Time

It is now the last weekend of August, a month that never seemed to end.  As we turn the corner (hopefully) I want to thank all the members for their patience during this last 6 weeks of stressful summer.  It hasn't been easy on you and your guests, and for that matter on the staff here as well.

Speaking of them, I would like to thank all my staff for their time.  I know it is their job, but they put in tough hours in even tougher conditions and miracously show up day after day.  Twelve days on and two days off all year long gets very tiring, especially with the heat of the past two months.  Yet again they show up, smile and get after it, day in and day out.  Along the way we have had some hard times, our mechanic of 25 years, Rick Bushey has had to deal with his son being in ICU and other larger issues.  Our hard times are nothing compared to those who face family tragedies.

As we turn the corner, many things are on the horizon.  We are spending a lot of time evaluating products and practices for the new renovation.  Many which we will start to put into place over the next few months and well into next year.

We are researching construction methods, evaluating grass types and networking with all the area superintendents on methods and practices for what works best.  In the end, it is our course and we need to work with what our property has and can provide.  The conditions here are like nothing anywhere else.  We can fit our entire property onto the front nine at RTJ!

The team at Renaissance Golf will provide a great design, but it is up to us to provide the best growing environment to make that design be outstanding.  Conditions always start with good agronomics.  The best grass in the world will not grow well in poor conditions.  Sunlight , air movement and drainage are the keys in any situation to make great conditions.  We must provide that in our space to ensure this renovation is the best it can be.

Recently there has been a lot of discussion about soil.  I want to emphasize there is nothing wrong with the soil on our property.  We have used precision farming methods to map the soil of the entire property and we have a great starting point to begin the renovation process.  Many think compaction means poor soil, but any soil is prone to compaction when subjected to a lot of concentrated traffic.  This comes in many forms and our equipment is just as responsible as carts and foot traffic.   Some of the design will attempt to reduce pinch points, egress on and off fairways, and even foot traffic on and off greens.  It must be noted that there is only so much room on our property to accomplish all these wish list items, so making sure there is ample sun, air and drainage are even more important when the land constraint is added to the equation.

I will outline some of the many issues we will be working on in future articles, but again let me say thank you for being patient while we work through the issues we face on the course today.  Time will allow healing to begin and nature will turn the corner and reset the clock to better growing conditions.