Surviving the Setbacks

I hope that everyone had the opportunity to kick back and relax with family over the holidays. Santa Claus reported that the number one Christmas request from turf managers was for 2018 to be over! Look on the bright side; we broke many records last year, so it is almost statistically impossible for us to ever experience a worse year. Many supers with more tenure than me rated it the toughest year they had ever seen. It is hard not to make knee jerk changes to our programs because of this past year, but I think we should take some of the data from 2018 and throw it out. August 15th is always an ‘out of the woods’ date for us, but this year it was October 12th. It was only an extra two months of member complaints about playability, clients asking why their lawns melted and coaches whining about their practice fields. A friend told me that one of his members complained to him about the condition of the bunkers while the course was still flooded. Really? Are you not from this area? Our club now offers white water rafting to its members. It’s difficult not to laugh or just explode on people. It did start some conversations for me about improving our infrastructure, but no pipe is in the ground yet.

There’s no doubt that last year was a setback, but it sounds like most of us survived it. For me, it begs the question of how to survive the setbacks. This year some well-timed growth regulator apps, better nutrient management and raising mowing height got me through. I mowed playing surfaces higher than ever in my career and it made all the difference through the storms of the summer. One thing made the biggest difference though, my attitude. It typically stinks, and I’m sick of it. Having a positive attitude is a choice and requires work, which I finally decided to focus on. I know the weather can be impossible at times, but I think sometimes we are happier being unhappy. I know I can get a lot of work done when I’m mad, but it takes a toll on me and everyone around me. A colleague with a similar condition asked, ‘Why do we feel like we have to be in a bad situation to be the most effective?’ We all know we are willing to do whatever it takes for a positive outcome.

I had a coach that used to tell us ‘the victory is in the struggle’. He would say it after you experienced some severe personal adversity. Maybe it’s finally sinking in. It could be worse; I could be staring at a spreadsheet in a cubicle. I would be kicking out a window to escape! It would be nice to see more people take personal responsibility for their situations and attitudes. We are surrounded by people with genuine hardships that would benefit from encouragement from us. It takes less than 10 seconds to send a ‘how are you?’ text to anyone in your contacts. Just don’t do it while driving! Turns out, people are like plants, they respond more to the light than the darkness.

Pete Ramsey

PTC President

Pete Ramsey, PTC President