Name: Fred Behnke
Background: Behnke, 40, has a bachelor`s degree in political science and an associate degree in parks and grounds management. He began his career in golf course maintenance in 1978 and joined the Mt. Prospect Park District in 1981, where he is now the Assistant Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds. Behnke and his wife and two children live in Chicago.
Years as a park district groundskeeper: 11
The grounds department at the park district is responsible for mowing, litter pickup, getting the picnic tables out, dragging the ball diamonds, getting out the drying compounds for all of the sports services and taking care of trees and plantings.
We also set up and coordinate special events, which means concession stands, fencing, garbage cans, picnic tables, tents, the works. And we have a conservatory with flower shows and a greenhouse and all that.
And then there`s our 18-hole golf course, which is where I concentrate most of my energies. Every day during the season, just to open the course for the players, my crew of eight and I have to mow the greens and the tees and keep the course watered. We have to move the cups to new locations on the greens, because they get a lot of play and they get worn out. We rake the sand traps, change the tee markers, clean up around the tees and empty the garbage. And we mow the fairways twice a week.
The conditions have to be excellent, and we have a very demanding and vocal clientele who want the course to play like a private course. We put through 65,000 rounds a year at our course, so this is a tall order. The typical private club only gets about 30,000. So you can see where the wear and tear comes from.
Our season on the golf course runs from March until about Thanksgiving. In the winter we have a cross-country ski course that we take care of, and we make ice for skating. We also have snow-removal duties. And that`s when I prepare all my bids for new machinery or upcoming projects.
I have to do most of the paperwork in the winter because there just isn`t time in the summer, when I`m out in the field almost every minute. But, truthfully, that`s what I like. To be a success in this business, you really have to like getting your hands dirty. You`ve got to get out there and do the job.
Safety is another part of my job because most of the accidents and unsafe practices that occur involve workers. We have to train them in how to operate the machinery safely and how to drive safely.
We also have to provide safe facilities for our patrons. It doesn`t do any good to have beautiful lines on a football field and all the yardage markers out there and goal posts that are gleaming white if there are holes on the field where a kid could fall and break his leg.
On a typical summer day I arrive at work at 6 in the morning. At that time I verify that everyone in the golf course crew came to work and that they are out on the morning chores. That`s when we mow the greens and do all the other maintenance work on the course. We work at that until 9 a.m. when we take a break.
When I`m satisfied that things are going along smoothly, I touch base with the facility where all the park department heads are located. I check on what their plans are for the day and whether there`s anything they need from me or that I need from them. The various departments are always trading equipment for one purpose or another.
Then I walk the golf course. If I run across anything that needs to be handled, such as an irrigation break or something like that, I`ll arrange to have that taken care of after the 9 o`clock break. I also check for any vandalism that may have cropped up overnight or for any disease problems.
Disease is something you must watch for on a golf course. You`re mowing the grass so often that it`s always under stress. So it`s always prone to getting attacked by a fungus or insects. Most golf course superintendents who have been in the business for 10 years or so can get up in the morning and, just by breathing the air, tell whether or not it`s a disease day. Hot, humid, still weather is bad for grass.
There`s one disease in particular, called pythium, that will race across the golf course greens. You can actually see it moving. If the conditions warrant, you have to go out and treat it with a pesticide that would prevent that from happening.
I check in with my boss at midmorning to be sure there were no emergencies or work orders that haven`t been completed or any special event that he wants to be briefed on. The afternoon really takes care of itself because there`s always something to do based on the problems that came up that morning.
Something that happened recently shows how the work day can fly by. We were digging up an old underground fuel tank in order to replace it. The soil around the pump was contaminated, and the EPA said we had to remove it. In so doing we discovered another tank we didn`t even know was there. So now, all of a sudden, we had a job that was twice as big and cost twice as much money. It`s that kind of thing that throws any schedule way off.
I normally work until 3:30 or 4 in the afternoon, six days a week during the season, but special events or emergencies can bring me in at all hours. Recently our irrigation system was giving us problems during a very dry spell. I had to come in at 3 a.m. to start the thing until we got it fixed. The grass never stops needing water.
What I like most about my job is the variety. Very rarely am I doing the same thing two days in a row. I get a great deal of satisfaction out of seeing my handiwork being used, seeing the kids having a good time on a field I worked on. And most of the time I get to dress casually because I know I`m going to get dirty. It`s only in the winter when I might have to wear a tie.
The negatives include the long summer hours and not having enough money in our budget to do all the things I would like to do with the grounds. And the weather will make a fool out of a groundskeeper more times than I`d care to admit. It`s frustrating to put out $1,000 worth of weed killer and then get a storm that wasn`t forecast that washes it all away. But you can`t do anything about the weather.
One occupational hazard: I picked up some poison ivy recently. You can`t imagine the ribbing I got. A groundskeeper with poison ivy is like a mechanic with a broken car. I got no sympathy at all.
