A New Hat

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 14^th 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.

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!

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 17^th and hopefully we are only a little over a month away from opening the golf course.