Carts on Path, The Presidents Cup and Solomon's Birthday

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"!  Today is November 23, 2011 and thanks to both a passing shower night before last and the line of storms that passed through during last night's evening news the golf course will be restricting all golf cars to the cart paths for the entire day!  Today's forecast calls for high winds and with tomorrow being a walking only day (the club is closed for Thanksgiving) hopefully we will be able to get you back on the fairways in time for Black Friday.

I wanted to share some information with you regarding the Presidents Cup matches held last weekend in Australia at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.  I developed a deep appreciation for RMGC prior to moving to Charlotte and it was my interest in RMGC and particularly their putting greens which spawned my friendship with my mate David Warwick (superintendent of Avondale Golf Club just north of Sydney).  Anyway, David and I were trying to email back and forth during the matches last week and he was kind enough to point me in the direction of the Australian Golf Course Superintendents Association website http://www.agcsa.com.au/.  If you go to their site and click on the "News" tab (second from left) you will be able to access The Presidents Cup Cut Special.  There you will find seven installments, one from each day last week that contain interviews with Richard Forsyth, course superintendent as well as players and captains of both teams and tons of pictures.   Anyway, I know it is not for everybody but I certainly enjoyed it and thought I would pass it along.  By the way, David informed me the good guys lost :)

In other news, my dog Solomon celebrated his first birthday this past Sunday, November 20, 2011.  He and I stopped by the vet the day before and he weighed in at 107.5 pounds.  We spent most of the day enjoying the nice weather in the back yard with his new ball and tug rope!

Later today I will post something Thanksgiving related!  Until then...

...see you on the course,

Matthew Wharton
Golf Course Superintendent