Changes for 2013

When I tour the golf course these days it is hard to believe that last year at this time we had no snow and were only a few weeks away from opening the golf course. Today the entire golf course is covered with a layer of snow that is a minimum of 6-8 inches deep. I am hoping we have a slow consistent melt over the next month, but March is a very unpredictable month so I am not holding my breath.

14th Green with 8 inches of snow

Pace of play during busy periods was an issue at Dinosaur Trail last season, especially in the challenging back nine. If you have never played the back nine before, it is easy to lose a ball and to become confused on where you are suppose to aim for your upcoming shot. The back nine also has a handful of forced carries from tee boxes that can pose an issue for the shorter hitter. To deal with these issues, we are improving the signage on the back nine, especially for the 14th hole which is the main culprit for slowing down the pace of play. As well we are introducing a new way to play the golf course, by using both white and blue tee options in a combo tee. We are also introducing a new set of yellow tees on holes 2,4,6,9,10,11,13,14,15,16,17, and 18. These tees can be used in conjunction with the red tees to help players by-pass difficult tee shots where a forced carry is required.

The club has finalized a deal to purchase new golf carts this season. These golf carts will have electronic fuel injection, which means they will operate more efficiently and burn less fuel, saving us money. I have heard that these carts will burn up to 40% less fuel compared to a conventional 2 stroke golf cart. I am a little skeptical about that figure, but anywhere we can save money is a plus. These new carts will also have the DSG Tag fleet control system installed on them. I am very excited about this as we will now be able to control and monitor all carts on the property by way of GPS and mobile technology. I was surprised on how affordable the system is, as it will be a great benefit for the guys in the golf shop, as well as for the health of the golf course. we no longer need to set up ropes to control traffic, and in a mouse click I will be able to setup carts for paths only after a heavy rain event. This will be great because there will be very few instances where carts will not be allowed on the course , so we do not lose the cart revenue. It will be a great piece of mind for us in the turf care department that there will never be a cart drive up to a green or in a restricted area unless we allow it to.

We have added a text feature on each golf cart to be able to send messages to certain carts from the proshop. As well it displays the yardage to certain landmarks on each hole and to the front, middle, and back of the green relative to the golf cart.

The text feature that mounts on the steering column

Another change we are implementing this season is the switch from a three colour flag system to a single flag system. All scorecards will have diagrams of the greens split into three quadrants to show where the pin position for each hole will located relative to day 1,2, or 3. We are still in the process of designing the logo we want to use, but have decided to go with a black and yellow checkered flag. I can foresee us losing a few flags this summer, as who wouldn't want a flag with a T-Rex on it, so theft is definitely something we are taking into consideration for the flag design.  

John our mechanic showing off his new shiny white teeth

Our turf care team is looking forward to a busy season on the golf course. John is busy finishing grinding all the reels and working at getting the best prices for everything he uses on a daily basis. As a turf care department at a small golf course we must be accountable for every dollar we spend. I have challenged John this season to look around and for the best deal possible and not just deal with the same distributors as we have in the past. So far the savings he has found has been impressive, and hopefully by the end of the season we will have enough money left in the budget to afford to be able to put in a two post lift. This addition will no doubt aid in the ability to maintain our fleet of 72 golf carts and turf care equipment in an efficient manner. Many people have told me it will pay for itself within the first year, and I look forward to being able to agree with them in the near future. We have also applied for a few grants regarding capital improvements on the golf course, so hopefully we will be successful in securing them, so that we can continue to improve the golf course.

Andrew working on the tee markers

Andrew is currently in the process of sprucing up our course accessories. He is currently in the process of repainting all the tee markers, and will move on to installing yellow vinyl guard on all our flag sticks. In the past week he has updated all our task procedures and has created some great task tracking databases for the upcoming season. Over the next few weeks we plan to get on the golf course and start removing trees we have deemed a risk to anyone on the course as well as those that negatively affect playability.

Dealing with one of our aging poplars in the fall last year

Now that I have been at the course for a full year, I look forward to hitting the ground running, knowing exactly what issues we must deal with right off the bat this season and continue to improve the playing conditions as best as we can for our members and guests.