An introduction of sorts.....

I had a different blog posting when I was at The Highlands Golf Club and it was well received by the membership, my staff and even a few others out there on the web. I found that out when I upset a columnist with one of the newspapers in Edmonton. But that's a long story that I am happy to say is in the past. I hope to use this site as a method of communicating my thoughts, ideas and explanations to the members of the Royal Mayfair. That being said I am well aware that what I say here is in the public domain.  I will always be mindful of that, especially if I get the sudden urge to rant on about some sensitive topic. I do like to express my opinions here but I will keep in mind that I do represent the Royal Mayfair as the course superintendent.

Ok. Now that we have the "rules and regulations" out of the way I want to encourage you as members to give me your feedback on the content of my blogs. Although somehow I don't think that will be an issue. Lets just try to keep things positive and the criticism constructive. I plan on discussing various turf maintenance practices, how and why we do what we do and responding to pointed questions or issues relating to the course. I will also post some of my own thoughts about our industry so that maybe you can get to know my thinking as I'm sure many of you will not recognize me for awhile.

For now I would like to let you know that Maureen, our horticulturist, is now in her 20th season here and I think we can all agree we are lucky to have such a knowledgable staff member. Ian Scott is the new equipment mechanic, one of the best in the business in my opinion, and Eric Mitskopoulos will be my Assistant Superintendent. Kevin Tercier, a long time dedicated grounds crew member will be taking on more foreman like duties next summer. Thats my management team in a nutshell.

We are catching our breath right now after a very busy fall and the work with the LREP. That will be a blog topic in itself very soon. When it warms up a touch we will be back on the course to begin some tree work that will remove some dead spruce and deal with some poplars that aren't helping the turf grow as we would like. Again another blog topic. With all the leaves gone it is plain to see that spruce and poplars were planted to define each hole and separate adjacent holes from each other. But trees grow and some have to be removed as they reach their full growth potential. I love trees but they have their place on a golf course. They also don't have their place too. Enough for now. Return soon for another posting if you will.
Wade

Not a post just a test

Look here for future information relating to the Royal Mayfair and the Turf Care Facility