Mike Stachowicz Is Rooted in Science

Mike Stachowicz Is Rooted in Science
Superintendent utilizes his senses and more in his
perceptive approach toward golf course maintenance
IT’S NOT UNCOMMON TO SEE MIKE STACHOWICZ crawling on all
fours on a putting green, his nose touching the turfgrass and
sniffing like a beagle on the trail of a rabbit.
But Stachowicz, the green and grounds manager at the
Dedham Country and Polo Club in Dedham, Mass., is sniffing
for science, literally. It’s just one of the approaches he takes to
enlighten himself about his golf course.
“I’ve been known to taste some dirt,” Stachowicz says with a
chuckle.
Stachowicz utilizes his other senses, too. He keeps a
magnifying hand lens in his utility vehicle so he can eye turfgrass
up close.
“I’m always pulling apart the roots to see what’s going on,”
he says.
Stachowicz, who has been at the classic Seth Raynordesigned course since 2004, is known in golf course
management circles for his inquisitiveness.
“He takes a no-nonsense approach to managing his property,
integrating science as the base to his management plan,” says
Patrick Daly, the director of golf course and grounds operations
at Framingham Country Club, who nominated Stachowicz for the
“Rooted in Science” feature.
A perfect example of that no-nonsense approach of
integrating science occurred when Stachowicz set out to
correct the course’s perennially wet fairways shortly after taking
the Dedham job. The course’s heavy soil didn’t drain well, so
Stachowicz introduced a “super-light” fairway
topdressing program.
Stachowicz knew at the time that
it would take several years for the
sand to accumulate and form
a 3- to 4-inch base over the
heavy soil to retain the water.
The topdressing program,
done in conjunction with
some drainage repair, has
dramatically changed the
characteristics of the course
and made the turfgrass on
the fairways much firmer
and healthier. In fact, some
ABOUT THIS PROJECT: The stories in this series, sponsored by Floratine in
partnership with Superintendent magazine, highlight superintendents who are
“rooted in science.” The stories profile superintendents who embrace science
in their daily approach toward golf course maintenance and aim to educate other
superintendents on such science as it relates to their maintenance strategies.
50
Superintendent 3.12
of Dedham’s
members say the
fairways are now
too firm.
Which brings
Stachowicz
to another
science — that of
dealing with your
membership.
“The real skilled
superintendent is a
person who can work with
the members to get them to
accept something that’s based on
correct science,” Stachowicz says.
Taking on that challenge, Stachowicz created a blog to
educate members about what he’s doing on the golf course.
Last October, Stachowicz wrote a three-part series on the blog
to educate members about dollar spot and how it had become
a problem on the course’s fairways because of fungicideresistance issues. Then, Stachowicz told members that he
was investing $500 in a University of Massachusetts survey
to determine what resistant strains of dollar spot were on the
course. By discovering which fungicides weren’t working
because of resistance, Stachowicz told members he might
save thousands by not using them as part of his fungicide
program. The survey revealed that dollar spot was resisting
benzimidazole.”
“So, I will not be spending thousands of dollars spraying a
benzimidazole product for dollar spot,” Stachowicz wrote in his
blog, noting that the $500 investment could save the club up to
$10,000 annually.
Members have also become aware of how Stachowicz
incorporates the environment into his scientific approach.
“When you think about superintendents who are very
particular about their golf courses and don’t want to leave big
footprints with their operations, I think of Stachowicz,” Daly says.
While science prevails in Stachowicz’s approach toward golf
course maintenance, he also mixes in a little bit of art for good
measure.
“Greenkeeping is also an art,” he says. “Sometimes it’s the
art of what you don’t do — leaving well enough alone.”