Monday, December 7th, 2009

After a long and busy week in North Carolina it is good to be home. I cannot express how fortunate I feel to have such a strong assistant and staff to take care of everything in such a good manor while I was away. Last week we managed to topdress the greens, fertilize the rough and topdress the forth and fifth fairways. Mike and Steve Pearce also attended the Pesticide Seminar for two days and Brian attended a half day seminar as well. The weather cooperated and couldn't have worked out better.

Brrrrrr!  This week may be a different story with the cold front moving in. We could be experiencing frost delays or if the wind continues we should be able to get them out pretty early. For the next few days I don't think we will be above freezing. We will be busy chipping the brush pile at the shop and will start working on benches and tee markers.

The grass will remain frozen this week so we are going to limit cart usage to the cart paths to prevent the loss of turf. The rough between the fairways and the paths will take a serious beating if we allow carts. The damage may seem insignificant now but when it tries to grow again the crowns will be to damaged to support it.


We will be alternating between the two hole on the greens and will be changing them as soon as the ground softens up enough to allow it.

Thursday, December 3rd

Today we are at Wake Forest University. Negotiations will be our subject.
It has been three very enriching days in which the education has been top notch. I will be able to apply many of the skills that I have learned right away.

Yesterday it rained all day, well over an inch and a half. Today we are blessed with sunshine and the high 50's. I can't say how valuable this week has been. This is Syngneta's first year putting this on and they are committed to build upon it each year. I cannot thank them enough for providing this opportunity. I met many superintendents from around the nation and enjoyed getting to know each of them.

                                                                                               William Davis, Wake Forest University

Tuesday, December 1st

So far the Syngenta Business Institute is everything I hoped for. There is nothing commercial, it is simply pure business education. This morning we discussed basic principals of a balance sheet and the different types and their uses. This afternoon was focused on personnel management. This was the best session in that we talked about performance feedback and motivation. There will be two more days of intense education one day we will actually be at Wake Forest University.
The Graylyn Conference Center was actually North Carolina's single largest residence built in the 30's. The original owner was the founder of the Wachovia Bank. Wake Forest University has since purchased it and runs many of their conferences' through it. I didn't know it but the University was actually relocated here in Winston-Salem where it is now. It was in Wake Forest previously. (duh) Most of the money around here is from the tobacco industry so if you need to move a university you just do it.