Renew

The days are getting longer and the temps have moderated. These are great signs that the end of winter has started. How long will that take? It's different every year. I always plan my winter work to be completed by April 1.

Last week I was able to attend the Golf Industry Show in San Diego. Yes the weather was warm but they did have the air conditioning on for us in the convention center. Over 12,000 people from around the world attended this event. It is always great to renew friendships and catch up with others in the industry. Even casual conversations lead to exchange of ideas and information.

With a large event, one must have a game plan to attack the needs that you are looking for. The first 2 days I spent in the classroom. I listened to talks on DIY Projects including bat house construction which would reduce the mosquito and flying insect problems. There were several short presentations on equipment modifications that could be useful. A longer presentation on Labor Management from The National Golf Course Owners Association was next. There were several management companies that gave their ideas on managing the largest line item of the budget.

The afternoon seminar I attended was The Business of Golf. They presented their ideas on emerging trends in the industry. The #1 trend they see and we are doing a terrible job is promoting women at the golf course. Europe is doing very well with this and we should follow. I highly recommend that we make a better effort in this area. The good news from this seminar is that we are doing the right things to keep our golfers and attract new ones. They are: 1. Great Course Conditioning. 2. Great Customer Service. Gwen and her staff do an amazing job. 3. Priced Right. The Golf Commission has helped in setting the bar to have a great value to their experience. Other tidbits I'll discus later.

The next 2 days were spent on the trade show floor. With over 5 acres of displays, my game plan was to work on our needs. I spent a lot of time with the tee sign and marker folks. By implementing some new accessories will help bring a fresh feel. I also spent time looking at the fairway mowers as this is our #1 priority of equipment needs. The last main focus area was that of irrigation. The need to upgrade our system is great and we need to start gather information to help decide how we proceed. This is a year or two away.

It is always fun to look in all corners of the show to find those unique items that can help out our needs. I'll comment on two that I saw but there were more. First is a product called Vinyl Guard. It is a vinyl product that when heated shrinks to conform to the object. I have used it before and I will buy some this year to cover our rake handles. Instead of replacing handles, simply cover them to look new again. There is a significant cost savings by covering instead of replacing. Second is a hot item that golfers are talking about are Golf Boards. These are individual boards to stand on to travel around the course. They have a handle bar to grab and and to turn you must lean to one side like a snowboard. I was able to test drive one and they are very safe and fun. This could be another avenue to increase revenue. I will be getting a demo this spring and allow golfers to use and get their feedback on the potential use. I will let people know when that happens.

For now, back to the grind stone.

Work Continues

A short walk on the course yesterday yielded the following pictures:

A pile of lumber logs from the 18th tee.

The willows between 17 and 18 are gone. Need to finish burning the brush. We will discuss this summer what trees to plant in this area.

There is still one more oak to remove to the north of the red tee on 18. I should have a much better chance to produce quality turf.

The 4 oaks behind 11 green and the broken white pine to the right will finish the main tree removal. The ob lines on 14 and 15 still need to be cleaned out but should not take too long.There is still plenty of winter left to accomplish our goals. Meanwhile, several brush piles will be cleaned up next week.

While the Cat's away, the guys keep working

I am coming to you from sunny southern California. Ia m currently attending to some family matters at a time when the weather cooperates in my favor!

While I am gone, the tree cutters have continued their winter work upon snow landscape of the golf course. All the trees that I marked along the left of 2 and right of 8 have been removed and burned. Some minor cleanup will occur in the spring. Yesterday they attacked the trees on 5 and burned the pile that has been there since summer. Their journey will next lead them to left of 14 and left of 15. Their final destinations will be the oaks by the 11th green and red tee on 18, along with the willows between 17 and 18, and end up removing the broken white pine right of 12 green.

Today's technology makes it possible to work remotely with use of smart phones. My guys have made physical contact to assure everything is going fine while I can be tethered via cell phones. Now if I could do this and make sure the reel grinder was still working, I might stay longer.

Pictures to be posted next week when I get back providing I can get re acclimated to winter!

Winter Work

Winter has finally arrived as there were golf courses opened around the Twin Cities as late as the week before Christmas. I kept myself busy in November and December by refurbishing the employee break area in our shop. Everything on the walls was taken off and all lockers were removed and put out in the shop area for painting. The ceiling was scraped and repainted. The walls were washed, repaired, and painted from leftover paint from the clubhouse. The rug was removed but did not paint the floor yet. I had some vacation time to use up so that will wait till next winter. The cabinets were painted and the lockers were repositioned back in place. I had some pictures but they have seemed to disappear from me.

The tree crew was able to make it out for a day last week and begin removing more trees. Our game plan this year is to thin/open up the areas along our boundary lines. They were able to start along the left side of hole 2 and finished up that area. Some brush was burned but still more to clean up.

Next week, after this cold snap, they will venture over to the left side of #8 and continue on with more of the same. Stay warm.

Picture Story 2015

As try as I might, being able to find time to post relevant material is becoming increasingly harder. My good intentions to update as we go along through the season never materializes, but winter has arrived and now as I glance at pictures that were taken, I will comment after the fact that it happened.

We converted the rain shelter on hole 7 to a refreshment center, aka "Mike's Bar". We had it opened on weekends and for some of our bigger events.

Of course it never fails, the night before the Men's Member Guest Tournament, a storm blew through the course and made a mess of everything. The crew was able to get out and clean up before the event started. Unfortunately, one of the casualties was this tree guarding the dogleg on 7. Most of the members I talked to say they won't miss it.

We were finally allocated funds to purchase some needed equipment. Shown here is one of the new greens mower on a new shop hoist. The greens mowers along with a rough mower made a huge difference in maintaining the course properly and this lift was used to maintain and adjust the equipment correctly.

. With a little muscle from the Luck Football Team, the boys did a nice job cleaning up the area between holes 4 & 5. We even got out many rocks and we should be able to regularly mow this area next year.

In late October, we started this project to make this area to the left of hole 4 more playable. We will finish this up with sod in the spring.

We will be taking out a few more trees this winter. Pictured here is the red tee on 18. There are 4 large oak trees that are inhibiting turf growth in this area. There will be more tree pictures as they begin to fall.

That was 2015 in a nutshell. I've already started plans for 2016 and when you show up in the spring, there will be new golf cars waiting. Have a great off season.

Whew, Really

Looking at the date of my last post, has it really been that long? Must be, computers don't lie. So what have we doing for the last 2 months? Short answer, a lot. Let's take a look to see what we have been up to as long as it is raining on this Saturday morning.

The main projects from last fall and winter are nearly completed. The drainage lines on holes 9 & 15 have been seeded and sodded and are recovering and working nicely.

Nearly all of the 457 stumps have been cleaned up, back filled, seeded. and are growing nicely.There are a few random areas for whatever reason not growing, have been seeded again. There are several stumps yet to be cleaned up between 4 and 5, but now that the young staff is here for the summer, they will finish up as time permits. We will be dragging a landscape rake through this area as there is much debris to be cleaned up.The last thing we will do is to "pop some rocks". In other words, we will dig up the protruding rocks so we can mow this area once again. By looking at the number of golf balls that inhabit this area, I'm sure the golfers will appreciate it.

With all the timely rains this spring, the grass is growing very well. All the winter damage has recovered, and the staff is mowing constantly to keep up. So far so good in that regards.The purchase of some new equipment has helped tremendously in mowing, moving people around, and in the shop.

It is nice to see a lot of new faces enjoying the golf course. The overall atmosphere is a positive one and we will continue to improve and maintain our beautiful course. Summer is here. Come out and enjoy.In fact, you may be seeing me out playing golf and not working.

Spring Clean Up

Spring clean up continued last week as volunteers from the Unity Golf Team and the Luck - Frederic Baseball Teams showed up and helped with our tree clean up. It is nice to have "Jr Muscle" to help load the stump chips for disposal. With that help, we are about half done with that project. We have the cleaned up stumps back filled with soil and will be seeding those soon.

A nice picture of the boys after their work. Thank you!