First day of winter @CGC1929! Never been this green this late in the year before. #naturalcolor #whereiswinter pic.twitter.com/wMmzDg0mhY
— Matthew Wharton (@CGCGreenkeeper) December 21, 2015
Last year's painting of the dormant turf canopy (AKA #LiquidOverseed) was a huge hit, and we made arrangements to do the same this season using an even better product. Now if winter would just arrive we could proceed according to plan.Just last week Mrs. Greenkeeper wondered when I was planning on assisting her with some necessary Christmas shopping. It seems half the month was already gone and I hadn't realized it. You see, the first two weeks of December were a blur as I was afforded not one, but two amazing opportunities to represent Carolina Golf Club. First I attended an event called the Golfdom Summit sponsored by Golfdom Magazine. This event brought together 50 superintendents from all across the country along with 15 industry sponsors for some meetings, discussions, candid conversations and amazing networking opportunities. It was truly a one-of-a-kind experience and it was an honor to be invited and included with so many great superintendents. I even managed to meet a true legend and arguably the single greatest female golfer of all time, Annika Sorenstam.
You'd think winning #GolfdomSummit golf event w/ a 58 would be highlight of Day 1, but meeting @ANNIKA59... #GOAT! pic.twitter.com/jfZnSDfylA
— Matthew Wharton (@CGCGreenkeeper) December 3, 2015
Following the summit I made a brief stop in Pinehurst for the final two days of the annual Carolina Golf Club Ross Retreat. Then I was off again, this time to Wake Forest University and the phenomenal Graylyn International Conference Center to attend the 2015 Syngenta Business Institute. The SBI is an intense professional business curriculum tailored for golf course superintendents. The class was limited to 26 attendees and we were selected based on our applications and written essay. I applied last year and was not selected but fortunate enough to make this year's roster. The experience was truly one-of-a-kind (I know, I said that earlier). These two events could not be any more dissimilar, but both were extremely rewarding and worthwhile. Over the first 10 days of December I met some truly fabulous superintendents and we shared loads of information with each other. It's an interesting bond we have, a brotherhood if you will. For those interested here's a brief SBI Recap by another one of our industry publications, Superintendent Magazine.In other news, please welcome David Sherwood to the Carolina Golf Club family. David joins my team as 2nd Assistant Superintendent. David is originally from Breckenridge, Michigan (about 30 miles west of Saginaw). Although a Michigan man at heart (Go Blue), David is a graduate of the renowned turfgrass program at Michigan State University.
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| David Sherwood |
Well, that's all for now. It's time to head home and pack as Mrs. Greenkeeper and I hit the road tomorrow for Virginia to spend Christmas with family. For those of you looking to sneak in a round of golf either Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day the weather looks warm, but rainy. Make sure you don't wear your new golf shoes because conditions are already saturated (over 3 inches rain this month) and tomorrow is supposed to bring even more heavy rain to our area (2015 will go down as one of the weirdest weather years in memory). I will return Monday, December 28th and until then my family and I would like to wish everyone at Carolina Golf Club a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
See you on the course,
Matthew Wharton, CGCS
