PHOTO A: These marks on this green are tire marks, as you might have suspected. But what makes these tire marks unique is that the tires were on an airplane. The crash happened at about 11:30 a.m., just about 30 minutes before a noon shotgun, so luckily there were no golfers on the course. Since the plane’s engine had died, it came in very quietly until it bounced off the golf green and crashed into the big oak trees behind the green. There was an off-duty EMT working at the club that day who attended to the pilot (his injuries were minor) and kept onlookers at a distance because fuel was leaking from the plane. Damage to the green was minimal, and it recovered in about two weeks. However, the oak tree did die because of the fuel spill. The superintendent reported that the 18th hole had to be closed while the FAA investigated, so the outing played 17 holes that day. He also reported that the plane removal caused more damage to the turf on the course than the plane crash itself.

Photo submitted by Joel Peterson, the Class A superintendent at New Berlin Hills Golf Course in New Berlin, Wis., and an 11-year member of GCSAA.

PHOTO B: The unusually high turf in the center of this fairway was the result of a repair project that began in the fall of 2007. An area of about 1,000 square feet had been damaged by grubs late that fall, so on the last day of October, the crew raked the soil, drop-seeded a bentgrass blend into the area and rolled it firm. On Nov. 15, they used a 2,000-square-foot greens cover to try to accelerate germination. Due to a mild winter in 2007-08 in northwest Pennsylvania, the last of the snow melted around March 15, but they didn’t remove the cover until early April. Obviously, it helped the existing turf grow like crazy, but didn’t do much for seed germination. After the cover was removed, this photo was taken and then they cut portions of the cover to custom fit the seeded areas only. This produced the desired effect of allowing accelerated growth of the newly seeded area without encouraging excessive growth of the existing turf.

Photo courtesy of Al Frantik, the site manager at The Links at Spring Church in Apollo, Pa., and a 16-year GCSAA member.