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Tim in a regular contributor at Golf Course Industry
You can never be too comfortable. Outside the Ropes columnist Tim Moraghan explains why you always update your résumé, why you should always be ready with questions — and why all interviews should be family road trips.
More guidance on how to get the most out of the tournament week experience from one of the industry’s most respected and experienced tournament agronomists.
One of the industry’s most respected and experienced tournament agronomists reveals essential guidelines for anybody looking to help a tournament course.
New year, same great Beyond the Page: Matt LaWell welcomes Guy Cipriano to talk about the Numbers to Know survey and Tim Moraghan drops by to discuss how golf can sustain the boom.
From the Southern California coast to the British Isles, Tim Moraghan observed plenty of Grainy-worthy material in 2021.
Tim Moraghan recaps 2021 in a way only he can and offers his perspective on how the golf surge of the past two years is impacting those who work in the industry.
Tim Moraghan makes the case for looking beyond big tournaments to evaluate the quality of a superintendent.
Tim Moraghan delves inside the industry’s turf tussles, where sometimes the competition to land a desirable job temporarily disrupts professional camaraderie.
CommonGround Golf Course superintendent Mitch Savage talks about his ever-developing love for short courses and Outside the Ropes columnist Tim Moraghan discusses the turf wars that can break out whenever jobs open up.
What is preventing modern superintendents from being honored alongside golf’s greats? Tim Moraghan delves into the politics and processes of World Golf Hall of Fame selections.
How has golf in general and turf in particular opened up to women and younger workers in 2020? And how can the industry become even more inclusive? Brent Downs of Otter Creek Golf Course and GCI columnist Tim Moraghan join the conversation.
Columnist Tim Moraghan provides helpful hints for superintendents and golfers alike.
He experienced Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey and Hurricane Matthew in Hilton Head, GCI’s Tim Moraghan offers advice on what’s to come after Florence.
Who won? And who lost in 2017? Tim Moraghan opens the ballots.
Stuck in a career rut? Tim Morgahan offers ways to maximize your potential.
Thinking about pursuing a new job? Tim Moraghan explains why you should proceed with caution.
If you’ve been involved in a construction project, you know everyone on staff is affected and the work starts long before the first shovel goes into the ground. Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club in Bedminster, N.J., is in the midst of a long-term project. I spoke with some of the team’s key members about their roles and what they’ve learned so far. No matter where you are on your club’s management ladder, their insights and experience should prove enlightening.
Although there aren’t a lot of new golf courses being built these days, numerous renovation projects are in the works or being planned, giving needed work to architects and builders. But they aren’t the only ones affected. Wherever a course is being reworked in any way, a superintendent and a membership will be involved, inundated and inconvenienced. Patience and flexibility are the key words for those groups.
As superintendents, we pride ourselves on the kinship and brotherhood inherent in our profession. We see ourselves as protectors of the earth, combining science with a spiritual belief in Mother Nature. We put our trust in ongoing education, devote long hours to protecting our “babies,” and do all this for our fellow man — in this case, golfers.
Have you ever read Rule 23 in the Rules of Golf? Specifically the definition of loose impediments? They are natural objects, including stones, leaves, twigs, and the like. I recently became particularly interested in the word “stone.” What, you might ask, does this have to do with an issue about water? Quite a lot, unfortunately.
How interesting that the “five families” are getting together to fix golf. But notice who is conspicuously absent from this gathering? Where is Rhett Evans and the GCSAA? How can any “collaborative approach” to the game happen without the people most responsible for golf courses? Without the superintendents, none of the programs discussed would be possible. So why aren’t we at the table?
I’m writing this column while watching the last round of the Masters, the event that says a new golf year has begun. In professional golf, the future looks to be in good hands. Thank you, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy. And thank you, Tiger and Phil, for still making a case for the “old guys.” I’m looking forward to many spirited battles between the generations.
Spring means the armchair experts are sharpening their wedges and taking aim at the superintendent, looking to place blame for conditions they don’t like. Forget the fact that Mr. Haversham is a 24 handicap who doesn’t know how to chip: The problem, he says, nearly sticking his finger in your chest, is the grass in front of the green is cut too short. (As much as you’d like to suggest that he take a short-game lesson from the pro, you wisely hold your tongue.)
The issue of golf shoes and cleats damaging the golf course – specifically greens – is gaining traction. After raising concerns last month in this column, I’ve heard from superintendents and others in the industry. Their reaction added fuel to the fire, which is why GCI devoted this month’s cover story to the problem.
I’m usually a big proponent of technology, of adopting new equipment and ideas to make golf better. However, we need to reconsider one of the most significant changes of the past few decades in light of evidence that is most obvious to us, green superintendents.
You will never see me kicking a soccer ball on a golf course. For the life of me, I don’t understand how that’s supposed to get someone interested in playing golf. Will hitting 9 irons on a soccer field increase interest in soccer? Somewhere, there’s a disconnect.
Golf in 2040 will appear much different than it does today.
Or why you should judge a superintendent by his title.
Charging for tees would reduce the maintenance problems they create.
Those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it.
Member education is unending, so here’s a way to start now.
Has science killed the art of growing grass?
Tim Moraghan has the answers to fix golf – but will anyone listen?
Pursue only those practices that you’ve thought long and hard about.
Set a goal to not be at the same place you are now at this time next year.
The year’s best cues and miscues.
Getting them to realize how hard it is to keep a course both playable and enjoyable.
There’s no need for the often strained relationship.
What should you do when it’s time to move on?
You need to know all there is about water… Down to the last drop.
Tim Moraghan: Even before the Open was coming to Merion, Matt was using methods that have important and proven benefits for both the environment and golfers. And while this is Merion – “we have the means to try different things,” as Matt puts it – he is quick to say that, “the practices I have implemented can be done in some form or fashion at other clubs around the country.”
Smart minds have been saying for years that “water is the new oil,” and that water use—already a critical issue to the future of golf—is only going to grow in importance.
I’m proud to announce “The Grainys,” my awards – both good and bad – for the golf industry.
Besides feeling bad about each individual passing, their too-early deaths got me wondering if there’s something unhealthy about what we do.
Preparing a course for an international rivalry is a career-expanding task, one welcomed with open arms by Curtis Tyrrell, GCS, director of golf course operations at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago.
GCI’s Tim Moraghan breaks down the pros and cons of whether your club should host a big tournament.
Trying to make your greens faster? Think twice before listening to those members who have a need for speed.
The mantra all golf superintendents now have to live by is “water is the new oil.”
I’ve had numerous people in our industry come up to me and start bad-mouthing Augusta.
As folks engaged in the business of keeping golf courses healthy and looking good, we have control over everything except two factors: the weather and other people.
The new year is the usual time for people to look around, look at themselves, and think seriously about the future. In the golf business, the year begins with the PGA Merchandise Show and the Golf Industry Show.
Much has been said about rolling back the ball. But has anyone considered how the golf ball – and the fear that it goes too far – affects those of us who tend turfgrass for a living?
While sorting through old family papers recently, I came across a reprint of a book entitled “Don’t”, a guide to manners first published in the 1800s.
Earlier this summer, a USGA and PGA of America unveiled a program called “Tee It Forward.” In case you missed it, here is what I consider the most relevant part of the press release.
Here’s what the smart superintendent should look for in an architect.
My teachers regularly reminded me to know my Three Rs: readin’, ritin’ and rithmatic. In today’s struggling golf economy, with no new golf courses being built, we’re living by a new set of Three Rs: renovation, redesign and restoration.
When I turned 50 I was bombarded with well wishes and the buzz phrase that “50 is the new 40.”
My father’s lifelong philosophy was to “go to bed each night smarter than you awoke.”
Recently, I had the opportunity to participate as a panelist at an industry symposium on affordable golf, coordinated by golf course architect Richard Mandell, to openly discuss a broad range of topics and maintenance considerations related to the cost of golf.
GCI’s Tim Moraghan says “affordable golf” wasn’t the only hot topic for 2011 buzzing around the PGA Merchandise Show, recently held in Orlando.
I wondered how it could be disruptive to someone who has prepared for nine previous LPGA events plus a World Cup until Tom informed me Grand Cypress was “awarded” the prestigious season-ending event in early September of this year – giving him just three months to prepare.
Tim Moraghan: Frank Tichnor on the many virtues of social media.
Accepting the opportunity to volunteer is just the beginning of the experience. The most important and detailed portion of this process begins when you step foot on the property.
GCI Columnist Tim Moraghan explores some actual “justifiable causes” for recent superintendent firings.
Tim catches up with Old Course at St. Andrews’ director of greenkeeping, Gordon Moir.
We are in the midst of championship golf season with my favorite – The Open Championship – to be contested at the home of golf, the Old Course at St. Andrews.
Slightly more than 20 percent of the people playing the game are women. June is National Women’s Golf Month, an industry initiative to raise awareness of and engage female audiences in the game.
Bethpage State Park superintendent Craig Currier talks with GCI columnist Tim Moraghan about course preparations for this week’s U.S. Open.
The spotlight is on Bethpage Black as it hosts second U.S. Open.
Tim Moraghan recently visited the golf courses and spoke with the superintendents who will host Australia’s major championships.
Information about the PGA Tour’s Tournament Players Championship.
There are numerous rules-related details golf course superintendents must attend to when preparing for tournaments or daily play.
Tim Moraghan takes readers inside the ropes for a closer look at tournament preparation.
There are several products that might be beneficial and warrant consideration for inside-the-ropes golf course operations.
Tim Moraghan answers questions about course set-up or maintenance related to golf tournaments or events.
Tim Moraghan answers questions about tournament preparation.
Tim Moraghan answers questions about tournament preparation.
Tim Moraghan answers questions about tournament preparation.
Tim Moraghan answers questions about golf course preparation as it relates to tournaments.
