edition of Practical Golf Course Maintenance was published in 1998, it has proven to be a popular text for superintendents the world over. While finding places in many bookshelves Down Under, it has also been translated into Spanish, while one Polish superintendent took it upon himself to translate it into Polish for the benefit of his fellow supers.

This second edition expands on the wealth of information provided in the first edition, with particular attention paid to pesticide use and the industry’s move to a more environmentally sustainable method of management. The authors have also taken it upon themselves to cut out any outdated information from the first edition, ensuring they provide superintendents with the most up-to-date informational available.

Among the new material in this edition, authors Gordon Witteveen and Michael Bavier provide advice for growing turf with fewer pesticide inputs, examine different cutting and cultivating techniques, deal with the divisive issue of green speed and look at the practices of overseeding warm-season grasses and sprigging. As with the first edition, the information provided is unencumbered by technical language and, as the title of the book suggests, is designed to be a more practical and user friendly resource which can cater for both superintendent and apprentice alike.

As well as looking at the standard golf course maintenance practices, the authors also devote chapters on how the rules of the game affect golf course maintenance, the process of budgeting for tools and machinery, HR management as well as providing a useful series of job descriptions for each role within the maintenance team.

Witteveen, who has also authored a number of other turf publications including ‘Keeper of the Green’ which examines the evolution of golf course maintenance over the years, has over 40 years’ experience in the industry and was responsible for starting the Canadian Golf Course Superintendents Association
As he and his co-author Bavier, a 35-year veteran of the US industry, pen in the opening pages of the book,

“If, as reported, job security is a major concern among contemporary superintendents, we have proven at our respective positions that we are made to last. How we did it is revealed in this second edition. Read it, practice what we preach, and live to a happy retirement.”