The Grass Doctor

Farmer West did a commendable job keeping his hayfield cut low for members of the Ho-Ho-Kus (NJ) Golf Club. It was 1890 and no one in the United States knew anything about keeping a green, or for that matter, just exactly what a green was. West was well compensated for his efforts but Ho-Ho-Kus still looked and played like a low cut hayfield.

Just a few miles away, the Paterson (NJ) Golf Club opened for play. With a membership full of worldly businessmen, the Paterson directors made a worldly business decision – they hired a man with a Scottish surname to tend to their nine hole course. Maybe they were on to something because Greenkeeper Boyd put the course into pretty darn good shape. Much better than a hayfield.

Golf soon exploded in North America and the demand for qualified greenkeepers like Boyd soared. Relatives summoned their golf playing brothers and cousins back home in the land of William Wallace. Gentlemen of means imported greenkeepers just like they would cases of Scotch. Some came on their own accord with just a brogue for a resume. And there in lied the problem. They weren’t all qualified and if they were this wasn’t Scotland.

Many North American golf clubs failed agronomically between 1890-1910. They failed miserably. This wasn’t home town seaside linksland but rock and clay. Worms and fungus. The greenkeepers with accents were left searching for answers that weren’t available, that is, until one of their brethren answered the call for help.

Reginald Beale made a name for himself grassing in what was considered the greatest parkland golf course of its day – the Sunningdale Golf Club in England. His success led him to author “The Practical Greenkeeper” which became an early bible for turf management. He became golf’s top consultant inspecting over 350 European courses. In 1908, Beale was contacted by the Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts to advise them on a seed mixture for use in a construction project. The results were more than satisfactory.

Word spread quickly about the grass doctor. Beale put together a consultation tour of the United States and Canada and set sail across the Atlantic in 1911. He visited Arcola, Baltusrol, Chicago Golf, Merion, Royal Montreal, Shinnecock Hills, National Golf Links and over twenty other prominent clubs of the time. He returned in 1913 to visit Piping Rock, Pine Valley, Garden City, Toronto, Skokie, Atlantic City and many clients from his first tour. His recommendations were revolutionary.

“Good soil preparation with proper fertilization, at least four inches of friable soil, good surface drainage, and seed chosen for the purpose for which they are to be used for.”

What Reginald Beale did was introduce science to the art of greenkeeping. In his wake would follow Dr’s Piper and Oakley and the Arlington Turf Gardens, the U.S.G.A. Green Section, and the development of turf management courses at institutions of higher learning. A genuine apostle of the Royal and Ancient game, Reginald Beale saved American golf.

Beale's greenkeeping bible circa 1919