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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Everything Good Must Come to an End

Well the season is over at Kananaskis Country Golf Course and all our crew have gone their separate ways.Thanks to everyone who stayed to the end and helped us put the golf course to bed in a relatively short period of time compared to the amount of tasks we had to get completed. This allowed for James and myself to get all the fairway spraying done by Friday night before we got a dump of snow that is still on the ground as I am writing this.

I had a great time this season, so thank you to everyone who made this summer for me, one I will not forget. We started with around 40 individuals in the spring, and by the end of the season we were a highly efficient team working together to get the course shut down for winter.

For most of you I am sure some of the relationships you created this season will last a lifetime, as I know many of mine will. Good luck to everyone this winter that was apart of our team this season regardless if you went back to school, headed back home overseas, travelling around the world, or even just starting a new job. I will leave you with a final “Season in Review” presentation I did it the other day. If you guys have any feedback from the season please feel free to email me at assistantsuper@kananaskisgolf.com.

How its Done in K Country

This is a time elapsed look at how we prepare our greens for winter at the Kananaskis Country Golf Course.

Step 1  Unfold the tarp and get it into position

Step 2  Roll up tarp to the edge we plan to start laying bubble wrap

Step 3 Organize and layout bubble wrap to match our bubble wrap maps for each green

Step 4 Staple down bubble wrap

Step 5 Secure down tarp with tarp nails

Step 6 Put up elk fence around the perimeter of the green

Step 7 Put sandbags into place to keep wind from pulling the tarp up

On average it takes our teams an hour to an hour and a half to complete a green. The double green in this video is roughly 14,000 sq feet and requires three tarps to cover the entire surface. We bubble wrap and tarp 30 out of our 40 putting surfaces, while all greens and tees are protected by elk fence.