Blue Heron

A shot of one of the Great Blue Herons inspecting the 16th hole.

July hail storm

Here is a shot of the 17th green the morning after the hail storm. Some of the residents that live nearby said that there were hail stones larger than golf balls in the area.

Here is one of the sand bunkers that was blasted by the Friday hail storm.

Ready to fly

There has been a lot of activity down around the 13th green recently. The reason is that the two young Merlins in the picture are ready to fly. The Merlins are actually small (length 10", wingspan 24", weight 5-7oz) falcons that were once known as pigeon hawks. The Merlins took over an abandoned crow's nest by the green and feed on birds and small mammals.

New tee # 17

On Wednesday, in the 29 degree heat, we layed the sod on the new blue tee on the 17th hole. This tee is going to add 20 yards onto the hole and with a bit of a head wind will make for a pretty tough hole with the creek in front of the green. In the process of building the tee we buried about 50 cubic yards of branches, sod and debris, which was a much better alternative than hauling it to the dump and it saved the club a considerable amount. I think we actually made a profit on the project. Even Jeff Mingay would be proud of this one...

Dennis Lyle

It is going to be a very sad day when Dennis and Bonnie Lyle pack up and head west to BC. I have known Dennis for probably a dozen years and have worked with him on the grounds crew for 8 years. Dennis was always great to be around, play golf with and of course have a few refreshments after the game. Dennis was the single greatest Parkmaster operator that ever walked the face of the earth, I can remember the rough flying 8 feet in the air behind the machine as he motored around the course. We sure could use him and the Parkmaster out on the course now. Our best wishes go out to Dennis and Bonnie as they leave Airdrie but I am guessing that our team will be reunited for the closing tourney. Thanks Dennis!

Dennis, John and myself enjoying some ice-cold Rickard's Red on the deck after a hard day at the office.

The Thursday afternoon thunderstorm rolled in just after the 9am tournament got off the golf course.

Spring in Alberta

One thing about Alberta in June is that there is no lack of good (depending of course on your point of view) storms in the area.

This past Monday we had a doozy of a thundershower, the rain gauge registered almost an inch of rain in about 1/2 hour.

A fond farewell

This year we are bidding a fond farewell to Wally Hunter who has been on the maintenance staff for quite a few years. Wally has always been a very positive person and it has been a pleasure having him on the crew. He always had a smile on his face and was a lot of fun to golf with. We will be wishing him the best in his retirement from golf course work. As a member of the Woodside Turf Alumni, I am sure we will be seeing him at the safety meetings.