November!

It seems like November just arrived and already it is December 1st!

If you haven't been past the course lately, we have completed the lights on the trees and the clubhouse for the Christmas season. This involved the use of a boom lift to complete the tree top work and the building eaves. There is no shortage of lights on the trees surrounding the clubhouse and entrance so we encourage you to drive by one evening to take a look.

Today is the first of three wreath building classes with Julie in the greenhouse. Pictures of the classes will follow with the next blog post. She has stocked up on live boughs and shiny ornaments to make the participants' wreathes spectacular.

The remaining maintenance staff has just returned from a three day conference in Red Deer. Keith, Mike, Karen, Julie, and Ed were all in attendance at the annual Alberta Golf Superintendent's Association (AGSA) Property Manager's Conference. The conference is an opportunity for us to attend a selection of educational seminars as well as network with other members of the AGSA. Highlights included an informational seminar about the environmental impact of the 2015 US Open host course Chambers Bay in Washington. This course is a public course and is considered "green" because of the minimal environmental impact of the course and its maintenance practices. Superintendent David Wienecke presented some of the interesting challenges and rewards of preparing to host a major championship at Chambers Bay, a wall-to-wall fescue golf course. Also among the highlights was a seminar about new and exciting perennials hitting the market for 2012. Lyndon Penner looked at some new perennials as well as some old favourites for use in flower bed designs. As always, the AGSA and its board put together a fantastic lineup and a well organized event.

The turn of the month and the upcoming holidays also bring a few projects in the maintenance department that include some tree moving, more pond construction, fertilizer program design and as always snow removal and parking lot maintenance. We encourage you to follow us on Twitter  or Facebook to receive more updates.