The Home Stretch

Setting up the course for the Alberta Golf tournament

Glancing at the calendar it is hard to believe there is only 9 weeks left until we blow out the irrigation system. The month of August at Dinosaur Trail has been a busy one, with many tourists visiting the course along with a few big tournaments.

Last week we hosted the 2013 Alberta Golf Men's Mid Amateur Handicap Championship. Our turf care team did a great job preparing the course for the two day tournament. I was happy with how the course played as we spent the last 3 weeks improving the playability of a handful of holes and working on every bunker to ensure they were consistent. Thanks to Tom Zariski and everyone from Alberta Golf for running a well organized event. They did a great job of making sure the course was setup for all our members and guests following each round of the tournament. Congrats to Scott Ouellette and Jeff Skytt, two local guys who finished first and third respectively. As well thanks to Graydon from Clark's Supply for allowing us to use a few of there mowers to prep for the tournament. Without the use of 322 Eclipse mower, the greens would not have rolled as quick as they did.

The other day I had a member ask me if we could speed up the greens. The answer to that question is yes we can, but with our limited resources and the small crew we run, this is not always a reality. Most days we have 7 to 9 team members working on the course, this includes Andrew and myself. On the weekend we maintain the course with 3 crew members. Most crew members work 12 days on and 2 days off so the reality is that we can only do the basics on weekends which includes course setup, mowing greens, raking bunkers, and housekeeping. Thank you to those members who support our team on a daily basis with their positive comments. I would like to think we are doing as best as we can with the limited resources we have.

 TDR300

In the past few weeks you may have seen Andrew or myself walking around greens probing them with a purple device. This purple device is used to measure the amount of moisture in the soil. Andrew has done a great job of logging all of the data on a daily basis and using this to determine the water needs of our greens. We are starting to see positive results in using the TDR 300 moisture meter as we have reduced the amount of water we apply to greens which helps us conserve water and save on electricity costs for the irrigation system. As well it helps us keep the greens firmer and faster to improve playability. We have focused on hand watering greens as much as we can to ensure we do not over water. It is easy to just turn on the sprinkler heads, but with the inconsistent coverage most of our greens have, hand watering does a much better job dealing with our problem areas, without over watering the majority of the green.

This season has been much less stressful then last year. A big reason for that is the great support I get from our Assistant Superintendent Andrew Smith and our Mechanic Johnny Vandermaas. Just as I continue to grow as a Superintendent, Andrew has done the same as an Assistant Superintendent. I am really happy with the way he has progressed into a manager. I know any time I am away from the course, it won't miss a beat. Usually when he sets the schedule for the day, most times it is exactly the way I would set it up. He makes my job much easier, as his work ethic is second to none. I always tell him I would like to see him stay clean for a day, but I haven't seen it happen yet.

Ensuring the blower is ready to go when the leaves start to fall

Also a huge thank you to Johnny who keeps everything running smoothly. I have worked with a handful of mechanics in my career and none of them take as much pride in their reel grinding as much as John does. He is a guy that stays behind the scenes, but without his troubleshooting and knowledge to deal with our aging fleet of equipment. There would be no way we would be able to accomplish our goals on the course. I encourage our members to stop by the shop and say thanks to Johnny as he a vital cog in the wheel of the Dinosaur Trail Golf and Country Club.

Skimming over the 10th hole

This past Sunday Andrew, Jenn, and myself went up for a plane tour of the Drumheller Valley with one of our members Pete Cardamone, in his 1966 Cherokee 160. It was pretty cool to see the valley and the golf course from that perspective. We went from Horse Thief Canyon all they way out to windmills east of town and back. Thanks Pete for taking us up.

View of the front nine with the back nine in the distance

If anyone has any questions, feel free to stop me on the course or send me an email.