It's official, the 1st annual Greenkeeping Foot Golf Open is set for October 28th. All 20 members of the Greenkeeping staff will compete for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place trophies. It will be a stroke play event, one that will be met with competitiveness and a great deal of excitement. The best low gross scores will take away the prizes!
Celebrating our successes is a must for any team. This particular team faced an uphill battle all summer long but we managed to have one of our best years on the course. Behind the scenes, it wasn't that easy. Some of these guys logged some insane work hours doing less than desirable work. Dragging a 1" diameter by 100' hose around all day isn't the most fun task- let alone day after day, week after weak. You won't find another golf course with this type of commitment. Most Superintendents would simply allow these areas to brown out- after all, it is an irrigation system with extremely poor coverage. In the minds of most Supers, is the worse the course looks, the easier it is to sell a new system. However, that isn't our mindset and perhaps we've become the victim of our own success. It's easy for members to say we don't need a new irrigation system because most days the course is firm and green. What this member doesn't see nor understand is the amount of manpower and work required to keep it that way. Furthermore, valuable and limited labor is sucked away from other worthwhile projects and tasks.
Red Bird Golf Links, in Sapphire, is a "Certified FootGolf course," and something I had the opportunity to try this past weekend. We had a great time and know the staff will given the combination of soccer and golf. Our staff is comprised of dedicated soccer players. Don't get too excited; I'm sure ESPN will have little, if any, coverage of the event.
Celebrating the success of the staff is something we don't do enough of at HCC. Highlands CC is a special place to work with positions that could ultimately be career positions for many as opposed to stepping stone positions. In the last 20 years, and specifically the last 10 years, we've seen increased competition for staff. Businesses like Old Edwards Inn, Mountaintop and other first class facilities have come to town and consumed people from the same pool of candidates. As a manager, I want to determine ways to make HCC the premier employer in the Town of Highlands- just as it was in the 1990's and back through history.