Golfdom, April 2013

514 BY THE NUMBERS PERCENT The amount of the continental U S in moderate to exceptional drought as of March 26 ALMOST FAMOUS AP MEETING GETS AP MENTION Well thats something that doesnt happen every day Here at Golfdom we were honored to get the chance to stop by Arnold Palmers office and meet the King in person Sure Arnold Palmer and the magazine go way back but that doesnt mean we take a meeting with Mr Palmer lightly So when he invited us to come down to the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando see full story page 32 we arrived with bells on And then something awful happened Golfdom editor in chief Seth Jones had a case of bad timing and was brought into Palmers office while he was in the middle of a meeting with the Associated Press Pleasantries were exchanged and the meeting was quickly over leaving AP to his meeting with the AP Turns out our bad timing was actually good timing That brief meeting between Golfdom and Palmer made the Associated Press story a few days later and both Golfdom and Jones had their names in newspapers from Miami to Winnipeg Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press wrote in part A staff member came into the room and mentioned two men were outside and wanted to say hello One was Seth Jones the editor of Golfdom magazine who recently interviewed Palmer for a project Well bring him in Palmer said rising from his desk with a broadening smile Ive always said Id rather be lucky than good and it turns out the timing of that meeting was lucky said Jones Its never a bad thing to get the name of the magazine in a syndicated news story especially a story about a meeting with such a legend of the game L To stabilize the sinkhole the Annbriar crew dug 16 feet down and filled the hole with 200 tons of riprap R The hole after it was filled and before grading AUSTIN ALLISON 26 SUPERINTENDENT TIMBERLAKE GC On achieving success so young see full story on page 20 THEY SAID IT Ive been able to work for some good superintendents who didnt accept mediocrity I learned from them and I took what they taught me and made it my own style April 2013 Golfdom 11 Golfdom com PHOTOS BY JOHN SOETAERT the hole developed he said Its kind of freaky In the sinkholes aftermath the Annbriar grounds crew was so busy making repairs Soetaert had to call in reinforcements a few weeks early Ultimately Soetaert and his crew dug down 16 feet as far as the backhoe would go Within one week of Mihals fall the maintenance crew had dug out the hole lined it filled it with more than 200 tons of riprap to stabilize it and graded it Soetaert had planned to sod the area but decided to wait until it rained a few times and the ground settled The ground did settle more than Soetaert would have liked and repairs continue to be a work in progress Im afraid itll be an ongoing thing every year Soetaert lamented of the sinkholes maintenance Youre picking a fight with Mother Nature and oftentimes thats not one you win Continued from page 9