AFSCME Greens
Humor is par for the course as AFSCME members keep the greens green and the roughs rough.
SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN
Golfers beware: Doug Moore is watching. A greenskeeper at the Beech Wood Golf Center, Moore knows who’s been naughty and who’s been nice on the course: who’s plowed up a hefty chunk of turf (and who’s taken the time to replace it); who’s driven a cart into the water hazard (license and registration, please) and who’s been hit by a stray ball (ouch!).
Moore, a member of AFSCME Local 329 (Council 25), is one of many AFSCME members who are paid to keep their eyes on the ball — the golf ball, that is — in public golf courses and parks across the country.
"While we’re working, professional and amateur golfers — Tiger Woods wannabes — are giving the game their best shot," Moore says. Lately, it’s been business — and more business — as usual for the workers with anyone and everyone flocking to the course.
Moore is proud of Beech Wood, a picturesque 40 acres of sprawling hills, plateaus and bluegrass fairways amid towering sycamore, hickory and evergreen trees. The course is an oasis tucked in the heart of urban Southfield, which has been called "International City" for the diversity of its population.
"On any given day, I would put Beech Wood’s lush golf course up against any other in our immediate area," he boasts.
EARLY BIRDS. Keeping the greens green, the fairways fair and the roughs rough isn’t easy. Before the first duffers put on their golf shoes and plaid pants, Moore and his colleagues Dave Weidenbach and Kost Kapchanick are already on the course, primping and clipping the links like hairdressers preening the prom queen.
Moore begins his day at 6 a.m. with the most strenuous and difficult task: moving the holes. More than a few golfers have no doubt cursed Moore’s choice of location.
"This work allows me to assess each of the nine holes on our course that must be completed that day," he says. "That might include mowing, irrigation, fertilizing, applying fungicide, aerating and other grooming chores."
The secret of the perfect course, he says, is "proper watering, fertilizing, and aerating the soil once or twice a year."
No matter what the greenskeepers do, Mother Nature frequently reminds them who’s boss. "We are called in some six times a year on an emergency basis after a very bad wind or rain storm," says Moore. In addition, the greenskeepers make daily repairs to the turf due to damage by animals: woodchucks, moles, rabbits, snapping turtles, foxes, skunks, possums and geese.
"We’re especially bothered by the heavy population of geese. They eat everything in front of them and bury everything behind them," he says with a chuckle.
GOLFER ANTICS. But the greatest turf-destroying animals travel on two legs — when they’re not behind the wheel of a golf cart.
Golfers are requested to replace their divots — those patches of turf which follow golf balls into the air like tails behind a comet. But a replaced divot is about as rare as an honest scorecard, so Moore and his co-workers have plenty to do.
Moore, an avid golfer who has been playing since his first day on the job 22 years ago, looks with amusement on the antics of his fellow players.
"I’ve seen some really crazy things would-be golfers have done over the years," he recalls. "A golfer will roll up his pants legs, walk into a pond or creek to retrieve a ball. I have to explain that if the ball is not retrievable, it is a goner — leave it."
He says that at least once a year a golfer will drive a golf cart into the water. "So we stop what we are doing and go to the rescue, sometimes with a tow truck."
LINE OF FIRE. Moore is amazed that novices sometimes stand directly in front of another golfer and get hit with the ball. "It is unbelievable. They act as though they have no idea where they are, what they are expected to do and the fact that there is always a built-in safety factor in playing the game of golf."
This is a lesson Moore has learned the hard way. "The guys tease me a lot because I’ve been hit by balls more times than anyone else," he admits. "I’ve even had my four front teeth knocked out. They call me the ‘Golf Ball Magnet.’"
Despite the hazards, Moore loves his job. He and his co-workers carve out their own little piece of paradise and share it with the public.
While giving this reporter a tour of areas devastated by geese, Moore sees a Baltimore oriole flying overhead. "I have not seen one of those in years," he says with awe. "What a rare thing of beauty, just like our course here at Beech Wood."
By Venida RaMar Marshall
