Dealing with Ice and Snow

Today was only the second time in my entire life that I had to put down some type of material to prevent and melt any ice or snow that had accumulated during the night. Before the snow came to town last night we received some freezing rain. The combination of the two caused the main entrance to the Club, walkways and stairs to become dangerous. The first time I prepped for weather like this we used sand to help melt the ice and snow. I was not a big fan of this process because we first had to shovel the sand where it was needed and then after everything had melted and became very messy we had to pick it all back up again. This time I used Calcium Chloride and it worked out great. I used a rotary spreader like we would use to fertilize the grass with and applied it to the areas that I felt would receive the most traffic. I'm glad this only happens every now and again because 4:30 was a pretty early start time.

A loss in the Augusta Country Club family

This will not be one of my typical blog postings. This one will be about Ms. Beverly. Beverly Bentley was the recently retired golf course office manager.  Ms. Beverly passed away this past Thursday while in her own home. The shop was already different not having her around to brighten your day. She could always put a smile on my face and she would do the same for the others as well. She loved talking about her family, especially her grandchildren. Ms. B as a lot of us called her was the heart and soul of the golf course department and she will never be forgotten. She touched so many lives during her time as office manager for us. I will never forget the day I told her that I asked Alex my wife to marry me. She looked dead at me and said Andrew now don't go and do anything foolish you won't find a better women than Alex to put up with you. Ms. Beverly you will be truly missed and I'll see you again one day.

You never know what you might find on the course

Over time a golf course is bound to find and rescue a dog. Today we found two puppies on hole number two thanks to a group of ladies who called them in. After I caught the two pups I took them back to the maintenance shop and we dried them up and got them some food. The stayed in the mechanics shop in a couple of boxes where they were nice and warm. Ron our mechanic will be taking home the girl pup. This will be the third dog Ron has rescued over 15 years at the country club. The second pup will be going home with one the cart guys Bryan. I personally rescued two puppies six months ago when I found them on number seven tee box. It takes the right kind of person willing to take in and give a home to a stray animal.

Eight Creek Erosion

During some of the more recent heavy rains the fairway side of number eight creek had begun to wash out a little. To prevent further erosion problems and to cover up the unsightly looking bank we have reinforced the bank with rip raft. Rip raft is rocks that come in different sizes ranging from a softball to a basketball. These rocks will help prevent further washouts on this half of eight creek.