Page 18 - GBC summer 2015

Doug Breen
Doug is the Regional Vice President and Chief Agronomist at GolfNorth Properties. Doug is also the Vice President of the NGCOA Canada - Southwestern Ontario Chapter and Past President of the Ontario Golf Superintendents’ Association. Contact him at dbreen@golfnorth.ca or (519) 573-4965.
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afloat
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Golf Business Canada
My first season working on a golf course was in 1987, while in University. I was on the grounds crew, and one of my jobs was night watering. For those under thirty years old, we used to pay people to drive around the course all night, placing sprinklers, dragging hoses, and shooing wedding guests off of the 18th green.
Now we do all of that with expensive automation, and the wedding guests are allowed to carry on. I was young, away from home, and quite frankly, the 1980s was a pretty terrific time to be in the golf business. Much