One of the more picturesque shots on the golf course. Taken on a perfect summer day.
A tough 4. Par is a good score here as it plays 460 from the tips.
14 at Mississaugua
The always tough par-3 14th. It plays 191 yards from the championship tees to a slightly elevated green with swirling winds making it difficult to select a club. It often plays 15-25 yards longer. The good news is, the 15th is a 365 yard par-4.
Bunker shot
The largest bunker at Capilano Golf and Country Club straddles the 7th and 8th fairways. You can see the notorious Stanley Thompson design with the extreme undulation and bunker face styling.
Lion’s Gate
One of, if not the most, breathtaking views at Capilano Golf and Country Club. With downtown Vancouver as the backdrop and Lion’s Gate Bridge as the highlight, the 6th hole has the perfect name – Lion’s Gate (401 yards and a 91 foot drop from tee to green).
Hidden gem
This was taken at approximately 6:00a.m. in July. I am at one of the highest points of elevation on the property at Mississaugua GCC and thought I would snap a quick shot of one of the cooler vistas that encompass the golf course. It’s neat how the sun is rising, but as you can see, only the trees in the background have seen sun, whereas the foreground is still in the shade. I also quite like the idea that amidst all the trees, there is a hidden golf course, although you see glimpses of what’s to come throughout your round (a fairway and a green in the background), you’re left with a feeling of anxiousness once you leave the 2nd tee deck (where I am shooting from). The last reason I quite like this picture is the green I took the picture of because you can get a clear idea of the undulation in the green.
Bright and early
With inspiration via @JohnKaminski‘s photo blog, I am going to start posting pictures since I do not include enough.
I will start with this picture from Mississaugua Golf and Country Club (MGCC) – taken at sunrise in the midst of the summer.
I won’t be posting pictures daily, but hopefully often.
This is a picture of the putting green at sunrise at MGCC with the driving range in the background.
Aside
Where I am:
Where I wish I was:
Although I do love the University of Guelph (UoG) campus, I say it bitter sweetly that I wish I was working instead. The campus here is remarkable with amazing limestone architectural structures where students interact, learn, eat and sleep. As well, the Arboretum, a hidden gem, boasting with biodiversity is a popular getaway from what can be stressful days at school. What I find the most enjoyable is simply walking through campus. The landscape throughout campus is of its own element – the tall, gnarly thornless honey locust’s that border the varsity red themed interlock brick meandering its way throughout campus of which students trample day in and day out. The horticulturist responsible for the University campus has done an exceptional job in maintaining the landscape with which we are ever so lucky to saunter about.
I could go on forever regarding the campus I have grown to love – it’s tough not to love and I will have to post some of my own pictures in the future. Here is a link to an article recently published about John Reinhart – the horticulturist at UoG.
Although I am 18 days late, happy New Year to those who follow my blog and Twitter account. I always say it, but I will say it again: I am going to blog more. Rather than simply saying I will blog more, perhaps I should make a realistic timeline and set myself up to achieve something rather than being lazy and focusing on the more important aspects in my life. I consider blogging important and I have always had a passion for writing (blogs, research papers, scripts); however sometimes it gets put on the backburner for far too long.
Essentially, I would like to blog up to once a week with updates on my progress with my winter semester and turf related topics when possible. I finish this semester at the end of April, upon which I will be beginning work again. Once work begins, I would like to be blogging up to a few times a week with numerous updates with the on goings of Mississaugua Golf and Country Club with regards to our Course and Grounds team.
This semester in a nutshell: I am in five classes which include; General Chemistry II, Biological Concepts of Health, Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology, Agri-food System Trends and Issues, and finally Plants and Human Use. I am much more intrigued by these classes than my previous ones and here’s hoping for far superior marks than last semesters.
Tick tock
I can’t believe it’s been just over five months since my last blog post. Where does the time go? It feels like yesterday that it was that cold, wet spring when many golf courses in southern Ontario were frantically trying to drain their extremely saturated properties. Upon mentioning that, the fall seems to be paralleled to that of the spring. It has been cold and rainy the last few weeks – although Thanksgiving weekend was beautiful.
Since my last post, I finished my first season at Mississaugua Golf and Country Club in early September and ventured my way back into school – waking up at 7:30am versus 4:00am feels like a luxury. This summer was a surreal experience, one that I will remember for the rest of my life. I acquired many valuable skills and excelled with previously obtained skills.
Being back in school is great and is keeping me extremely busy, but I do miss working. Going back to school was a big decision I had to make, but I believe it will be well worth it come graduation day – anticipated graduation spring of 2014.
With the free time that I do have – calculus, economics, chemistry and biology take up most of that time – but I do plan on blogging more frequently. That’s all for now, back to the books…
Sun setting over hole 18 at MGCC mid-summer
The heat is on
Wet is an understatement when it comes to describing what the spring was like here in southern Ontario. The weather has made a turn and the sun has been shining for about a week now. We are starting to see some heat stress on weak areas on the greens and collars – especially after we dragged, cut, verticut, topdressed, and cut the greens the other day. With the heat and stressed greens due to the cultural work, we needed to get some syringing in.
It was a great day today; fairway spraying was finished, greens and approaches were cut, and the surrounds were taking in some much needed nutrition.
I hate to say it, but there is some rain in the forecast and we could use it!
New journey
Well, it’s been a while. My only excuse is that I’ve been too busy to write, which is true – due to the fact that I am working long, but good, hours. Along with these long hours, my commute home takes over an hour, so it leaves me with only a few spare hours in the evening to socialize with my roommates (my two best friends) and to make phone calls to family and friends before hitting the lights at around 10:00pm. Oh, and of course I make time for the Stanley Cup playoffs. (Go Canucks!) Rather than turning this into a rather lengthy post, I will keep it relatively short and hopefully this could turn into a consistent trend with updates about my new job at Mississaugua Golf and Country Club (MGCC).
***
School finished in early April and I will be graduating on the Dean’s list which I am proud of. I took one day off after school to move out of Guelph and into Toronto before starting work.
Work started off quick – aerification on the greens took place, many new staff were starting and training became a daily trend, and fertilizer and chemical applications were underway.
The Environmental Coordinator (Spray Technician), Phil Song, acquired a new position as an assistant superintendent after 10 exceptional years at MGCC – he will be greatly missed. Starting in mid-May our new Environmental Coordinator, Ernie Bendzak, will take over, but for the time being I will be filling in with our green and fairway applications. I am extremely excited to meet Ernie and can’t wait to have another turf graduate on our course and grounds team at MGCC – it will be a great summer. Ernie brings a lot of experience to our team and he will be a great asset in the years to come – welcome to the team Ernie!
The Turfgrass Insider 