Page 22 - GM Spring 2023

Jamie Robb, AGS starting the day with an intern, Jack DeCorso.
2021 interns social distance on a putting green. .
GETTING OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
Like other clubs in Canada, summer months are the core of the golf season, where the highest conditioning standards are expected. With consid- eration, the three clubs have implemented a mutually beneficial arrangement to maximize an interns’ time on a golf course during this important period.
Interns average 6 weeks at each club, rotating through the three distinctive properties, experiencing three different approaches and perspectives that come with managing some of the highest quality golf course conditions on Canada’s West Coast. The West Coast is filled with unique management challenges such as being open year-round, wet winters, droughty summers, extreme course use, and managing Annual Bluegrass.
Although open in the winter, slow growth and winter rain require best practices for managing cart and foot traffic. These lessons teach the importance of observing and managing traffic patterns while understanding how to plan around
each day’s tee sheet. COVID-19 compounded traffic problems by increasing rounds of golf to as high as 50,000 per year. Many of these rounds have spilled into the shoulder seasons (and winter) which creates new challenges to maintain our best management practices all year round. Our cultural practices and aeration closures provide exposure for the interns to learn the steps we take to mitigate these stress factors during the growing season so we can better handle year-round playability.
Poa annua or Annual Bluegrass (ABG) is encouraged in our area due to mild winters, despite generally being known to the industry as undesirable. In favourable conditions ABG is known for consistent ball roll, quick recovery, and having strong tolerance to compaction. Extreme weather events are occurring more often, which is an opportunity for interns to deal with managing summer stress.
The interns also experience some innovative strategies like at Point Grey Golf & Country Club that recently underwent a large-scale 3-hole renovation, with tees, fairways and
22 • CGSA • GreenMaster
“My internship took place in Vancouver, where I was fortunate to spend time at three great clubs - Marine Drive, Point Grey, and Shaughnessy. Interning at three properties allowed me to experience a wide variety of opportunities, including aeration, project work, and running crews. Each club played a key role in meeting my learning objectives, as the sum of my experiences was greater than any one course could have offered. Internships take the theory learned from turfgrass education and apply it to real-life experiences, helping to build the skills and knowledge that are necessary for developing, growing, and succeeding in the turfgrass industry.”
Doug Nisbet,
University of Guelph Diploma in Turfgrass Management ‘22