Jerry and his son Clinton after playing a round 12/21/11

The weather has been spectacular again this past week.  Dealing with the morning frost delays has been well worth the dry and sunny playing conditions.  Yesterday afternoon, a group of us from the maintenance staff played 9 holes after work.  We had a great time, and really enjoyed the course.

One of many bunkers not being raked by players lately

The picture above is very frustrating to my staff and I.  I wish I could say this the only bunker that looked like this, but there have been many more.  For some reason, over the past two weeks, we have seen more bunkers not being raked than ever before.  It would be understandable if the bunkers were too frozen to rake, but that has not been the case. I can't understand why this is happening.  It only take about 30 seconds to perform a good rake job.  I am sure there are still plenty of people raking their bunkers properly.  To those folks, I thank you. If you happen to be one of the people not raking, please do so.  If not for others, do it for yourself, you may be hitting from that spot again soon.

Pond bank sloughing off near 17 tee area

Jerry has been working on the pond bank near 17 tees.  The bank has sloughed off, and has been needing repair.  A couple of years ago, he repaired a similar area by 18 green, which has held up really well.  We decided it would be a great time to perform the work since the pond level is so low right now.  At this point, he has made a wall with cinder blocks and back filled with sand.  Next, he will add aeration cores and seed, which will eventually establish turf over the back filled area.

Siuslaw Middle School

Last Thursday, I gave a presentation to MJ Church's 6th grade (5th period) class at Siuslaw Middle School.  Her class (which includes my son Dylan) has been given an assignment to research and give a presentation on a career of their choosing.  I was invited to talk about about what it is like to be a golf course superintendent.  I had a great time, and enjoyed answering the questions the class had.

One of the things I shared with the class is how I got started on my path as a golf course superintendent.  I told them that I had been given a similar assignment in high school, in which I had to write a paper on a career of my choosing.  I had been working at Ocean Shores Golf Course, in Ocean Shores, WA during my summer vacations.  I really enjoyed the work I was doing on the golf course, so I decided to write my paper about becoming a golf course superintendent.  Through my research, I found I could make a descent living doing something I enjoyed.  From that point on, my goal was to become a golf course superintendent.  I completed the first major step towards achieving that goal in 1999 when I graduated from Washington State University (Go Cougs!) with a degree in turf management, and a minor in soil science.  During my time at WSU, I interned at Sahalee Country Club during the 1998 PGA Championship.  After that, I continued gaining experience working my way up through the ranks at the TPC at Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club, where I was the assistant superintendent for over 5 years.  In 2006, I achieved the goal I had set for myself more than decade prior during my high school years.  I had become a golf course superintendent.  The course was none other than Sandpines Golf Links.

My son Dylan hitting a tee shot on hole 16