Busy Time at GFCC

September 1, 2015

First and foremost, let me introduce myself to those who do not know me. I am originally from Hutchinson, MN, which is about 60 miles west of Minneapolis. I attended college at North Dakota State University in Fargo where I received my Bachelor’s degree in Turfgrass Management. I have previously worked for the Crow River Golf Club in Hutchinson and at Bully Pulpit Golf Course in Medora, ND. I am pleased to be your interim superintendent for the time being and I am confident that my crew and I will keep the Grand Forks Country Club in pristine shape for the remainder of the season.

As we all miss Sam and his family, I believe that he set me up for success here at GFCC. I have gained a considerable amount of knowledge and learned many valuable skills from him the past year and a half.

We all know that at this time in the year staffing is always hard to come by. With school starting a week ago, I lost a few of my staff members and all of the others cut their hours in half. I have been able to hire a few more part time workers, but have only one other full time staff member. With that being said, there may be some days during the week where we are mowing later in the day rather than early in the morning for staff reasons. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We will do our absolute best to keep the course looking as good as it does now.

We have completed greens and tee aeration for the fall. This is a very beneficial time to aerate. Aeration will help us get the turf healthy for the remainder of fall and into winter. The holes we created provide oxygen deep down to the root system of the turf. Aeration also relieves soil compaction and breaks up the organic layer that is under the turf. The greens will be a little bumpy and sandy for a few days, but with extra rolling and water, we will have the greens back to normal very soon.

Please feel free to stop me out on the course to introduce yourself. I am always up for suggestions and questions that you may have. I will do my best to keep the blog up to date to keep you informed about what is happening around the course.