I first began as a general labourer at Golf Kenosee in Kenosee Lake, Saskatchewan at the age of 18. It was during that year that I decided that I wanted to make this my career so I applied into the Turfgrass Management program at Olds College in Alberta. So I completed my first year at Kenosee under the training of course Superintendent Kelvin van Winkoop. Kelvin did all that he could to ensure that I would be as prepared for my first year of college as I possibly could be.
During my two years at college I worked at the Innisfail Golf Club in Innisfail, Alberta in the fall. I worked from September to November each year and earned some very valuable experience. I learned what it was like to work at a high budget, country club style atmosphere and the high standards they are under from their customers. It was really interesting to see all the work that went into them maintaining the pristine conditions they had. I earned some very valuable winter preparation experience while there as well.
After my first year of college I returned home to Kenosee to spend my summer as a worker at Golf Kenosee. It was during my second year of college that I was offered the Assistant Superintendent position at Golf Kenosee for the upcoming season. So I completed college that year and graduated from Olds College with honours with my Turfgrass Management diploma.
So at age 20 I took over as the assistant at Kenosee. I spent two great years in that position. During my years at Kenosee we accomplished a lot. We finished a lot of the work that went into making Golf Kenosee one of the premier golf facilities in Saskatchewan that it is today. I credit my experience I obtained from Kenosee as the most important part in preparing myself to become the superintendent that I am today.
So at age 22 I was hired by the Mainprize Golf Club to become their new Golf Course Superintendent. When I took on this job I knew it was not going to be an easy task. The course had been neglected in the past few seasons and was in very poor condition and was also flooded during the previous year and resulted in the loss of three golf holes.
In my first year at Mainprize we had a great amount of success. We improved the turf health tremendously and returned the greens and tees back to virtually 100%. Fairways were also greatly improved but major work is still required. The irrigation system and pumping system were improved and were fixed to the point they operated properly so that we have the ability to properly maintain turf. Complete bunker maintenance was performed for the first time in many years. I definitely had a very busy, but very rewarding first year at Mainprize.
My second season at Mainprize was also a very successful one. We finally got the grow-in process started on the four flooded holes. The general turf conditions on the course improved greatly. I believe that after this season were were now at a level of respectability. Other improvements such as drainage, washroom facilities, bunker improvement and renovation, and cartpath improvements and additions all took place.
In 2014 we were extremely busy. Mother Nature was hard on us throughout the entire season. We finally finished and reopened holes 4-7 for the first time since the flood of 2011. This was a major job and we were so happy to finally be back to our original layout and to have our "signature" holes back in play. The overall condition of the rest of the course also continued to improve and we are definitely well on our way to turning this course back into one of the top courses in this province!
2015 was a very successful season as I feel that it was finally the season when we really started to see all of our work pay off. The conditions have changed so much since 2012 and the course is really now becoming competitive when it comes to the other courses in this province. We completed a major drainage project in 2015 which resulted in the addition of a pond in front of 9 green.
2016 turned out to be my final year in Mainprize before I would choose to move onto the next adventure. The year 2016 was also the most successful year I had in Mainprize. The general conditioning of the course moved up quite a few steps in that final season. The course was even at a place where the further down the priority list jobs finally took place including numerous bunker renovations, drainage improvements and irrigation improvements. The golf course was also in a position where it had not seen the amount of traffic it was then seeing since the 90's when the golf course had opened.
2017 came and a new opportunity was brought to me to join Target Specialty Products as they were going to be expanding their business in Saskatchewan and they were going to be needing a Turfgrass Nutritionist to handle the business in Saskatchewan. It was hard to say goodbye to Mainprize as I had enjoyed my time and the people there so much but I was also confident that now was the right time because so much had been accomplished with the golf course that they now had all the tools to continue with that success.
So this will now be my fifth season that we are heading into with Target Specialty Products and there is no looking back. I enjoy my time on the road seeing all the golf courses and property managers in these great provinces and doing my best to help them with any problems and bringing them solutions they have never had before! It is very rewarding knowing that our company can and has helped so many golf courses and property managers out when things are not going right or just knowing that we have made their lives easier. I hope this blog can continue to be a learning experience for everyone and be another way that our company is helping to make these great industries even better!
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