On the Job: Ocean City Golf Club
There are a number of golf courses across the peninsula and no matter which one you chose to go to, those working there will tell you it takes a lot of hard work to get everything just right before you even set foot on the course. This week “On the Job” 47 ABC heads to the Ocean City Golf Club to care of the links.
Complete with two different courses, this 500 acre club offers 36 holes and perfectly manicured green courses. But they don’t get that way on their own, it requires work, which is why golf course superintendent Mike Salvio hired us today.
First, we headed into the maintenance facility to check out the clubs irrigation system. Salvio says there are about 1200 sprinkler heads around the whole club. Salvio also says in order to ensure that the grass is doing well, they use a program called Lynx that can tell them the soil temperature and the moisture level.
Next, we headed to where the all the lawnmowers were kept so we could check them before we went out. One thing they need to check is mower’s blade to make sure it’s even and sharp enough to cut. Salvio says they have to change direction each time that they mow, so the grass wont get worn out.
After everything was deemed good to go, we made our way out to the course. As soon as we got to a good spot, we had to do some testing on the grass. Salvio says they use what’s called a prism gage, which verifies that the grass is even and the mower is cutting evenly.
Next we had to check the health of the grass roots in the putting area. For this job, you have to use a digging tool that removes a small square of grass. When looking at bottom of the roots they should be white, which means they’re healthy. Salvio says they try to grow as many roots as they can in the springtime so it survives in the summer heat.
After that, we had to mow the green, which is a difficult task because you only are supposed to mow certain parts of the grass. Next it was time to set golf cups! These are the things that players hit the golf balls into. Salvio says they have to change them often because they get worn out, and to make things super easy, they use a tool to dig the new hole. After removing the liner from the old hole, you set the liner in your freshly dug hole, then lastly you have to replace the unfilled hole with your new soil.
For our last job we had to turn on the sprinkler system, which can be done from an app on a cell phone.
Next week 47 ABC heads to an ice cream shop in Rehoboth Beach so be sure to tune in for that.
