Written by Mike Hamilton, CCA & President of Turf Dietitian
Our jobs may depend on this puzzle, so how good are you at solving problems?
When you start to get down to the root cause of where issues on our grounds come from, you will realize there could be a million reasons why the health of the turf is less than perfect. Familiarize yourself with the fundamentals of plant life, but learn to accept that some factors become more predictable than others.
When you were in school, did they mention that the ability to keep a healthy balance in this puzzle would be a key factor throughout your career? As things are going well, we tend to take for granted how job security and the fixability of the budget are directly affected by these challenges.

Here is an example:
- Your greens are old and hold too much water, causing improper drainage because the organic matter is high and the soil structure is inadequate.
- Without an efficient drainage system, the level of oxygen is low.
- As oxygen levels lower, the population of microorganisms lowers.
- A lower level of microorganisms lowers the production of food for the plant to feed off.
- A nutrient-deficient plant will be in a constant state of stress.
- The only way to keep a plant in a constant state of stress alive is with inputs like chemicals and fertilizers.
When perfection is unrealistic, your goal is to get your plant as close as possible. A well-balanced plant health triangle will not require chemical or fertilizer inputs.
Positive impacts = healthy plant Negative impacts = stressed plant
The three factors that affect any side of the plant health triangle are soil properties, human impact, and environmental influences. Many factors are associated with balancing each side of those individual triangles, which means each of the three sub-triangles under plant health must be balanced too.
The real puzzle is out on the course, and this graphic shall guide you in coming up with different ways of solving it. There’s nothing wrong with incentivizing your crew to become critical thinkers and problem solvers. Have fun with this. Get creative! Will it be easy? A rubrics cube has 6 sides. This puzzle has 9 sides.
Written by Mike Hamilton, CCA & President of Turf Dietitian
Edited and submitted by Tyler Sherwood, Accounts & Marketing Director
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