Facility Growth and Success: Communication and Teamwork

by: Brian Roth CGCS
Oquirrh Hills Golf Course
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“The revenues for the course have increased each year, with a 75 percent increase from 2006 to 2007, the first year with 18 holes. Revenue was up five percent in 2008, and a surprising eight percent for 2009. Working as a team, with efforts from all areas of the facility, the 2008 seasons’ numbers showed only a 10 percent deficit (revenue to budget).“

IS THIS THE RIGHT TIME TO SELL A GOLF PROPERTY?

by: By Hilda W. Allen

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Teaching the Future

by: Sean McCue
The Country Club at Castle Pines
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“The teaching process goes beyond the interns and filters down to the rest of the staff as well. I am a firm believer that the best way of learning is to actually get the hands on experience. It is for this reason that I love taking on many in house projects that provide numerous opportunities for learning.“

Taking Advantage of your Advantage

by: Chris Tritabaugh
Northland Country Club
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“Not everyone’s advantages are the same as ours. What works for us may not work in a different location. However, I encourage all of my colleagues to seek out your advantages, take advantage of them and see how it can make your course better.“

A View from the Cart

by: Greg Shaffer
Elcona Country Club
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“The American Medical Association has documented the therapeutic effects of petting an animal. Those of us superintendents that have dogs with us at work every day would probably find it hard to dispute this fact. I know I agree with it 100%. Even golfers as they finish their round could probably benefit from lower blood pressure, a decreased heart rate and a reduced stress level.“

Commitment to Sustainability

by: Glenn Matthews
The Course at Wente Vineyards
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"Sustainability has become a cornerstone of our operating values and to support this idea the course began participation in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses in 2008. Since then we have used the program to incorporate innovative management practices for The Course and highlight management practices we have used since its inception."

Should You Go Natural?

by: Doug Tinkham
The Shoals Golf Club
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“We have found yearly mowing of the natural areas helps reduce native plant species as every year native plant populations are continuing to infiltrate natural areas.“

How Teamwork Leads to Success

by: Ethan Haveman
Oakland Hills Country Club
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“This should be a good reminder to all Superintendents, remember that someone is always trying to learn from you by watching what you do and say, and how you handle situations. The people in positions below you are like a sponge, ready to soak up any and all information that you can give out“

Superintendents were green before green was in VOGUE!

by: Matt Shaffer
Merion Golf Club
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"It is time that we get more innovative in our challenging economic and environmentally sensitive times, but there is no better group that is adaptive to challenges and changes than GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS!"

Successfully Discouraging a Seasonal Nuisance

by: by Mark Williams
Penn Oaks Golf Club
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"A year ago we had up to 1,000 Canadian geese visiting our course, now I have about 5-6 that are a part of our seasonal wildlife at the end of the course."

Golf…Environmentally Friendly?

by: By Joel Blaker
Tahoe Mountain Club
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“ Old Greenwood opened in the fall of 2004 and on September 14, 2005 we became the first Certified Gold Audubon Signature Sanctuary golf course in the state of California. “

Overseeding--darned if you do and darned if you don't

by: From the archives of the GCSAA

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To call it a cosmetic practice would be accurate, but also simplistic. The economic viability of thousands of golf courses and the job security of those who manage them loom beneath the pretty, green surface.

Keeping it Green

by: by Mark Claburn
Tierra Verde Golf Club
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“Over ten acres of ponds and 10,000 linear feet of shoreline were created to provide habitat and water sources for migratory waterfowl and the diverse, native population of wildlife found at the course as well as providing added challenge and beauty for the golfer “

Essex County Club: Host site of the 2010 Curtis Cup

by: By Eric Richardson
Essex County Club
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“In 2010, the Curtis Cup should be a forum to show the world what New England has to offer. The Curtis Cup also offers an opportunity for people to discuss the very rich championship golf history that has and continues to be made in New England,... “

Renovation of a Lifetime

by: By Bret Proctor
Oak Tree Golf Club
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Here was a chance to reach another milestone and I was hopeful that I would be rewarded for everything I have done in my career to this point

The Process of Improvement

by: Chris Tritabaugh
Northland Country Club, Duluth, MN
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“The one thing I always knew I wanted to do as a Superintendent was to stand up for what I knew was right, establish myself as the expert, have a vision, and use that vision to guide the membership down a path of course improvement”

The 7 Winds of Change

by: Mandel Brockinton, CGCS
The Champions Course at Weeks Park - Wichita Falls, Texas
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“I soon learned an Assistant Superintendent has no days off. I asked for one once, and Jim told me sure, and I could take the rest of the week off, and go ahead and take the rest of the month off. I remember saying back then, “No I just want one day!”. Jim looked at me and asked, “do you want to be a Superintendent?” Yes, I replied, and Jim said, OK, then first you must learn all I am teaching you, and you can’t do that taking days off.”

Who Made You?

by: by Dan Burkett, Superintendent
Bent Tree Country Club, Dallas, Texas
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Who made you? This is not a question of theology or creation, but rather an introspective of what events and more importantly what people shaped you to the person...

A Diamond in the Rough

by: by Sean P. Monahan, Superintendent
Mt. Anthony Country Club, Bennington, Vermont
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Somewhere on the links at a small country club in Bennington, Vermont, a diamond engagement ring was lost a few years ago and never found. When I first heard...

Life is an Occasion

by: Bob Wolverton, Superintendent
Bayonne Golf Club, Bayonne, New Jersey
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As a golf course superintendent in the northeast, there’s nothing better to cure the winter dull drums than a trip to Augusta National for the Masters. Each year since being...

The Tool Every Golf Course Superintendent Should Have

by: Rich Gagnon, Superintendent, Board of Directors
Segregansett Country Club, Taunton, Massachusetts
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Reading through my fellow Superintendents’ articles here in recent issues, I thought it would be great to let all of you know about this "tool" I have already let our GCSANE...

Never a Dull Moment

by: Amy Volk Flowers, Director of Golf Course Maintenance
Hunters Run Golf and Racquet Club, Boynton Beach, Florida
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How exciting it is to be part of an 18 hole rebuild. Hunters Run Golf and Racquet Club is a 54-hole private golf club with resort-style living located in Boynton Beach, Florida. There...

Life is Good!

by: Jared Ray Bonar, Golf Course Superintendent
Cypress Lakes Golf Club, Cypress, Texas
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Most of my life I have worked hard at whatever I did. I was always raised with good values and the believe that "if you are going to do something, do it right or don't do it at all."...

A Path with Heart

by: Jason Miller, Golf Course Superintendent
Aspen Glen Club, Carbondale, Colorado
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Confucius said it best... "Find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life!" Sounds as simple as flipping through the pages of the Golf Course Trades, but finding the...

Reflections

by: Matt Shaffer, Superintendent
Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, Pennsylvania
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As I enter my 39th year in the golf course industry, I can hardly believe it. I vividly remember picking iron ore rocks off Iron Masters Country Club in Roaring Spring PA, in the...

The Long and Winding Road

by: Russ C. Myers CGCS , Superintendent
Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, Oklahoma
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"Put some water on the greens, please!!!" He implored with a smile. Tired from months of long days turning into nights watching irrigation cycles run, I could only muster up a trite...