Monday, January 22, 2018

Welcome Thaw, Project Update, and a New Face!

Hello and welcome to The Greenkeeper!  Today is Monday, January 22nd and let me say it was good to see people enjoying the course yesterday.  The rounds report I received last night stated 133 of you enjoyed the winter golf conditions, which included snow lingering in some shady areas.  Residing in Charlotte can spoil you with mild winter weather, in fact just last year we had the 10th warmest January ever followed by an even warmer February CLICK HERE.  And yesterday the temperature reached 69 degrees and many of you were in shorts, but my team and I physically removed snow from the greens on holes 1, 12, and 17 yesterday morning prior to play.  Go figure.
Whatever It Takes
We are three weeks into 2018 and thus far Old Man Winter is reminding us that despite global warming claims it still gets pretty darn cold from time to time.  In fact, since the beginning of meteorological winter (Dec 1-Feb 28) it's been colder around here than we've seen in several years.
I don't know about you but the so called January thaw we are about to experience is welcomed by me and my team.  Reports indicate a change in the jet stream will bring us milder temperatures for the next few weeks so hopefully we can get caught up on some of the winter projects we originally planned.  The team will be edging cart paths, leveling irrigation heads, plugging turf, making herbicide applications and of course topdressing tees and fairways in the days to come.  The guys are excited today for a Maintenance Monday where they can actually perform golf course maintenance work for a change.   

 In other news I'm pleased to announce that our Course Improvement Projects with the help of Golf Course Services are now complete.  Recall last time CLICK HERE I shared a couple photos depicting the newly completed mounds right of number 10.  These are similar in character to others on the property located between holes 4 and 17 along with holes 6 and 7.  Since then the extension to the Ross Tee on hole 17 has been completed.  
Both projects were tasked with the secondary purpose of hiding above ground infrastructure and when everything grows in and the transitions become seamless I believe you will be pleased.  There was one other improvement GCS assisted us with and I'm very pleased with the outcome.  I'm certain you will be too and I will be happy to share with you the details of that project during my presentation tomorrow night at the club's Annual Meeting.  Hope to see you there.
Sneak Preview
And finally, you may recall back in early November I referenced some changes to my management staff CLICK HERE.  Today I'm happy to introduce you to our newest team member, Hunter Patterson, Assistant In Training.
Hunter Patterson
Hunter is a native of Hendersonville, North Carolina and grew up working at Cummings Cove Golf and Country Club.  Hunter spent time in both golf operations and golf maintenance at Cummings Cove giving him a unique two-sided perspective of the business.  After a brief stint at St. Andrews University in Laurinburg where he studied Sports Marketing and was a member of the golf team, Hunter quickly realized his passion was turfgrass and subsequently transferred.  Hunter will graduate from Central Piedmont Community College this spring with his Associate in Applied Science in Turfgrass Management Technology.  The past two years while pursuing his degree Hunter worked on the maintenance staffs at The Club at Longview and Quail Hollow Club.  Please welcome Hunter to Carolina when you see him.

 See you on the course,

 Matthew Wharton, CGCS, MG  
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)