Closure

This will likely be my last post on the KCountry turcare blog. Looking back to the date of the previous post, it’s clear that we weren't frequently up to date. The easy excuse is to say that we were very busy preparing and maintaining both golf courses to the high standards that many of our guests and our Kananaskis team have come to expect. This was actually the truth.

Since the spring of 2012, our turfcare team stripped, prepped, installed and maintained 30 new bentgrass greens, and a handful of tee decks. This was necessary due to the consistent winter injury we received. It was also necessary to improve the surface drainage by restoring the perimeter edges to original grade. I’ve always believed that these major projects were an investment in the golf course. Similar to getting a new roof or windows for your house, these investments increases the longevity and improves the performance for many, many more years to come. Nobody ever anticipated the shortened time frame for Kananaskis Country Golf Course. Thursday June 20th, 2013. The fate of both courses were sealed. Approximately 300mm of rain fell in two days.

Thursday started like any other typical morning for us. James and I opened shop, put on a fresh pot of coffee and talked about the amount of rain that fell throughout the night and into the morning. We discussed changes to our morning schedule, ‘...move pins to high locations, rake bunker washouts, flymow & linetrim attention areas, definitely no mowers and we should be cartpath only for the day...‘ That was basically the agreed upon conversation before we headed out for our morning tour.

The first time I knew we were in some trouble was when one of our walk bridges floated past me along the cartpath. It was about 100 yards from its original location. I only wish that was our only problem. As soon as I crested the top of our double green cartpath towards the Mt. Kidd course, I saw water flowing over and through the tee sites of both #10 and #1. Mother nature had found her original path.

It was really too soon to tell what the outcome of this flood was going to be. I personally thought, when the rain stops, we will have everything cleaned and operational for the weekend. The rain didn’t stop, and the flow of the new/original Evan Thomas river picked up speed and destructive force. The reality was slowly setting in.

During the next few weeks, I had a hard time grasping the outcome and harsh reality of what had happened. I didn’t want to believe this was the loss and end to all the hard work put into both courses. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the many new friends and colleagues that I had grown to love. As a turfcare team, we overcame many challenges, accepted much criticism and worked harder to improve our product for our guests. We took great pride in our work and what we accomplished. There's always something to improve upon at any golf course, no turfcare team can really step back and say, ‘..we are totally done and entirely perfect..‘  Seeing all the pride and hard work washed away in a matter of hours is a completely helpless and gutting feeling.

Now what? What’s my plan? These were the questions some 140 employees at Kananaskis asked. I was in the same boat. I didn’t want to move, I didn’t want to start a new job, most importantly I didn’t know where we were going.  We had to decide where we wanted to work, and that decision was based on potential opportunities.

For many of the employees that have transitioned into something quickly, I congratulate you. For those still sourcing options, I don’t anticipate running into any problems because for the most part, Kananaskis Country Golf Course employed strong teams and strong individuals. I am fortunate to find a new opportunity, and I'm excited to begin my new adventure. The transition will probably be difficult, but I'm up to the challenge, we’ve been through worse.

So I write this final post on the KCountry turfcare’s blog as my closure. I can now move on and accept everything that has happened. I hope in the near future someone can continue this blog with a fresh start and a new opening to what architect Robert Trent Jones stated as ‘..the best natural setting I’ve been ever given to work with..’

I would like to finish by thanking all my friends, co-workers, colleagues that I have met and learned from through my short tenure at Kananaskis. Please keep in touch. I would also like to thank all my industry friends and colleagues that helped me find new opportunities. Good luck to all the our fellow golf courses that suffered damage and loss in this Alberta flood, I wish you all the best and hope for a strong recovery. It’s the help from a strong and united turf industry that keeps us going, and that’s just one of the many reasons why I’m glad to be a part of it.

Opening day push.

The turfcare team started in early April and we were able to take advantage of some decent weather to accomplish many tasks.  Most of our wildlife fence have been taken down, rolled up and put away.  Fence posts have been pulled except for the few stubborn ones that need softer ground.  Our snow clearing crews have worked hard clearing greens, tees and surrounds.  Our bobcat and polar track blowers have been opening up shaded areas in the fairways and surface drain lines to allow for the flowing melt.

Early last weekend we were welcomed with four days of fresh snow.  Both properties were again completely covered in about 30cm.  Most of the fresh didn't melt off until mid week and our crews were out again clearing greens so that we could peel back tarps.  At times, weather can be frustrating, however it's a part of our seasons and our location.  We continue to stay focused and motivated in our accomplishments.

More staff will be joining us in the upcoming weeks.  Their help will be gladly welcomed as we will focus on some project work.  With cooperating weather, our push to "get er done" will begin.  Long days and hard work will be necessary and we have the team to do it.

Our turfcare team at Kananaskis Country is excited for opening weekend.  We are motivated in completing our projects, cleaning the course, putting on the first cut and placing out all the accessories.  We have built a great team and everyone continues to work hard for the benefit of the golf courses.  Great job team!

If you haven't already opened for 2013, all the best with your opening week!  Let's have a great season.

Clearing off some fresh powder

Promoting activity 14Kidd green

Clearing the fresh and peeling back the edges

What do you do in the Winter?

For the majority of my short illustrious turf career, I’ve worked as a seasonal employee.  The first four years worked nicely because I was a student, finishing high school then completing post secondary.  The next four were also great, as I collected earnings from the great resource we all know as Employment Insurance.

I quickly realized that as my expensive taste in life evolved, my actual income didn’t.  I soon understood the importance of year round employment.  Typically, a position within the management team offered me year round employment, or at least the year round earnings of being on an annual salary.

From general conversation it was my understanding that winter work involved as little work as possible... what??  It was a superintendent that told me this, and I can understand and appreciate what he meant.  Throughout the golfing season and throughout our busy shoulder seasons, we as a turfcare department bust our humps on a daily basis providing a product that generates hundreds of millions of dollars in recreation/tourism revenue each year.  (Sorry about the political plug, but that’s a topic for another discussion)

I assume that most of you with seasonal start ups and shutdowns look forward to that last day when the course is finally put to a well deserved rest for the winter.  But what goes on after that?  I’ve had the opportunity to work year round at three golf courses.  From my experiences, all winter work is similar, in a time varying and weather differentiated kind of way.

At Kananaskis, our off season is approximately 5 months.  Since our last goodbyes to our seasonal employees in October, we’ve continuously monitored both golf courses, checking for melt, ice build up, wildlife damage, river flow, etc..  There were many days when we cleared snow off greens in anticipation of rain and freeze periods.  Once our snow and weather forecast stabilized, we were able to prep, rebuild, customize and place orders on ground supplies and equipment.

PAINTING!!  I am not aware of too many people that enjoy this task?  I am not one of them.  However this luxury isn’t as frustrating and meticulously time consuming than painting your house.  To save a few dollars, we were able to clean, repair and touch up many of our ground supplies like flag poles, cooler containers, ball washers, bunker rakes and other hand tools.  We’ve rebuilt, greased and prepared our rotary fertilizer spreaders to be calibrated closer to the start of our season.  We also offer two left hands when our mechanic needs some help, but for the most part, he is schooling us.

A big part of our off season is staff recruitment.  We typically employ up to 40 individuals throughout the season.  On average we can get about 30% returning staff from the previous year.  For the remainder 70%, we post positions online, through post secondary sites and through word of mouth.  When the floodgates of initial applicants open up, we will sift and decide on potentials that move to the next round, typically an interview.  This process from ad posting to interviews will continue several times until we finally fill our dream team for the season.

The offseason is the much anticipated and welcomed time for continuing education and network opportunities that occur through conferences, seminars, trade shows or combinations of the three.  This year, I attended the Alberta Golf Superintendents Associations (AGSA) Property Managers Conference, and the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) Conference and Trade show.

My first at either show.  Being a new turfgrass Albertan, I attended the AGSA in Canmore to take in the talks and meet new colleagues.  Most recently, I returned from San Diego, which was this years host for the GCSAA conference and golf industry show.  I asked on twitter what to prepare for when attending the GCSAA, and I was told to wear comfortable shoes!  I now understand and appreciate the individuals who complete their suit attire with a pair of comfy trainer kicks.  I’m not certain what the area of the trade show floor was, but it’s probably equivalent to walking greens every morning.

We still have another month in our off season and we are still recruiting to fill the rest of our 2013 team.  A few more ground supplies need attention and soon our focus will concentrate on upcoming weather patterns.  We are nearing day 100 for ice cover in some areas, however our most recent plugs give us great news as we’ve seen good activity.  Fingers crossed and cooperation from mother nature encouraged.

For all of you fellow turfies that also believe in doing as little as possible in your winter break, good for you!  We all deserve it, because when the time comes to ‘get er done’, we always find a way.

Welcome to 2013!!

Winter Wonderland

Welcome to the new year!  A time when some of us turf managers anticipate great numbers, wonderful compliments and a perfect wintering of our golf courses??  Okay, well at least that's something I always try and look forward to every new year.  We hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season filled with great food, lots of drink and close company.  That time for us has quickly passed and it was back to work as usual.

We were welcomed by a 60cm snowfall our first week back.  The plow truck and the snow blowers were in full force as we cleared entrance roads, maintenance paths and parking areas.  I was always warned that it was inevitable to get our plow truck stuck and I never thought it would happen to me, until it did.  I will admit that fresh plow lines are pretty tough after a big dump of snow, almost like cutting a straight line on a green with no dew... "you gotta use the force!"  as one super always told me.




We are into day 60 with a 2-5mm ice cover on some greens.  Some ice more porous than others, but most have a reassuring dormant colour underneath.  Early in December we did some trial melts with a GreenThaw machine.  For those unfamiliar, glycol is circulated through lengths of hose at a warm to warmer temperature.  The hose is extended and laid across the green to promote ice melt.  In our trial, we completely cleared one green and three quarters of another with different patterns in laying out the hose.

Glycol hydraulic attachments

Working from the centre out

For our own purposes, we recently pulled plugs on several green sights, each selected by amount of Poa infestation and exposure to elements.  We will monitor the plugs over some time to see what activity happens and then we can make decisions later.  As a control sample, we will pull a few plugs from one of our newer bentgrass greens, that was installed this past spring.

Mostly Poa, pulled from different greens

James removing a plug

Some of the other tasks keeping us busy are:  ordering new tools and supplies, repair and paint older supplies, team recruiting, and of course blogger.  As you can see from the lack of our updates, I was only joking about our blog keeping us busy.  Our goal is to recruit a team of 40 individuals for the season.  This ensures that we can complete many of our planned projects and produce a product that our guests can all enjoy and appreciate.  If you are reading this and you have an interest in working for a turfcare department at a great facility please visit the website or inquire by email to assistantsuper@kananaskisgolf.com  (a little recruiting plug never hurts...)

We are really looking forward to this new season and we hope that you are to.  Take care and happy wintering!!

Front, middle, back… easy, easy, easy!!

There are many informative blogs. We are spoiled with many cooperative Turfgrass professionals sharing ideas and providing insight into their own trials, studies and experiences. It's a hard act to follow, but I've realized that there's always something I might learn, reconfirm with, or even appreciate and enjoy no matter how basic.

How does your golf course change pins? Do you cycle through rotations? locations? or a combination of both? Is the decision made by the discretion of your pin setter? I have worked at courses with all these different pin setting programs and I guess the decisions are based on the standards, goals and mission of each individual golf course. Courses with large staff, high turnovers and frequent training might benefit with set locations. Courses with smaller greens might choose area rotations.

The first golf course I worked at allowed me to setup pins wherever I wanted, as long as I was consistent with three front, three middle and three back locations per nine. I believe the main criteria to consider are: traffic, pace of play, and healthy turf. With that said, I understand there are many more unique factors to consider depending on the golf course; greens size, undulation, rounds per day, turf health, design characteristics, and whether or not the course is private, semi-private or public. The list probably continues for many of you.

I've always believed in using all the real estate you're given. Some design flaws don't allow this, however is it feasible to beat up smaller, flatter and easier spots to try and pump more rounds through in a day? I think it's important to train someone who golfs, someone who understands playability, and someone with an eye for health and quality.

Regardless of where we set pins, it is inevitable that there will always be some complaining on any given day. Other than ourselves, how come we hardly here guests complaining about the architect? I am still waiting for the day where I get the call on the radio…"there have been several comments today about how wonderful the pins are"… Lol, I'll keep you all posted when that day arrives.

Continued success and growth!

The long road… a bittersweet grind?!?

The last few months have been busy as usual. Both courses are busy and course conditions continue improving as our turfcare team works hard with continued maintenance and project work.

I've decided to write a reflection piece that I've been pondering for the past few days. My new experience at K-Country has given me great rewards, but not without challenges. The obvious would be the challenges in course conditioning we've faced due to a difficult winter season, but those challenges come with the territory for all turfgrass managers. The less obvious challenges are the lifestyle changes that I've been adapting to since moving here in April.

I live on site at the golf course. For now, my fiancé Shelley, and my two animals, Baxter and Levi, still live in Kelowna. Being away from my family is hard. Before the move to Kananaskis, we lived together and shared many great memories for five years.

The choice was always mine and the decision was made over several long nights of consideration with Shelley. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and hopefully with hard work, patience and some sacrifice, the decision to be apart for a temporary period of time will grow us closer together and put me into a position where I can provide and live happily with my family. Cliche I know, but I'm sure many fellow turfies have made similar sacrifices and decisions.

A colleague of mine, whom I consider a mentor, once told me that I should be willing to relocate and keep my options open so that I may eventually run my own show. My road to being a superintendent has been bittersweet. Many long days grinding out my time trying to keep myself motivated. However in the end, I can look back to my last post, the results can be so rewarding.

I give much respect to all my fellow colleagues and everyone else that is passionate in pursuing a better product no matter what kind of a grind it takes. Good conditions and continued success to you all!

The results can be so rewarding.

We've been officially open for two weeks now, and the turfcare team continues their hard work getting projects complete, repairing irrigation, and maintaining both golf courses for daily play.  Greens are  priority and we continue to resurface many areas that didn't fare well throughout the winter.  For our new greens, we laid big roll bentgrass and regular roll bluegrass for the collars.  A steady crew of 6 worked with our contractors in laying the bentgrass while larger crews came in to lay the bluegrass.  Work was completed efficiently as we strived to be ready for opening day.

I am quickly realising that the luxury of the Okanagan weather doesn't transition into and throughout the Rockies.  Though we've had stretches of nice days, our nighttime temps consistently drop to 0 degrees.  Tough to "green up", have a good catch on the overseed and germinate new shoots in some of our more challenging areas.  Benefits of a mountain golf course I guess?  

Today we needle tined one of our new greens and the results look terrific.  No pulling or tearing occurred, so we'll finish aerating the rest of the new greens tomorrow.  We're using Toro's new Pro core for our aeration purposes.  As much as I'd like to say that most of the great results were due to having a great operator, I have to give credit to the Pro core's efficiency, adjust ability and minimal disruption.  Keeping fingers crossed, I hope the rest of the aeration goes as smooth tomorrow.

Life of a turfgrass manager is long, busy and fast paced.  At times it feels that I am never in enough places at any given time throughout the day.  Train people here, get a team started there, quality control everywhere... etc.  However, the results of a great product are so rewarding and I quickly remember why I got into this industry... I absolutely love it!

 Newly laid 007 on #9 Mount Kidd course

 Our first cut was approximately 10 days after being laid

2 foot rolls are laid two at a time (side by side)

Welcome to KCountry

Hey everyone.  My name is Cameron Watt and I am one of the assistants at the KCountry golf course.  I am new this year and I started work at Kananaskis on April 16th.  It has been a unique, interesting and fun experience to say the least.

I moved to Kananaskis from Kelowna, British Columbia.  Including Kananaskis, I have been a part of 4 different golf courses working with the turf care department.  I came from Two Eagles Golf Course & Academy.  I was the assistant there for almost 5 seasons.  Before that I was at Predator Ridge Golf Resort and Sunset Ranch Golf Course.

I have been growing grass for 12 seasons.  Each and every golf course has been an awesome experience.  They all have helped me develop my skills and personality in becoming a turfgrass manager.  Kananaskis is no different.  My roles and responsibilities here are unlike any other I've had at other courses.  With the help of my new friend, James Bryce, who is our other assistant, I have been able to quickly familiarize myself with the operation and the property.

I will miss all my friends and family, especially my fiancé Shelley, who will be living in Kelowna for another year.  I do however appreciate all their support and happiness for my new experience and journey in becoming a golf course superintendent.  Thank you all!!

Hopefully we will try and update this blog frequently, but for now I wanted to introduce myself to everyone that follows.  Have a great season!

Swan Song

Well this is going to be my last blog post before I hand the K Country Turf Care blog over to James my counterpart. The weather this winter has been quite unusual and that has caused some problems on the course. There has been a bit of ice build up on greens and fairways, but the tees are in good shape. A lot of the ice on the greens has started to disappear on the untarped greens which is nice, but we still have a few areas of ice to deal with. We are currently using an industrial heating blanket, powered by a gas generator to melt the ice off the surface of the greens. This has proven to be a slow process, but we are getting some good results.

2 Lorette pretty much ice free

Heating blanket in action under tarp

On a positive note there has been limited elk activity on the course which will make the spring clean up a little easier I would think. We are currently in full swing in our staff hiring process and are quickly assembling a great team for the upcoming season, with many returning faces, coupled by some good golf course experience. It’s definitely bittersweet for me as I am excited to see to the great team we are assembling, but I will not be able to see the end result.

I am excited for my new position, and believe it was an opportunity I could not pass up. On the other hand, I have unfinished business in Kananaskis and the goals I wanted our Turf Care Team to achieve. The team is in good hands though, as I know James will be a great leader for the team as he was able to prove at the end of the 2011 season. I have no doubt he will continue to make the Turf Care Team stronger in 2012. Thanks to everyone that followed the blog in 2011, and will continue to follow the blog this season. I will have a new blog at Dinosaur Trail, so watch for that.

Finally thanks to every individual that has been a member of the Turf Care Team while I was the Assistant Superintendent. My goal has always been and always will be to create a team mentality built on respect, personal pride, and accountability. I hope you enjoyed your time under my leadership, and felt like you took something from your time in Kananaskis. I know I am definitely a better person for having the opportunity to learn from each one of you.

The Off Season

Things have slowed down considerably in the K Country turf care department. I would like to think we are in cruise control until the new year. I am currently focused on growing my Movember moustache,playing hockey, checking the tarps to ensure the bubble wrap stays in place, bucking up fallen trees after the 100 km + chinook winds took them down last week, and starting to prepare for next season. We had the chance to check out a Turf Canada seminar on Floratine last week, which was very informative, as they talked about some important agronomy issues and new products. As well we have the AGSA Property Manager’s Conference coming up at the end of the month, which will be a good time. I have started the interview process with some of our international turf students, so they can have ample time to apply for their Visas. I am hoping to have job offers out to 4 or 5 turf students by mid December.

As well we have a movie company setting up shop in the parking lot about 200 yards from our office for the movie Bourne Legacy. I am hoping to play the role of moustache guy #2, but we will see if my acting career will pan out. If anything I plan to try and get in good with the security guards and get a few pictures taken with some of the cast. James is a huge fan of Edward Norton so we will see if we can get him an autograph.

Other than that we are just waiting the snow to fall so we can keep busy ploughing and working on refurbishing some course accessories.

Winterizing by the Numbers



Sam leading the Train

 Now that the course is put to bed, we have taken a few days to relax and compile some interesting numbers on what it takes to winterize Kananaskis Country Golf Course. These numbers do not account for the irrigation system blowout, or fungicide applications leading up to our final fall application. It is a pretty intense winterizing program, but definitely needed to ensure our golf course comes out of winter in great shape.



Putting down the bubble wrap and tarp on the final green

 Here are the numbers we came up with:


Lacy using Josh as a stepping stool



Final fungicide application – 36 tanks (165 gallon tank mixes)



Total number of Sandbags used to keep the tarps in place on greens- 240 ( Sandbags are 6 foot lengths of 4 inch lay-flat pipe filled with sand)

Total number of spikes used to hold down the tarps- 5300 + ( Spikes are hammered in every 8 inches around the perimeter of the tarp)

Total number of posts used to hold up the elk fence on the course- 2100 + ( each post was pounded in by hand)

Total number of ties used to hold on fencing to posts- 6000 + ( usually 3 ties per post)

Total amount of elk fence put up on the course- 7.5 km +

Total amount of landscape edging put in around greens to water of the surface of the greens- 141 pieces (average 16 feet in length)

Scotty's team installing the edging

Total amount of bubble wrap used on greens- 185000 square feet

Total amount of man hours to winterize the course- 2400 +

Total number of amazing staff that completed the job in 10 days - 26

Number of amazing dance moves thrown down to this song on the final green of tarping– TOO NUMEROUS TO COUNT

 So in a nutshell that's what gets done on one of Canada's highest golf courses at 5100 feet above sea level to prepare it for winter. I am hoping we get the snow that is forecasted for the area tomorrow as we could use it told hold down the tarps and not allow the wind to flip the bubble wrap under the tarps. Thanks to my stats man James for compiling the data and helping me remember what song everyone was dancing to on the upper green. Here's hoping everyone can get their courses put to bed before winter hits



Guys pounding posts around the TC putter











James figuring out how many fence posts we used





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