This summer I got to truly connect with one of the most relaxing sports and see what it takes to make it as beautiful as it is. I was a maintenance member at the Laytonsville golf course within Montgomery County Golf. I spent a lot of time doing things to keep the course in the best shape possible, but if i had to choose my favorite part id say it would be getting to mow tees in the mornings. It was a job that didn't involve being worried about getting caught by golfers and I absolutely loved mowing in general. I felt a sense of pride in seeing the tees with nice stripes and freshly mowed because I knew the golfers would appreciate it as well. However my job wasn't just mowing and moving the cups around on the greens. There were a lot of big projects I spent time working on either as a team with coworkers or on my own. I’d have to say my favorite project I got the opportunity to do alone was driving the tractor to bush hog the true rough. Bush hogging is like driving a large mower, the blade doesn't have a sharp edge but rather just a big metal bar that beats the grass down and can break up large sticks and other things that may be hiding in the grass. Now the true rough on the course is what you could call the tall wild grass. We had many areas where the grass and thorns were left unkempt year round besides the annual bush hogging.
The most interesting thing about this job though was being involved in the aeration process. Aerating is pulling cores out of the green and replacing the holes with sand. This process allows the greens to breathe better and produce a more healthy and lush surface for play. It was also a nice project because throughout the summer not just this job my superintendent was super involved in working with it. Dan was not the kind of super that just tells us what to do and sits in his office. He was always out doing things and willing to help us whenever we needed it or had questions. I will say though, working here kind of shifted me away from wanting to work as a superintendent, going into this internship I had two options I wanted to pursue. Either work in the oil industry in some aspect of policy, or work as a course superintendent. Throughout the summer I slowly realized while I enjoyed the work it just wasn't something I could see myself doing as a career. This is mainly because of how little room there is to move up and and improve without having to move locations frequently.
My tasks at Laytonsville were usually split into morning jobs and afternoon jobs. Mornings were always one of three things. The first was raking bunkers, where I took our sand pro machine which is just a riding mower but with rakes on the back and fluffed up the sand in all the bunkers. The second possible job was set up, which meant moving tee blocks on the boxes and changing the cup locations on the greens. The third option was mowing tees, which we as a crew did twice a week to keep the course looking clean and well kept. Afternoons, on the other hand, were always different and could’ve been just about anything depending on what needed to be done the most around the course. The two jobs I was given the most though, were filling divots left by golfers on the tee boxes and fairways, and weed eating tall grass around the course. Both of these jobs while redundant were very important to tying in the course to make it presentable. The biggest skill I picked up this summer though was self sufficiency in identifying problem areas on the greens. Over the summer I was taught how to identify scalped or dead spots on the green and how to repair them. This process usually involved cutting the problem area out and replacing it with a new grass plug. I find this skill useful though because it’s not something that is just golf related, it helped me tone in my judgement and ability to solve problems without immediately calling someone else for help.
Overall I really enjoyed my time at Laytonsville this summer, and I do plan on returning next summer as a seasonal job. I walked away with valuable skills and memories I don't think I'll ever forget. To close this off will leave you with a quote from a co-worker that truly resonated with me: “Even though we may just be fancy grass farmers, nothing beats watching the sunrise over a green and knowing you had a part in that landscape in front of you” - Sean H.
