We all like it when the golf course is nice and green and the fairways are plush and the greens are smooth and fast.  The course just doesn’t get that way all by itself.  It takes many, many hours of hard work and dedication by the management and staff.  The superintendent and his crew carry the bulk of the workload when it comes to the golf course condition.  Let’s take a look behind the scene and take a peek at what it takes to keep River Oaks looking as great as it does.

Jeff Weitzel, the golf course superintendent and his staff have several pieces of equipment that are invaluable in keeping the golf course running.  The back hoe is an important piece of large equipment that the crew uses to move large pills of debris as they accumulate over time.  It also helps in the removal of down tree limbs, which when you have as many trees as River Oaks does can be very important.

There are various kinds of mowers on the lot.  Some of the older ones are used to keep the underbrush and keep the edges of the woods surrounding the course looking nice and making them playable for wayward shots.  The fairway mowers are running almost daily.  These machines are what keeps the fairways not only looking great but staying in the amazing condition for play.  The fairway mowers get out of the shop early each day and get back in the shop before the golfers know it.

The greens mowers are the “cadillacs” of the mowers.  Jeff and his staff mow the greens daily to ensure the putting surfaces stay in optimum playing condition that we pride ourselves on.  All 27 holes are mowed every day and our staff takes great pride in their condition.

We also have sprayers in the shop.  These are a big part of keeping the course green.  There are many things that the staff needs to spray for throughout the course of the year and those things change from season to season.  What is sprayed for in the spring is different than what is sprayed for in the summer and fall.  Spraying is not a daily activity but it is done regularly.

Probably the most important place in the maintenance shed is the mechanic room.  With the amount of equipment in use daily it is imperative that each and every piece is available and running all the time.  That is the chore of the mechanic shop.  It is here that all the machines get checked and double-check and repaired to make sure that they run properly.  It is bad new if pieces of equipment are out of commission for any length of time.

This is just a quick look into the massive amount of work the superintendent and his staff go through behind the scenes to keep River Oaks Golf Club the great place to play we have all come to expect.