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| Jenn and I |
Hard to believe it has been over 3 months since I have
updated this blog, and a few things have happened since December. In my personal life, Jenn and I got married
on January 14th down in the Mayan Riviera surrounded by 64 of our close
family and friends. It was a week we will never forget, our wedding day was
perfect, and we felt so lucky to have everyone celebrating with us in a
beautiful location.
Professionally I have had some changes in my position at
Dinosaur Trail. Scott Westman, our GM and Head Pro resigned from his position
while I was down in Mexico. Many things were up in the air during that time,
but around the middle of February the Board of Directors approached me and
asked if I was interested in being the GM/Superintendent. I told them I was,
but I wanted to bring in an experienced management consultant to help guide our
team along the way. James Smith from Smith Golf Group Inc. has come on board to
make sure we are heading in the right direction. I feel very confident in James
and his knowledge in the business of golf is second to none. We have a strong management team in place
starting with Chef Peter McDiarmid who has been instrumental in growing our
event revenues. Our new food and beverage manager Carmello who joins us from Carnmoney
Golf and Country Club will also streamline that side of the operation and provide
great leadership. We are currently in the process of hiring a new golf
operations manager. Decisions based on this position will be made in the next
week as we have some great candidates, but want to make sure they are the right
fit for our operation.
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| Andrew putting new vinyl guard on the flagsticks |
I am definitely going to miss working with Scott, but look
forward to the new challenge ahead. The only reason I feel like I am capable of taking on
these extra responsibilities is because of the strong turf care team we have
developed over the past two seasons. Andrew Smith our Assistant Superintendent
has been with me since my start at Dinosaur Trail and I have all the confidence
in him to lead our team when I am busy with other tasks. As well our new
mechanic Keith Seitz, will be a valuable addition to our team as his skills and
knowledge will keep our operation running very efficiently. He has picked up
reel grinding very quickly, and now understands the correlation between the conditioning
of the course and quality of cut. Who knew there was so much to maintaining a
golf course, right Keith!
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| Keith grinding some fairway reels |
Currently in our Turf Care operation we are finishing up all
the reel grinding, getting the course accessories cleaned up or painted for the season, and starting our hiring
process. We plan to get out onto the course in the next 10 days and clear our
cart paths to check on things. I don’t anticipate any issues with turf health
going into the spring as we have had good snow cover all winter and no
formation of ice that I have been able to find.
I look forward to seeing everyone out at the AGM on March 17th
and hopefully we are only a little over a month away from opening the golf
course.
