Concluding with Part 3 of 3 with David Court, CGCS. A few random questions to wrap up our interview:
Pine Valley or Pebble Beach: I haven’t been to Pine Valley; however we were at a convention in San Francisco at the same time the AT&T Tournament was being played at Pebble Beach. We visited Carmel, walked the beach and found ourselves on Pebble Beach. My wife said to me, “I didn’t come to California to see a golf course”! Needless to say, I would take either one.
This confuses me; rakes in, rakes out, rakes half-in, half-out? Rakes in the carts! If you are going to have rakes, I think they should be outside the bunker. Regardless of whether the rakes are inside the bunker or outside the bunker, someone has to move the rakes for maintenance purposes.
Does the condition of your yard at home resemble the condition of your golf courses? Only when I was unemployed! Fortunately that hasn’t been very often. My wife’s happiest times were when I was unemployed and I maintained the back yard golf course including four doglegs around the house. I do have some things that need attention.
Did you ever take a soil sample before you accepted a position? During an interview I did some probing with a pocket knife, however I didn’t get that job!
Mowing pattern preference, cross-cut, striping, half and half or diagonal. Striping! When I first played World Woods back in 1990’s, on the Rolling Oaks course, I remembered a diamond mowing pattern in the fairway of the 11th hole. When I returned as Director of Golf Course Maintenance, I asked a colleague about the diamond cut. They said the mowing pattern had been discontinued. I followed my initial question by asking how the pattern was accomplished, wondering if we could repeat the process. We reinstituted the diamond cut and the pattern is frequently captured by our customers and shared on Facebook and Instagram.
Jack or Arnie? Growing up, I was a big fan of Arnold Palmer, actually naming my current cat Arnold Palmer. Arnold was the individual I most wanted to meet and was fortunate to get my picture taken with Arnie at Frenchman’s Reserve Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Years later, when I was Superintendent of Black Diamond Ranch Golf and Country Club, I rode with Arnie at Black Diamond when he was considering purchasing the property. A tremendous experience!
As a relatively new employee in the Maintenance Department, knowing the “Big Cheese” is retiring and all, wondering if you would share a few pointers as to where would one go on the course to hide from the new administration. Chuckle, chuckle…deep into the wooded areas!
David, thank you for your indulgence, it has been a pleasure!
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The back nine can only get better!
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