Golf Course Maintenance

The most expensive cost to any golf course is course maintenance.  The real truth is, course maintenance at any golf course will likely take every dollar given to it.  Most golf courses today have had to hold back capital improvement projects, investments for new equipment, deferred maintenance such as irrigation systems, reshaping bunkers, adding and/or repairing drainage and tree care for many years and possibly even decades.  Any of these needs are expensive to fix.  Morton Golf has excellent vendor relationships and fully understands management of labor to hold down costs to begin the process of making long term plans to gradually upgrade any golf course.  Our immediate goal in golf course maintenance is to fully understand the weaknesses in current maintenance standards and choose a short term plan to bring the golf course up to speed to meet or exceed the competition and then grow revenues to create and complete a longer term prioritized list of projects.  Golfers today are used to seeing manicured golf courses on TV.  In other words, today’s clientele has unreal expectations that are higher than most facilities can afford.  But to compete, a golf course today has to deliver maintenance standards that satisfy the clientele that are spending their hard earned money with you and that is not always easy.  Morton Golf has some of the finest Golf Course Superintendents that have managed both public and private golf courses on staff.  They fully understand the competitive environment of the golf industry today and how important it is to budget and deliver a quality product at affordable pricing.

Agronomy

“In this day and age, a golf course superintendent must be an educator, scientist, agronomist, economist and a good people manager. If you put all this together with a love for a piece of earth, then you’ve got a good golf course superintendent.”   –   Tom Watson

The Morton Golf Management team hires the best agronomy experts that are passionate about turf management. They perform the great balancing act, making the course the best it can be while staying within budget parameters and spending money where the course benefits the most.

Our golf management team sits down with the client and creates a maintenance standard plan and budget that produces a final product that both parties can be proud of and that will exceed the golfer’s expectations.  We believe in providing a variety of plans for any facilities budget.

With our multiple-course resources, we can share labor and equipment between courses to minimize costs and our size allows us national discount pricing with our vendors.

MGMGreen

The popular “go green” push has entered many facets of the golf industry. Golf companies see benefits of environmental protection, and just by its very nature, the industry is “green” in many ways. Whether or not a person agrees with the “green” movement itself is irrelevant, protecting our environment is simply a good idea. If nothing else, the “go green” catchphrase is causing more and more people to be aware of their environmental impact. The Morton Golf Management Green Movement program includes just some of the following:

  • Maintains clear understanding of and implements all Morton Golf Management agronomy standards in addition to ensuring compliance with all local, state and federal regulatory standards/laws.
  • Stays abreast of current agronomic information and is a member of key industry associations.
  • Ensures proper mixing, calibration, and application of all chemical/fertilizers used on the course.
  • Ensures that they and all associates obtain proper training and/or licenses needed to perform job tasks safely and within city, state, and federal regulations.
  • Team members bring all real or perceived environmental concerns to facility General Manager.
  • Maintains ongoing awareness of all agronomic activity on the course and provides constant feedback and direction to key staff members.
  • Properly addresses water conservation methods as outlined by Morton Golf Management policies and city/county/regional policies.
  • Promotes to the general golfing populations steps taken to keep facility “green.”

Audubon Certification

The Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf is an award winning education and certification program that helps golf courses protect our environment and preserve the natural heritage of the game of golf. By helping people enhance the valuable natural areas and wildlife habitats that golf courses provide, improve efficiency, and minimize potentially harmful impacts of golf course operations, the program serves as vital resource for golf courses. Audubon International has developed Standard Environmental Management Practices that are generally applicable to all golf courses. These standards form the basis for ACSP for Golf certification guidelines. It is the goal of each Morton Golf Management facility to attain Audubon certification.

Water Conservation

Morton Golf’s management practices for golf course water use are intended to promote water
conservation, preserve or improve water quality and protect water resources. These practices were
developed by a work group consisting of superintendents, industry experts, and specialists from local irrigation consulting groups. They were developed for the use of golf course planners, architects, developers, and local regulators who may need assistance and guidance in developing new golf courses, or making changes to existing golf courses, under the regulatory and environmental constraints that exist.

CourseCare

Morton Golf’s philosophical golf course maintenance expectations are as follows:

Priority #1 – Greens

  • Greens are the #1 reason why golfers choose one course over another.  The golfing public wants healthy greens that provide a smooth roll.
  • We expect smooth rolling greens stimping @ 9’5” to 10’5”
  • Our goal is to have greens with as much bentgrass as possible, but reach this goal gradually over time.
  • As we move towards increasing bentgrass populations, it is critical that the greens are consistently a healthy green color without loss of turf

Priority #2 – Green Surrounds

  • Golfers appreciate good collars and chipping surfaces around each green.
  • Grass everywhere, Green in color for at least 30 feet around the green
  • It may be necessary to map out each green because in some instances we may need more than 30 feet and other instances less than 30 feet.

Priority #3 – Tees & Surrounds / Fairways / Approaches

  • The presentation and image of these areas are key to charging a premium to play our courses.  As the courses image improves we will grow green fee revenues which will produce more dollars to reinvest in the courses and staff in the future.
  • Green grass with Defined mowing patterns
  • Bermuda and Ryegrass are preferred
  • However, our expectations are green first while having a long term goal of gradually reducing weeds and improving the quality of turf.

Priority #4 – Highly Visible Areas

  • A great first impression starts the customers experience on a good note and shows the golfer that we care about their experience at our facility
  • Highly visible areas should be defined by the Superintendent and the General Manager at each facility, such as holes near clubhouses, mounds and entrances to the greens, etc.). These areas must be green

Priority #5 – Bunkers

  • The look of the bunkers can add value to the entire experience for the golfers
  • Appropriate amounts of sand, raked daily
  • Clean edges, trimmed regularly

Priority #6 – Create a safe environment on the Golf Course

  • Creating a safe environment for our staff and customers and reduce liability for MG
  • Eliminate tree safety issues
  • Fix bridge and cart path safety issues