Turf

30 www.westernturfmag.com Castle Rock, CO Billings, MT Helena, MT Colstrip, MT Libby, MT Havre, MT Coeur d'Alene, ID Kennewick, WA Pendleton, OR Newport Coast, CA San Francisco, CA Q How can superintendents effectively use Twitter? SUPER QUESTION Please email your tip to me at allen@westernturfmag.com or Tweet me @AllenThayer1. NEXT ISSUE'S SUPER QUESTION What information from a blogger has most helped you? Jason Haines Pender Harbour Golf Club Madeira Park, British Columba, Canada A. Share awesome grass pics. Ask questions. Answer questions. Favorite when others share their passion. Sean McCue The Country Club at Castle Pines Castle Rock, Colo. A. It is a great informational tool to give your membership or clientele up to date real time information as to course activities. For greater detailed or highly specific items I utilize my blog. Twitter is for quick hitting information. It's a great informational tool amongst superintendents as well. It takes a level of commitment to stay fresh and current. WT Jerad Dill Cabinet View Golf Course Libby, Mont. A. I have found several uses! Twitter is great for networking with others in the industry as well as helping keep your personal sanity by seeing that things get crazy all over. I use it when I am having a bad day at the course because you can hop on and see that someone out there is having an even worse day, it's good to know things are tough all over sometimes, and that you're not alone in the struggle! I take a lot of scenic shots and post with hash tags like golfmt or golf and that puts that picture in front of thousands that wouldn't have seen or even know about our course here in Libby. Cole Clark Exchange City Golf Corp. Billings, Mont. A. Twitter for me is a great way to get quick responses from other supes on anything I'm working on or seeing around the course. Sometimes an outside view is just what I need to start working toward solving a problem. It's also fun to see what other people are doing at their facilities. A lot of times it will kick start an idea of some things I can try. And lastly, twitter is pretty much my source for the news around my area and the world. Dan Rootes Ponderosa Butte Golf Course Colstrip, Mont. A. I actually just started using Twitter recently and probably don't use it like other superintendents do. In a perfect world I would eventually like to have all the community members follow me so I could easily get information out to people in one easy tweet. I could post things such as aeration schedules, tournament dates, or any special events and everyone would know about it, even if they didn't want to. I will actually be using Twitter more as I get time in the future. I already have given up on using hand-held radios and gone strictly to text messaging and email. I hope to just post information pertinent to the golf course on Twitter to save time and energy. Kevin Hicks Coeur d'Alene Resort Coeur d'Alene, Idaho A. As far as my use of Twitter, it started by following a few people I knew and then got into regional guys that have different experiences than we do in Idaho. You can really do as little or as much with it as you want, but the fact that communication is brief and instant makes it a very useful medium for me. Had a question about a tank mix recently that I posted on Twitter and had 11 responses in under 3 min! Can't get that kind of rapid response anywhere else. That's been my experience with it. Love it. Brett Gilman Prairie Farms Golf Course Havre, Mont. A. We can use Twitter to announce to members upcoming events, projects, frost delays, aeration and top dressing schedules or any other pertinent information golfers may want to know. It can also be used as a tool between superintendents and other industry professionals to solve turf related issues, in 140 characters or less of course lol, but the downside of social media is it's only as good as the people using it!! Bo Lacy Tri-City Country Club Kennewick, Wash. A. Twitter is effective communication to members/public for a quick relay of info., ex: frost delays, blog updates, crucial info! Chris Jennings The Resort at Pelican Hill Newport Coast, Calif. A. I use Twitter to stay on top of national trends and to observe practices that other course managers employ to achieve their goals. I also see it as way to get a broader view of what's really going on in the industry. Thomas Bastis California Gold Club San Francisco, Calif. A. Supers need 2 accounts. 1 for personal and another for club/ course. Tweeting allows quick & detailed member updates. Sean Hoolehan Wildhorse Resort Golf Course Pendleton, Ore. A. I made a decision to get on Twitter about a year ago. I mostly follow golf superintendents, golf management, and golf related accounts. I do follow a few special interest areas outside golf like my children's accounts (I am more active than 3 of my 4 kids that use twitter). I consider myself a novice still. I have actually purchased products this year based on recommendations/observations I first saw on Twitter. I think of it as building a personal network of industry experts. I like to follow assistant superintendents because it is an eye opener to see some of their fresh ideas and interests. Derek Hofer Green Meadow Country Club Helena, Mont. A. I use Twitter to post some of the maintenance on goings around the club or just club happenings. I do not use it enough. I encourage our members to follow me although most do not yet. I try to post pictures as we do projects to be informative. It is useful to add insight and draw attention to what we do on a daily basis as I know most members/golfers haven't got a clue. Sometimes there are just natural pictures of a good looking green and pin placement. Sometimes I like to post ridiculous happenings with equipment (although maybe embarrassing). I like to take pictures of staff once in awhile and post just to show appreciation for a job well done.

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