WEBVTT - Superintendent Series: Tyler Marcotte of Brambles 0:00:01.160 --> 0:00:04.360 The Friday Egg Superintendent series is brought to you by Toro. 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:07.880 Among the countless reasons why we go to the course, 0:00:07.960 --> 0:00:11.280 communing with Mother Nature, sits near the top of mosless 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:16.000 and the company most trusted to responsibly maintain our golf environments, 0:00:16.040 --> 0:00:19.520 Toro continues to lead the way. Its line of all 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:23.360 electric and hybrid mowers and vehicles do their jobs as 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:27.200 well as ever better. Actually, because while their precision, power, 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:31.680 reliability and comfort remain the same, this new breed reduces 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:37.080 engine exhaust emissions, noise pollution, and increases efficiency and ease 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:40.600 of maintenance. If only our golf swings were that productive 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:44.280 and sustainable. Follow at Toro Golf on Twitter and reach 0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:47.120 out to your local Toro distributor to schedule a demo. 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:50.440 I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset when 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:52.559 I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:53.840 And when I find my ball in. 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:57.120 A fried egg Friday Egg, the dreaded Frida egg, Frida egg, 0:00:57.200 --> 0:01:00.240 Frida egggg Frida egg bride egg Lie, I'm about ready 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:24.279 to run off the golf course. Welcome back to another 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:28.959 edition of the Friday Podcast and our Superintendent Series. Today's 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:33.920 episode is with Tyler Marcott. Tyler is the head superintendent, 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:37.680 the growing superintendent at Brambles. This is a new golf 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:42.080 course that's being built in Middletown, California, which is just 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:45.640 north of Napa Valley, so it is in Lake County, 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:49.440 and it is a new Core and Crenshaw design. I 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:51.680 think the unique thing here and why I wanted to 0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:54.680 talk with Tyler is the maintenance approach that they're going 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:58.360 for at Brambles. It's a very old world is going 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:01.840 to be you know, low input grass. They're going to 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:04.920 try water as little as possible, which is obviously relevant 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:09.360 with the weather and drought uh that's going on in California. 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:14.200 And they are also using sheep to hopefully maintain the 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:17.720 rough areas. So just kind of a unique job you're 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:21.600 you're gonna he's not only a you know, superintendent, but 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:23.919 he's also going to be managing a flock of sheep. 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:26.800 So it was exciting to talk to Tyler about his 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:30.680 experience and going to really brand new experience. He's a 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:34.760 younger superintendent that is now growing in a uh you 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:37.200 know of course that people are excited to see. So 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:40.560 without further ado, here is Tyler and thank you for 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:48.560 listening to another episode of The Bride Now, Tyler, thanks 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:49.240 for coming. 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:50.480 On, Thanks for having me. 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:53.519 So do you live now up in uh in the 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:56.560 NAPA area or are you living in Middleton? Where where 0:02:56.600 --> 0:02:59.440 do you reside when you you know, when you take 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:02.480 this job brand both, where'd you decide to live? 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:04.679 I'm in Middletown now. 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:07.120 The company actually has a couple of houses that they 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:10.040 rent that me and my fiance are staying in for now, 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:11.960 and then we're actually in the process of putting some 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:14.600 offers in on houses over in the Hidden Valley Lake area, 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:17.600 So trying to make it as permanent as possible, as 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:18.519 soon as possible. 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:21.639 Man, a lot of shape. You got, you got fiance, 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:24.680 you got house buying, you got, you got growing in 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:26.680 a golf course. This has got to be a wild 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:27.680 time in your life. 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:29.240 There's a lot of stuff going on. 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:32.200 Luckily, I've been in we've been engaged for about four years, 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:35.120 coming in October, so it's been put off with a 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:36.960 bunch of moves in COVID and all that. 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:38.640 So that's the easiest part right now. 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:40.080 Is the date set? 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:41.240 No it is not. 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:45.080 That's it. So no date set. You're just you're you're 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:48.920 in the honeymoon period. You're just that's great. How did 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:50.560 how did you get into turf? 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:53.160 Well, I started out back in Pennsylvania. 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:55.600 I was working at a Schoogl country club, just in 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:57.480 the pro shop, and then I ended up wanting some 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:01.640 more hours shifted over. I was doing maintenance crew and 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:04.120 pro shop for a while, and then my time just 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:07.240 kind of shifted to more more and more maintenance. So 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:09.200 I was working full time maintenance, and I kind of 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:11.280 got away from the pro shop a little bit and 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:15.040 ended up going to school and transferring from my first 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:18.960 school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, up to penn State and off 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:19.880 and running from there. 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:23.360 So while you were in that intermix, was it an 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:27.440 intentional shift into turf? Was there something about turf that 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:30.599 made it kind of resonated with you more than the 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:31.159 pro shop? 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:33.960 No, it was actually I just I was in college 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:35.400 and high school and I just need a little bit 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:37.800 of extra money and kind of fell in love with 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:40.359 it and loved being outside and seeing the other side 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:43.000 of it, and just kind of gravitated that way and 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:44.200 I've been hooked ever since. 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:48.680 Nice talk about your kind of your early experience at 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:54.000 turf and how you ended up getting over to Brambles, So. 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:55.719 I started out just changing cups. 0:04:55.760 --> 0:04:58.039 I was the only real golfer on the maintenance crew 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:00.120 back in those days, so I was changing cups and 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:03.279 rake and bunkers and the normal stuff that young guys 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:06.040 were doing. And then I ended up once I got 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:08.120 to Penn State, I did a couple of internships, so 0:05:08.160 --> 0:05:10.400 I went over at National Golf Links and then one 0:05:10.600 --> 0:05:14.080 at Clear Creek, Tahoe. I ended up going back to 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:16.880 Clear Creek, TA. I was there for five seasons from 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:20.760 twenty sixteen through twenty twenty and worked my way up 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:24.440 there from an intern to eventually we made myself the 0:05:24.480 --> 0:05:28.279 golf course superintendent under Director of Grounds Mike Kinneff, which 0:05:28.320 --> 0:05:30.680 I left last season to go down and take my 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:34.480 first head job down in Albuquerque. And this opened up, 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:37.080 and James and the guys here were familiar with Mike 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:39.599 because it's Core Crunshaw as well over at Clear Creek, 0:05:39.680 --> 0:05:43.039 so they called me and I came up, walked it 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:45.280 a couple of times, and here we. 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:49.640 Are man talk about a wide range of experiences there. 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:53.240 Just like throughout you got a question that a lot 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:56.760 of people ask me, is like, is turf a area 0:05:56.839 --> 0:06:00.720 specific thing, like, you know, if if we're looking for 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:03.200 a new superintendent, should we be looking for somebody that's 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:06.400 from the area or can you transition to different areas? 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:09.480 And right there you talk about your experiences. You know, 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:11.840 you grew up in the northeast or in the transition 0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:16.160 zone really in Philadelphia area, and then you moved into 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:20.600 National Golf Links as an intern, which is obviously Long Island, 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:24.160 different area. Then you were in Lake Tahoe area, which 0:06:24.200 --> 0:06:26.760 has got to be a pretty unique climate, and then 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:30.279 you went down to Albuquerque before coming back to the 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:34.279 you know, uh to kind of an arid climate at Bramble. 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:38.760 So tell talk about maybe kind of the differences between 0:06:39.600 --> 0:06:44.160 National Golf Links to Tahoe to Albuquerque is where we 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:45.040 could kind of start. 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:48.080 I did a brief stint in Florida too, just to 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:49.440 round off all the corners. 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:53.440 All Right, you're you're the country. 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:56.080 This job is. 0:06:56.200 --> 0:06:59.359 It's lucky enough that there's enough golf courses around. And 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:02.839 when I was coming out of school, the assistant shortage 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:05.560 was really kind of taking place, and everyone needed assistance 0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:07.280 and it was hard to get them. There weren't as 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:10.360 many guys graduating. So if you know, what you're doing, 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:13.000 and you wanted to travel, You had all the opportunity 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:15.720 in the world to get around and see different courses, 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:19.400 see different climates, see different areas. So I took full 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:22.760 advantage of it, and I go around wherever I can. 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:24.640 And my mom always jokes she has a new place 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:27.400 to visit all the time because I haven't been sitting 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:30.160 still for too long. But as far as the golf side, 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:33.600 it's it's just cool to see the difference. The climates 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:36.080 is one thing, and the different grasses and how things 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:39.200 are maintained in different areas, But more or less, it's 0:07:39.200 --> 0:07:41.320 how things are, how things are done, and how things 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:45.600 are run, from designer to designer to style of course, 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:48.440 the style of course. You know, I've been on everything 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:52.360 from daily municipal forty five or not municipal but daily 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:56.120 play forty five thousand rounds a year to about six 0:07:56.200 --> 0:07:59.040 thousand rounds a year. So there's a lot of differences 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:01.360 and it's cool to see be a part of. 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:01.720 All of it. 0:08:02.440 --> 0:08:05.160 Yeah, talk about that a little bit, you know, from 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:11.040 the busy public to the very private. You know, with 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:13.360 you might only see a couple of golfers a day, 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:17.720 How does that change? The you know, the maintenance crew's 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:22.720 job and what kind of like the what the atmosphere 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:25.000 is within the team and everything. 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:29.080 It's a lot of efficiency is key in those in 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:31.680 those fast paced tons of golf. I mean, there's when 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:34.400 I was down in Albuquerque, it was middle of the summer. 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:36.640 That first group had eighteen green and there was three 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:38.360 groups a hole until the end of the day. 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:41.199 And that was at the middle of the COVID boom too, 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:43.599 so it's extra busy, right, Yeah. 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:44.920 So if you want to get something done on the 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:47.679 first fairway, some project or anything, you better be there 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:50.440 at three am and cranking it out because you're not 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:52.000 going to get back to it and you're not going 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:54.000 to have time to get there. It's a lot of 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:56.439 sitting around the guys. It's hard to find stuff for 0:08:56.520 --> 0:08:58.480 the guys to do in the afternoon because obviously you 0:08:58.520 --> 0:09:00.480 want to be weary of golfers and not be too 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:04.240 much of a nuisance. So it's kind of tricky to 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:07.800 find stuff to keep them busy with important jobs as 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:09.800 well as keeping them out of the way as much 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:10.360 as we can. 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:13.480 Was that was that a tough adjustment coming from like 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:17.320 Clear Creek, where probably a lot less round seasonal place. 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:20.800 You know, Albuquerque, I'm assuming you got golf pretty much 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:21.360 year round. 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:23.400 It's year round, depending on the weather. 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:25.120 So they'll close for a couple of days at a 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:28.280 time depending on a snowstorm. But if if it's playable, 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:29.320 there's people playing. 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:33.559 How how is Albuquerque compared to Tahoe weather wise? Is 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:35.520 there a lot of similarities? 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:38.840 Actually there are there more than you would think. 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:42.120 It gets hotter, for sure, it's a little bit more humid, 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:46.960 but that the heat is more or less what is higher. 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:50.280 The elevation is about the same, so your UV and 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:52.880 all that stuff's about the same. But it definitely gets 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:55.760 closer to one hundred in Albuquerque than it does in too. 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:59.400 How does elevation have a big impact on maintenance side? 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:01.880 This is something that I don't know. You know, I've 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:05.160 played very little mountain golf in my life, and you know, 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:09.400 I just I'm genuinely curious how what it's like maintaining 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:10.600 and mountains. 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:13.320 It can I mean I noticed in Tahoe for sure, 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:15.200 once I got out there. I mean you're higher up, 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:17.720 you're closer to the sun. Things bake out UV lights 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:21.199 a little bit higher. It just a little bit dries 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:23.200 out a little bit faster, it gets hotter faster. 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:26.640 What type of grasses are you were you dealing with there? 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:29.680 That was all cool season, So we were a mix 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:34.040 of bluegrass fairways and then bent grass, teas and greens. 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:37.240 And then what type of year would you're You're obviously 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:39.440 like in Tahoe you got ski but then it gets 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:43.720 super hot in the summer and but it's dry. What 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:45.959 what was your season like in Tahoe. 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:49.440 So we opened usually at the end of April. I 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:52.400 think they just opened a couple of weekends ago. They 0:10:52.440 --> 0:10:54.960 opened early May, end of April, and then they shut 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:56.280 down at the end of October. 0:10:56.800 --> 0:10:58.720 Gotcha, So pretty short season. 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:00.920 It's a it's a spread up there, that's what we 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:03.760 call it. Some some places are marathons and this that 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:04.520 was a sprint. 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:07.280 So then you go down to somewhere where it's pretty 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:10.000 much year round. You know, as a superintendent, which one 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:12.720 do you prefer because that obviously you know there's it's 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:15.080 you know, depending on what part of the country and 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:17.839 you deal with the you know where you're going to 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:20.240 be where you are now brambles will be a year 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:24.560 round thing. But then you know you'll you go to Tahoe. 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:26.679 It's just it's a sprint. So which one would you 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:29.439 Which one do you prefer? Have a gad experience in 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:30.960 all of them. 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:33.679 I think I like the year round. It's just you 0:11:33.720 --> 0:11:36.400 can't it's easier to get into a groove more or 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:40.000 less than that may first hits and bam, you have 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:41.800 a thousand things to do and you only have so 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:43.520 much time to get it done and get it done 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:47.679 properly to provide those conditions that people want. When it's 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:49.959 year round, you kind of have that that little bit 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:52.559 of leeway where you don't have two months to make 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:53.160 something work. 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:53.960 You have a little bit. 0:11:53.880 --> 0:11:56.480 Of time and you can find your groove and find 0:11:56.480 --> 0:12:00.160 your times to do things without having that that really 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:01.880 short season to make it work. 0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:07.320 I imagine with with the superintendent job, with it when it's 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:10.959 in that year round phase. One of the hurdles is 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:14.199 is almost like a personal one where you accepting it's 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:17.560 okay to be away because I feel like so many people. 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:20.319 You know, I'm in the Midwest, so sobody are are 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:22.720 part of the sprint and it's just, you know, my 0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:26.400 job's insane for five months and I accept that and 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:29.120 then it you know, then I have some some freedom 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:31.439 and flexibility, but when you're in that you're round thing, 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:35.640 it's so much of it is about becoming okay with yourself, 0:12:36.200 --> 0:12:37.720 stepping away for a little while. 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:41.280 Yeah, and you have to surround yourself with the right 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:42.200 people for sure. 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:44.040 We've I have here. 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:46.439 I have my assistant Ryan, who's been awesome and he's 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:49.719 been fantastic. So if there's ever time that one of 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:51.800 us needs to get away, we can both rely on 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:55.160 the other one to keep things around and keep things smooth. 0:12:55.240 --> 0:12:57.120 It's the same thing we had in Tahoe. 0:12:57.160 --> 0:12:59.880 We had a couple of assistants and we were okay 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:03.079 getting away for a little while. Not during the season, 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:05.880 but we have had enough people to cover what was 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:06.480 going on. 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:07.320 Which was always good. 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:11.240 How how's the staffing worked with you? Obviously, Bramdble, it's 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:14.080 not open yet and you're you're I imagine in a 0:13:14.120 --> 0:13:17.240 way you're building your team as opposed to most superintendents 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:20.079 kind of go and they inherit teams. What what's that 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:23.120 experience been like where you're getting to kind of shape 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:23.920 your team. 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:27.880 It's it's awesome because we have a lot of it's 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:31.120 word of mouth. I've noticed in the industry. A lot 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:33.400 of you people got people know people that want jobs, 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:35.680 and you bring them in, you meet them, and sometimes 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:38.440 they work, sometimes they don't. We've been very fortunate. It 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:40.920 started off it was myself and my assistant. We came 0:13:40.960 --> 0:13:44.040 on at about the same time. We brought two guys on 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:46.440 and they knew people. And we have a crew of 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:49.839 seven now outside of myself and my assistant, and then 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:53.280 we have a mechanic starting in a couple of weeks, 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:55.800 and that's more or less what we plan to be 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:58.679 our full round or full year round team moving forward. 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:02.080 We don't want we don't want a forty person crew 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:04.680 or a massive crew. We want to do things in 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:07.240 house and do things small and have a small team 0:14:07.280 --> 0:14:10.920 of people that can do everything instead of five people 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:13.800 that just mow and six people that just do bunkers 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:16.160 and all these people floating around. We're trying to keep 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:19.320 it a small and more family style. Yeah. 0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:21.960 I mean the nice thing too, is that it breaks 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:25.320 up monotony right where you can do a lot of 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:28.400 different things. I think that's one of the neatest things 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:31.880 about being a superintendent is like, you know, it could 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:33.880 be a blessing and a curse. Is like you don't 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:35.800 know what the day is bringing you when you go 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:36.760 to the golf course. 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:40.320 You know, especially especially here when you're growing one in, 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:43.280 things change it Things change every hour around here. 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:46.120 Which is it's fun. It's chaotic, but it's the good chaos. 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:48.560 It's not trying to try to fix a sprinkler before 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:51.560 that first group's t and off, But it's fun. 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:55.240 Is this their first time growing in a golf course? Yes, 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:59.480 tell us a little bit about that experience and you know, 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:03.000 and obviously, you know, I think most people look at 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:04.360 it and be like, that's got to be a lot 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:07.320 of fun. But you know, let us in a little 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:10.320 bit about how that's different from you know, your your 0:15:10.440 --> 0:15:13.480 experience as a young superintendent. You know, you got your 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:17.040 first head solo job a year ago and now you're 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:19.960 growing in a new golf course. 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:25.560 It's it's definitely fun. It's like I said, it's very chaotic. 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:27.520 There's a bunch of different things that you don't that 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:29.360 I've never had to deal with in my day to 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:33.400 day career that I have to now, whether that be 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:35.960 different types of equipment that we're using. We're putting in 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:39.360 the electrical pads for the new maintenance shot. Just things 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:41.760 that I haven't really dealt with before that I get 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:42.320 to do now. 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:44.080 And we haven't had a mechanic here, so. 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:47.360 Learned a lot of mechanics, learned a lot of mechanics 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:49.920 stuff in the past couple of months and it's been great. 0:15:49.960 --> 0:15:51.400 I'm glad I learned how to do it and know 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:51.960 how to do it. 0:15:52.000 --> 0:15:56.200 But what's what's fed the what's fed the toughest mechanical 0:15:56.440 --> 0:16:00.040 hurdle that you've had to overcome, It's got. 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:02.040 To be the old, the old equipment that we have 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:04.200 out here. It runs like a dream when it's running, 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:06.880 but it wants to break. It wants to break really easily. 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:10.240 Now we got the grind, we got the grinders fired up, 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:13.840 and it's it's been fun, to say the least. 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:18.440 So the approach to Brambles, I think obviously people think 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:22.840 destination golf. They think about like Ritzy, you know, you 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:26.360 go you go to this experience and it's you're there 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:29.960 and everything is like, you know, beyond five There's a 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:33.280 couple of different ways to think about destination golf, right, 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:35.680 and one of the ways is you go to this 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:40.360 this place and it's beyond five star. The conditioning is 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:43.160 is mint. And you know, I think you'll probably get 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:45.480 to that with the conditioning is going to be mint. 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:51.120 But I think the approach and overall, you know, ethos 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:53.440 of the club is a little bit different than that 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:57.200 over the top kind of experience. Can you talk about 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:00.760 how that is coming through with the maintenance and the 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:05.720 grassing decisions and everything at at Brambles, how it's different 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:08.560 from other new golf courses. 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:12.040 Well, so right now, I mean, like you said, the 0:17:12.040 --> 0:17:15.000 word like mint, uh, mint for us is a lot 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:17.159 different than than what most people would think of. 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:18.679 You know, it's not gonna look. 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:22.919 As as maintained as I think a lot of places expect. 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:25.639 We're gonna we're going for that rustic, that on the 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:28.520 brink of death, firm and fast kind of vibe that 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:30.200 we want. But for right now, we just got to 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:32.160 get the grass in. So it's gonna come in green, 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:35.199 it's gonna come in healthy. We're gonna be doing all 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:38.520 the fertilizing, all the watering, and then once it's established, 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:41.800 we're gonna really really pull back on it and see 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:43.679 what it can do and let it bake out, let 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:47.399 it firm up, and and let it be firm fast 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:50.199 and We're going for playability more so than aesthetics. So 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:52.800 as long as things are playing well and they're healthy, 0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:54.919 we're gonna we're gonna push it and see what we 0:17:54.920 --> 0:17:55.680 can get away with. 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:59.640 So that process where you're you know, you're giving your 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:02.720 having the grass a lot of inputs at the start 0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:06.359 to get it to establish. But then once that establishes, 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:10.360 and then you're gonna go the complete opposite direction of 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:14.639 that growing kind of ethos? Is that challenging it away? Like, 0:18:14.960 --> 0:18:18.080 you know, I'm not an expert on turf. You know, 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:21.280 I probably know just a little too much at this 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:24.359 point where I'm the worst person you could have giving 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:27.119 any advice. But you know, is that difficult? Like is 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:30.080 that a hard thing to do? Or is it? Is it? 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:32.719 Or does it cut off? And then is that a 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:34.600 good thing for the plant in the long run? 0:18:36.000 --> 0:18:37.680 It's good in the long run. I mean the more 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:40.639 the stronger you can you can make it, obviously, the 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:43.080 better it's you kind of have to coddle this this 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:45.280 oyser grass and get it going, and it takes a 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:47.520 little bit more to get it established it in the ground, 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:50.240 but it's a real it's a real hardy grass and 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:52.159 it can really take a lot. It can take a 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:55.560 beating and take a drought. It's real drought tolerant and 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:58.560 we're really gonna see what it can do. 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:00.800 But that's down a lot once it's. 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:04.439 In obviously that I think that's a big part of 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:07.480 of where you are. And I think when you think 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:10.199 about it, what you you're talking about, we're not going 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:12.520 to water it a ton. And obviously you're in the 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:14.600 part of the country where water is a is a 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:18.000 big deal. You know, drought is a is a and 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:22.960 water is a hot topic in California. The decision to 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:27.119 go with this zoysia was it largely, you know, part 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:30.719 play playability and what exactly type of grass is it 0:19:31.040 --> 0:19:34.119 uh with the zoysia, and part playability, but you know, 0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:36.439 talk a little bit about the drought resistance and and 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:38.720 what that gives you in an area of the country 0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:42.440 where water is a very you know, touchy subject. 0:19:43.720 --> 0:19:45.560 I mean, it's I think a lot of it was 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:47.600