golfmak 2010

 

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kahn 12 2010

ABOUT MIKE KAHN

KAHN'S GOLF BUSINESS BLOG

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Fixer-Uppers Could be Good Now

The Growing Private Club Dilemma!

MARKETING: Cheap prices as a means to compete is not always the answer

2008-9: Is this the Best Time Ever to Buy a Golf Course?

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It was the Ball! What I think you should know.

What Not to Do as a First-Time Golf Course Buyer

The Future of the Golf Business as I see it.

Golf Course Buyer's Guide

Financing a golf course

Finance to Buy, or Refinance a Golf

Course. Start the Process Here

You'll think I'm NUTS saying we need 1,000 more golf courses - until you read this

A Golf Course Buyers Formula

Getting a Golf Course Loan.

Avoid Mistakes that Scare Lenders Away!

Golf Business Experience. Mike Kahn's 50-Years.

Marketing a Golf Course: Simple Rules

Golf Business Consultation. Your first one is Free.

Golf Business Consulting. What Will it Cost?

The Truth About the Golf Business Today.

The Golf Course Superintendent? Do You Need One?

Golf Course Feasibility. Have You Updated Yours?

Buying Default Golf Courses Can be Lucrative for Tax Purposes

Golf Participation Statistics

A Golf Expert's Advice to Bankers

Golf Investors FAQ Sheet

Golf Course Financing. Where to look.

New Golf Courses. Your Players!

Golf Course Analysis

How to Create a French Drain

Golf Business FAQ Sheet

Golf Participation Statistic

Do you need a Superintendent?

Golf Operators. Watch Your DSR

How Banks Run Golf Courses. Have a look...

Tough Times for the Golf Business?

Golf Course Operator's Axioms

Golf's REITS and Trusts Distorting Factors

The Financial Downfall of Many Golf Courses -The "Big-Foot" Clubhouse?

The truth about the golf business.

Planning a Career in Golf?

Enjoy this editorial. "It was the Golf Ball!"

Kahn's Golf Biz Axioms

About Your Free Golf Business Consultation

Great Golf Web Site!

Members. Keep them Happy and Spending

Message to Bankers

Golf Course Management Companies: An Opinion 

Best information: The National Golf Foundation

About a Golf Course Analysis

GOLFMAK, INC.

Email: mike@golfmak.com

Phone: 941.739.3990

Fax: 425.675.6909

BRADENTON, FL

Michael A Kahn, Golf Business Consultant. From Grass to Finance. Over 50-Years at Your Service. Email: mike@golfmak.com

LET'S START GROWING THE GAME AGAIN - Like we did 50-years ago!

Michael A (Mike) Kahn, Golf Business Consulting. Phone: 941.739.3990 Fax: 425.675.6909 Email: mike@golfmak.com

I hope you find this page helpful. I would appreciate it if you would take a minute to review this page all about: EZ-Zack

 

A FRENCH DRAIN FOR A GOLF COURSE

Golf course architects and many superintendents hate French Drains, but sometimes they are the only solution short of a bottomless capital budget. Done properly they can work well. The illustration below included about 600 feet of this type of drainage. They dug the trench with a 24 inch backhoe following a surveyed route with only a few inches of fall. Although the recommended fall rate for a French Drain is 1/4 inch per foot, as long as gravity is on your side, it will have some effect.     

Pictures below show a French drain pattern to alleviate a continually wet approach fronting a green at a Florida Golf Course. The area was not properly drained during construction - but that's another story and why you hire a guy like me early in the project. The area was carefully surveyed to find the maximum fall from the approach area to the lowest nearby swale along which the French drain was plotted. Three separate tributaries fed the main line, all 24 inches wide. Two tributaries cut through the crotches of the three mounds shown in the upper background of Pic #2. The layers below the surface included shell on the bottom, black corrugated polyethylene 6" perforated pipe, and shell to the surface. The scar will either disappear as the Bermuda grass will cover it over within a few months, or for quick results, they will sod it over. Results proved excellent after the first heavy rain, and irrigation runoff disappears almost immediately. No more sponginess underfoot.

This job was done entirely in-house in about three days at a cost of less than $1,200.00 including labor.   

Now the old-timers can run the ball on. Heh! Heh!

NOTE: "I was there, arm waiving, as we drained a problem approach in (2000). Hate them or love them, with a French Drain we solved an eight-year-old mushy ground problem in front of a short par-3 green. Balls falling straight down were continually plugging and golfers hated it. With nightly irrigation, the spot never dried up and algae buildup resulted in barren, black ground without a blade of grass. Today the area is beautiful!" Mike Kahn, Golfmak, Inc.

  

#1: Ends at a 'T'. Shell was chosen because it doesn't affect the mower blades as might stone.  

 

  #2: Had to go under the cart path

 

How to build a French Drain. 

The slope you'll need (recommended) is 1/4 inch fall per foot. 

You'll need: 

  • Surveyor's equipment.  (a net source: http://www.buysurveysupplies.com). In my opinion, if your golf course is more than 10-years old, you should own surveyor's equipment.
  • Black Corrugated polyethylene 6" perforated pipe. (a net source: http://www.cpp-pipe.com/smooprod.htm)
  • Aggregate material
  • Soil (for backfilling)
  • Backhoe with 18" or 24" bucket
  • Three workers
 

 

  1. Carefully survey the fall route from the problem area to the nearest swale. You may have to meander a little.
  2. From the beginning point of the drain dig a trench about 10 to12 inches deep and about 12 to 24 inches wide depending on the volume of water you need to move. (If the fairway slopes upward you'll need to dig deeper as you move away from the starting point to maintain a downward slope.)
  3. Next, pour in about 2 inches of aggregate. Lay the pipe over the aggregate.
  4. Keep the perforations, or holes turned downward.
  5. Pour in another 2 to 4 inches of aggregate to cover the pipe.
  6. Back fill with soil (about 2 inches).
  7. Plant grass.

#3: View of 24 inch wide French drain just completed.

 

#4: Front of green. Scar will disappear!

In the Bermuda grass areas, with about 2 inches of topsoil, the aggregate will disappear during Florida's grow-like-mad summer months. By September you'll barely notice the drain is there.

NO: They're not out-of-bounds stakes. They're my white Canadian legs!

 

 

 

 

 

EXPERIENCE (going back to 1956)

I have successfully managed: Private, Semi-Private, Public, Par-3, Executive Courses, and Lighted Practice Ranges.

Former Licensed Superintendent for Weedicides, Herbicides, Aquatic Weedicides, and Acquatic Herbicides

Finance Consultant: Placed over $100 million in golf course financing.

Former PGA Assistant Pro includiing the art of old-time backshop club repair (old fashioned methods),

Teaching professional Private and Group teaching for over 30-years

Former Golf Course Owner

Off-course retail store chain owner

Golf Course Broker - Over $100 millin in golf courses sold

Web site planning and publishing

Golf Course Turnaround Specialist

Clubhouse Design and Planning Consultant

Golf Course Buyer's Diligence Specialist

Golf Business Consultant

REVIEWED HUNDREDS OF GOLF COURSES

Ontario

Montana

Conecticutt

New York

Michigan

Ohio

Illinois

North Carolina

South Carolina

Georgia

Florida

Alabama

Louisiana

Texas

Caloifornia

Colorado

Kentucky

Tennessee

Minnesota

Isle of Wight (UK)

A PIONEER

Solid Range Balls

Tri-Plex Greens Mowers

Hydraulic Drive Reels

Cavity Back Golf Clubs

Private Brand Golf Clubs

Internet Tee Times Sales

Flymo (floating rotary mower)

Graphite Shafts

Indoor Golf Schools

Female Greens Employees

Non-Chemical Release Golf Course Fertilizers

Floodlit Night Golf

Video Tape Golf Teaching

Tee-Time Re-Selling

Golf Course Web Sites

100% Wall-to-wall bentgrass fairways

Using 3-wheel Motor Bikes as Work and Personnel Carriers (now trap rake vehicles)

Copywriting and Marketing Golf Courses on Radio, TV, Newspaper, and Billboards

Financial Statements for a Golf Course on Computer (Lotus 123)

Point-of-Sale Systems for Golf Courses