WEBVTT - Superintendent Series: Rich Shilling on Jeffersonville and Public Golf 0:00:00.600 --> 0:00:04.840 Welcome back to another edition of the Fridagg Podcast. Today's 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:07.800 episode is brought to you by Toro. For more than 0:00:07.840 --> 0:00:11.520 a century with cutting edge turf equipment and irrigation solutions, 0:00:11.600 --> 0:00:14.360 Toro has had your front nine covered and your back 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:17.959 nine two. In fact, Toro's always had your back period. 0:00:18.520 --> 0:00:21.400 Toro has committed to your long term success. As tour 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:24.560 pros are committed to their shot. That's down to top 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:28.440 notch customer service from Toro and its dedicated local distributors, 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:31.920 both of whom are passionate about delivering turf equipment and 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:36.440 irrigation solutions that solve real world problems. Follow at Toro 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:40.879 Golf on Twitter and reach out to your local distributor today. 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:45.320 Welcome back to another edition of the Fridagg Podcast. Today 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:49.639 is the seventh episode of our Superintendent series. We are 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:53.920 joined by Rich Shilling. Rich is the head superintendent at 0:00:54.040 --> 0:01:00.520 Jeffersonville Golf Course in Jeffersonville, Pennsylvania. It is a municipal 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:03.240 golf course is one of the busiest golf courses in 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:07.479 the country, getting over forty thousand rounds a year. It's 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:11.000 a Donald Ross design and since Rich has been there, 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:14.640 has seen massive improvements and is one of the best 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:17.880 courses you can play in Philadelphia, that anybody can play 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:22.680 in Philadelphia. So we talked to Rich about all kinds 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:26.080 of stuff, his background, what he's doing in these odd times, 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:31.560 and how Jeffersonville has continued to evolve since he's been there. So, 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:34.160 without further ado, here is Rich Shilling. 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:36.880 I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:39.280 When I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:01:39.360 --> 0:01:40.640 And when I find my ball in. 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:43.640 A brid egg Friday egg, the dreaded Frida egg Frida, 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:46.440 egg Frida, egg egg Frida egg bride egg Lie, I'm 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:48.480 about ready to run off of THELF course. 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:01.320 What have you been doing at home to keep you busy? 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:09.280 Funny story. I sold my house in September because me 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:10.959 and my wife, the cyber, are going to downsize. My 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:13.920 daughters seventeen, so she's going away to college and you 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:18.160 know a year and a half hopefully we had this shutdown. 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:21.880 Might be might be with you for an extra semester. 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:26.520 I know, right, So we were having a house built. 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:30.760 We settled on our on our old house. In January, 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:35.200 new house is being built and they shut down construction. 0:02:35.600 --> 0:02:38.320 So I'm stuck in an apartment for god knows how long. 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:41.600 We were only planning on being there for four months, 0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:44.440 but now it's looking like we're six seven months. 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:50.239 So so even better. You're in tight quarters with a 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:54.000 quarantine or standing a shelter and place order. 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:55.280 Huh. 0:02:55.360 --> 0:02:59.280 Yeah, a two bedroom apartment, one bathroom, two kids and 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:03.440 a dog. Oh man, Oh it's fun. I'm actually sharing 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:06.080 my son's bedroom because my daughter wants no part of that. 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:08.840 Unbelievable. 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:12.680 Everybody's probably getting closer than they ever were though. 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:19.520 Well, it's inevitable, right, it's a good thing, you know, 0:03:19.919 --> 0:03:21.440 to reset, I guess. 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:27.560 Yeah, yeah, I mean it's I've been cooking like my wife, 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:30.359 and I've been cooking more than ever, you know, Yeah, 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:33.440 and I think like that's something I'm when this addens, 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:35.400 like we're still going to cook a lot more than 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:35.880 we used to. 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:43.760 Yeah, we've been getting familiarized with the with the instapot mules. Amazing. 0:03:44.320 --> 0:03:47.720 It's pretty awesome. Yeah, really good recipes you can find online. 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:51.120 So we've been pretty successful so far with that. 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:57.600 Yeah, what about the golf course? What what's uh? What 0:03:57.680 --> 0:04:00.400 do you have to do with the staff? You're down 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:05.640 and Philadelphia and then what what's the what's the situation 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:08.560 with your staff and and how you've been you know, 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:10.520 doing maintenance in this weird time. 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:16.320 Yeah, so the township has been really great because it's 0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:21.239 a municipal off course. They have allowed me to keep 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:27.080 all my staff on, so even some of the college 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:30.680 kids are now college is basically just zoom classes. They 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:33.800 come in three days a week. I got them back early, 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:36.400 and then my regular staff, so I have ten guys 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:40.800 on plus me, and we're able to get you know 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:43.760 a lot of things done and if the weather would cooperate. 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:46.600 You know, it's been pretty cold out here lately and rainy, 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:52.279 but finished up some green expansions, all my verifications done, 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:56.560 like I said, and it's been a superintendent's dream. 0:04:57.040 --> 0:05:00.640 No, no golf, it's got to be a so different 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:01.000 for you. 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:04.080 I mean you're at you know, Jeffersonsville's one of the 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:05.800 busiest courses in the country. 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:10.880 Yeah. We did forty two thousand rounds last year, just 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:16.000 over forty two thousand rounds, and you know, that's basically 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:19.200 an eight month season. We're open twelve months, but the 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:21.320 majority of those rounds come in that eight month period, 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:26.200 so it's it's really different I kind of getting a 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:27.839 feel for what the country club life's like. 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:33.920 Do you guys operate around the same hours or obviously 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:38.040 I imagine when it's seasoned, when golfers are coming out with 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:41.760 your heavy play, it's like a matter of we got 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:44.400 to get all this done as quick as possible in 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:47.760 this order. Have you changed any any way, like you 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:50.919 guys mow or go about it where you have like 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:52.120 a different sequence. 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:58.360 Now, yeah, we're starting later. We're starting at seven work 0:05:58.400 --> 0:06:04.680 seven to three. Now, typically we start at five. We 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:07.080 try to stay ahead of play play and during the 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:10.160 week starts at six thirty. So we send three fairway 0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:17.120 mowers out, greens mower, two cup changers to approach mowers, 0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:20.599 and a team mower to stay ahead of play. But 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:23.279 right now we're just kind of going with the flow, 0:06:23.880 --> 0:06:26.159 you know, go whatever hold you want to go to 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:30.520 the sow. 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:33.880 How often do you have to mow to keep the course? 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:38.240 You know, I know if it goes uncapped, you know, 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:42.400 you can have some grasses invade invade the greens and 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:44.080 different problems occur. 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:48.719 What frequency are you are you guys mowing right now? 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:53.599 The grass isn't really growing too fast. Temperatures are in 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:57.320 the low fifties overnights or in the thirties. So we're 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:00.960 mowing fairways once or twice a week, greens or twice 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:08.120 a week right now, teas once a week. So it's 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:12.840 not really a typical mowing week for us in season 0:07:14.000 --> 0:07:17.280 in season where mowing three days a week fairways, teas 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:21.880 approaches and seven days a week greens. But I don't 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:24.440 think you want to go longer than a week without 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:28.040 mewing greens, otherwise you're gonna have a hard time getting 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:32.920 them back. That's interesting and fair and fairways, you know 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:35.720 you're gonna lose your edges and scalp them down. I mean, 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:40.720 we've gone eleven days without knowing fairways because of you know, precipitation. 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:45.200 But tell us about how you got into turf at Jeffersonville. 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:46.560 You've been there for a long time. 0:07:46.960 --> 0:07:51.120 This is my twentieth season here at Jeffersonville. I got 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:54.840 to Jeffersonville because, well, me and my wife had planned 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:56.440 to move to Delaware. I was working at a course 0:07:56.480 --> 0:08:00.000 down there called the Rookery, and she got cold feet. 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:02.800 She didn't want to leave her friends and family, so 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:06.120 I looked for a job back up here in the 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:11.960 Norristown area and Jeffersville was advertising for an assistant superintendent. 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:17.640 So I applied for that job, interviewed, had three interviews. 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:20.360 It turned out that the superintendent that was here at 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:23.400 the time, Joe Peelis, he was getting ready to retire, 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:27.560 so they were looking for his replacement. So I was 0:08:27.600 --> 0:08:30.840 lucky enough to get the job. And my wife's happy, 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:33.839 and now she'd rather be down the shore probably, but. 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:36.840 Especially with the apartment. 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:39.600 She probably doesn't talk to any of those friends that 0:08:39.600 --> 0:08:40.640 she stayed up here for us. 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:47.440 So you've been there for twenty plus years, So what 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:50.480 was it like when you got there? It was before 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:52.440 the Pritcher renovation. 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:55.680 Right, it was the very beginning of the Pritchard renovation. 0:08:55.920 --> 0:09:01.240 The course was what I considered neglected for many years. 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:10.120 Fairways were probably ninety eight Clover there was. It was terrible. 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:14.000 I mean there was no from no fault of the 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:17.520 superintendent that was here. It's just the township didn't want 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:21.839 to put money into the course, so there was no 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:25.600 spraying going on. Everything was mode Gang Bowers. They may 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:29.360 have had two triplexes at the time, one for greens, 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:32.280 one for teas and actually I think they used the 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:34.599 team mower and they would flip it up to a 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:39.319 different height to cut around the around the greens. Uh. Yeah, 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:44.520 So my big goal in the beginning was to start 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:47.240 building the fleet. We had no equipment. 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:48.840 Uh. 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:52.680 We were still mowing the fairways with gangmowers, you know, 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:57.640 through the renovation and after the renovation, I talked the 0:09:57.640 --> 0:10:01.720 township into buying us some but two fairway mowers and 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:06.320 immediately solved difference in uh turf quality. After obviously we 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:08.920 sprayed all the weeds everything out out of this place. 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:11.480 What was it? Uh? What was it like? 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:12.199 You were? 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:15.800 You came in and you immediately got thrust into a 0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:18.840 big a pretty big project, and you know, much different 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:21.400 than a lot of ways people would say the ideal 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:23.800 way to restore a golf courses is that you've got 0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:26.520 people playing at the same time as you guys are 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:29.920 doing work. Had you had you been part of any 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:34.160 construction projects before you got to Jeffersonville and uh and 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:36.800 if so, you know, how was it different with people 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:39.280 playing while while you guys were doing work. 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:43.680 I was part of the tail end of the growing 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:48.240 at the Rookery down in Delaware. I was mainly on 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:53.200 bunker work. That was completely different as we were closed 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:58.400 during that construction. This one was very difficult. We didn't 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:01.680 even have irrigation to the fairways or to the bunkers 0:11:01.760 --> 0:11:04.360 or wherever we were sided sidding. We had a water 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:08.560 with spray rigs, so there would be truckloads of sod 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:11.160 coming in and we just have to have to fill 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:13.439 up the spray and water all the sod. It's ninety 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:15.440 five degrees out. I mean, it was just kind of 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:17.600 a disease really, And. 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:20.840 He got hundreds of golfers. 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:23.320 And hundreds of golfers, you know, but most skies do 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:25.720 construction the shoulder seasons, and we were doing it right 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:27.000 in the heat of the summer. And there was a 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:30.360 draft that year too, so that didn't help. 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:33.800 That had to be I mean in a way, it 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:37.600 threw you into the deep end and it put you 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:39.800 in this sink or swim position. 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:40.680 Right. 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:42.480 Oh yeah, I was. I was in over my head 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:48.320 for sure. I remember driving around with one of my 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:49.800 sales reps and he said, if he could pull this 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:52.680 off and get a job anywhere, But I never left here. 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:55.800 We're still trying to pull it off. 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:00.680 That's uh, what what is I guess what was the 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:05.240 biggest changes that that the Pritchard plan brought back? 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:06.400 Was it you know? 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:09.240 Was it mostly just recapturing stuff? Had there been a 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:11.080 lot of work done to the course in the in 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:15.000 the intermittent years between when Ross did it originally? 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:19.160 Well, the only work that was done before Pritchard got 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:23.640 here was you know, they filled in almost every bunker. Uh, 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:27.080 and they planted a ton of evergreen trees. 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:30.480 The best trees. 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:36.839 Yeah. In ninety four, Uh, the township got a grant 0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:41.719 for tree plannings for municipalities and they basically put them 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:46.800 right the very corner of every fairway and then eighteen 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:48.000 years later we cut them all down. 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:52.200 What did the what did the trees do from like 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:55.760 an agronomic sense to the uh to the ability to 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:58.400 you know, you mentioned you had you had clover fairways. 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:00.679 But did they add to the turmues? 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:06.600 Absolutely? Not only are they are they casting shadows all 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:12.640 year long evergreen trees, but you know they're robbing all 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:16.160 the moisture out of the soil. They're creating wear patterns 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:18.760 because all the golf carts are riding around the trees 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:21.800 certain areas because they were so tightly planted. There's many 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:25.640 reasons why you should never plant those types of trees 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:26.400 on the golf course. 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:31.880 I imagined that when you guys have turf issues, it's only 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:35.440 magnified by you know, the intense amount of play, you know, 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:38.120 doing forty thousand rounds essentially in ten months. 0:13:38.440 --> 0:13:42.199 You know, the right it it. 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:45.840 You almost have to be more cautious than a club, 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:48.800 high end club that's getting ten thousand rounds a. 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:53.800 Year from a play standpoint. 0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:56.559 Just from like, from like a turf health standpoint. 0:13:57.400 --> 0:14:02.800 Oh yeah, you know, we can't drive the greens out 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:05.400 like a lot of these other guys and chase hotspots 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:07.920 all afternoon because we just can't get all the greens 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:11.160 when there's two hundred and eighteen players on the golf course. 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:15.720 I think that's what we averaged last year. It's just 0:14:15.760 --> 0:14:20.040 impossible to do a lot of things, you know. So 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:25.920 we water a little bit more with overhead sprinklers, and 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:28.320 we fertilize a little bit more so that the turf 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:33.800 can recover from ballmarks and traffic patterns. But you know, 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:36.880 the greens were built in nineteen thirty one, so they 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:40.040 don't really need to be that fast. Greens. The natural 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:43.440 undulations of the greens, as long as they're consistent I 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:45.240 think they're good rolling at a you know, an eight 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:46.560 and a half or nine. 0:14:46.720 --> 0:14:47.360 Yeah, for sure. 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:49.320 I mean you could you get yourself in trouble and 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:52.360 it would probably slow down play. I mean, does pace 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:54.560 of play just think you about it. Does pace of 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:58.440 play factor in how you guys set up at Jeffersonville? 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:01.120 Yeah? I used and not think about it, used to 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:04.000 not care and just say, you know, I want to, 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:07.040 you know, for my own ego, I wanted the Greens 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:09.760 rolling ten ten and a half. But when guys are 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:12.160 you know, four or five button on the eighteenth hole, 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:16.520 it starts to get old here in the you know, 0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:20.080 hearing the complaints, complaints, and you know, not listening to them. 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:21.840 I should have listened to them and said, you know what, 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:25.760 they're right, Maybe we need to slow the Greens down. 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:29.320 And the pace of play you know now is average 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:34.480 four four hours, four and a half hours on the weekends, 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:38.960 when it was probably it was probably fine a half hours before. 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:41.400 Yeah, I bet, I bet. 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:44.560 I mean that's you see it even on the PGA tour, 0:15:44.600 --> 0:15:46.800 where like when the Greens are really fast, like the 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:50.320 pace of play just like balloon so quick, you know, 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:51.960 and these are what you're talking about the best players 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:54.800 of the world, not not your you know weekend uh 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:56.880 weekend warriors. 0:15:56.600 --> 0:15:59.840 Right us more. And the other thing is we just 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:03.160 don't have We have two acres of greens, so we 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:05.640 really don't have a lot of pin locations, so we 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:09.440 have to reuse a lot of locations. Our eighteenth green 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:13.000 literally has two pin locations that are fair. Everything else. 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:16.400 It's just like close your eyes with pray. 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:17.680 So how hard is that? 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:20.520 Because obviously you get two hundred and eighteen people like 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:23.240 walking in the same places all the time. What do 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:26.880 you do from a turf standpoint, like, what do you 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:30.600 try and do to keep that grass consistent with the 0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:32.520 rest of the grass you have all over the course? 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:35.120 Is that a challenge. 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:37.600 The grass on the greens? 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:42.720 Yeah, Like specifically the eighteenth where you only have two pins. 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:46.000 I maintain it exactly the same way. Some of the 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:48.400 pins are just a little sketchy that get put out there, 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:51.080 you know. I make sure that those that the that 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:54.200 the fair pin placements are saved for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 0:16:54.840 --> 0:17:00.320 That makes sense if you go to do on you. 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:04.359 If you go on a Monday, he maybe five but. 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:08.440 In that green, just that just know that your scores. 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:11.119 You know they should change the slope and rating for 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:13.320 early weekday play. 0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:18.399 Yeah, exactly. You know that's not the only one. I mean, 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:22.960 the fifteenth green, the fourteenth green. There's a lot of 0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:24.560 greens that are pretty tricky out here. 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:27.440 That eighteenth green is really cool though. 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:31.160 Yeah, it's vicious, that one is. I hit it last 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:34.880 year in two from the tips, and I know you did. 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:41.520 You must have been playing an early weekday. 0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:46.200 I think I was. Yeah, it was probably a Tuesday. 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:50.840 You've been doing You've been doing a ton of expansions 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:54.200 and you guys. I think it's interesting you guys did 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:59.119 this Pritchard project and you did a significant chunk of 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:01.800 it the gate and then but you left a lot 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:02.040 of it. 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:03.920 And one of the things I. 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:07.840 Appreciate most about what you and the township are doing 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:11.840 is it seems like you're constantly trying to improve the product. 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:14.000 You've got a very busy golf course. You've got, of 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:16.840 course people love in the area, and for good reason. 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:19.840 It's you know, it's a well designed golf course for 0:18:19.920 --> 0:18:24.440 a very affordable rate, and you keep improving it rather 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:27.400 than kind of resting on your laurels. Talk about how 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:31.320 you guys have kind of gone about the course improvement 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:35.120 plan from a budgeting and work standpoint of, you know, hey, 0:18:35.119 --> 0:18:37.000 we're going to tackle these projects. 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:40.679 Well, to be honest with you, in twenty eleven, you 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:44.280 spray to herbicide. I don't know if you probably have 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:48.320 heard about it. Dupon put out for broad leaf for 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:52.760 broad leaf weeds, and yeah, we that year we started 0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:55.160 to see a decline in all of our white pines 0:18:55.320 --> 0:19:00.240 and Norway spruces in here. Those those specific species were 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:07.240 susceptible to this to the service side, so we filed 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:12.640 acclaim with DuPont, settled, got a nice settlement check. They 0:19:12.680 --> 0:19:16.960 cut down all the pine trees at their cost, so 0:19:17.040 --> 0:19:19.560 that gave us a decent amount of money that we 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:22.600 could throw back into the course. And that's what really 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:26.919 started it. We took down about one hundred and eighty 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:32.400 trees that year and the golf course just changed so dramatically. 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:37.040 The first hole especially is just you know, an epic 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:44.679 hole without the pine trees. Now after that, you know, 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:48.359 we started doing some some projects. I started rebuilding it, 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:52.080 a few bunkers that were in need kind of triage. 0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:56.000 The areas that were really bad, I did wedid the 0:19:56.040 --> 0:20:01.240 thirteenth Green complex that was really run down. And then 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:07.080 Ron saw something on Facebook and commented and actually messaged 0:20:07.119 --> 0:20:08.639 me and said, Hey, I want to come out and 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:11.959 help you out a little bit. Maybe we can expand 0:20:12.000 --> 0:20:14.040 some fairways. I can paint some lines out for you, 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:17.880 some new fairway cut lines, and we can work from there. 0:20:17.920 --> 0:20:19.959 So he came out and we did some of that, 0:20:20.040 --> 0:20:22.600 and he'said, you know what, I see, you're doing a 0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:26.920 lot of things here, and I got a guy that 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:31.320 can help you out. So I said, okay, I'm you know, 0:20:32.160 --> 0:20:36.600 anybody that can help them be great. And he introduced 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:42.080 me to Tyler Ray. So that was probably two thousand 0:20:42.119 --> 0:20:46.160 and sixteen. Tyler came out and did a bunker complex 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:48.600 for me and just like opened my eyes to what 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:52.840 this complex should really look like. And ever since then, 0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:55.600 we've just been kind of hammering things out, peddle of 0:20:55.640 --> 0:20:56.400 the metal, you know. 0:20:57.440 --> 0:21:01.600 Yeah, how do you do that with obviously the amount 0:21:01.640 --> 0:21:02.040 of play? 0:21:02.440 --> 0:21:02.639 Is it? 0:21:02.840 --> 0:21:04.679 Is it taking? Is it really? 0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:07.200 You know? I think like a lot of places would 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:09.600 just shut down a hole, but you're not really in 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:12.639 the position you can do that. Is it literally like, Okay, 0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:15.480 we're going to tackle one bunker at a time or 0:21:15.520 --> 0:21:16.560 how how does that work? 0:21:17.200 --> 0:21:21.080 That's exactly what we do. We tackle one area at 0:21:21.119 --> 0:21:24.359 a time, you know, just from a budget standpoint too. 0:21:25.600 --> 0:21:28.000 We do a lot of the work in house. Obviously, 0:21:28.480 --> 0:21:30.520 Tyler will come in and shape out a bunker complex 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:33.159 and then we'll sod and trade and at the sand. 0:21:35.080 --> 0:21:38.399 But we just have to dodge bullets. Man, just start 0:21:39.040 --> 0:21:41.520 start the project and let the let the play play through. 0:21:43.480 --> 0:21:46.320 They and the golfers don't mind, you know. Uh, they 0:21:46.720 --> 0:21:50.359 love to see improvements. I've noticed that, you know, since 0:21:50.359 --> 0:21:53.679 we started. They really appreciative of us not letting the 0:21:53.680 --> 0:21:55.520 place go revert back to what it was. 0:21:57.200 --> 0:21:58.680 Yeah, that, I mean, that makes sense. 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:04.800 It's a and I imagine like golfers, have you noticed, 0:22:04.840 --> 0:22:07.880 like anything with when you got the trees out, did 0:22:08.000 --> 0:22:10.719 play a pace of play get faster? 0:22:13.640 --> 0:22:17.760 Probably did. It's hard to say. We do so many rounds, 0:22:17.760 --> 0:22:21.920 so I mean, I guess we did because we're doing 0:22:21.960 --> 0:22:24.879 even more rounds now. But you know, the funny thing 0:22:24.960 --> 0:22:27.000 is the golfers complained about all the trees coming down 0:22:27.000 --> 0:22:30.480 because they thought we were making the place easier. They 0:22:30.560 --> 0:22:33.200 thought that that the trees were going to affect their handicap, 0:22:34.280 --> 0:22:37.240 but that was just you know, it can be further 0:22:37.280 --> 0:22:39.760 from the truth because it really doesn't affect the slope 0:22:39.760 --> 0:22:41.040 and rating of the golf course at all. 0:22:41.600 --> 0:22:45.560 Yeah, I think that's like a covin. Everybody always oh, 0:22:45.600 --> 0:22:48.199 you're taking the trees out, but unless you have like 0:22:48.320 --> 0:22:51.560 healthier grass and healthier rough so you know, the rough 0:22:51.800 --> 0:22:52.639 atom is more. 0:22:52.480 --> 0:22:53.160 Of a penalty. 0:22:53.920 --> 0:22:58.159 Exactly. I always ask them do you play out of 0:22:58.160 --> 0:23:00.520 the trees? You climb up that tree, pick your ball out. 0:23:00.560 --> 0:23:01.760 They already want to play off the turf. 0:23:04.000 --> 0:23:06.200 That's another good one is just to say, hey, when 0:23:06.240 --> 0:23:06.919 was the last time you. 0:23:06.920 --> 0:23:13.400 Broke par Oh? Exactly. There's very few that break bar here, 0:23:13.640 --> 0:23:13.840 you know. 0:23:14.480 --> 0:23:18.400 Yeah, so you've been doing a ton of green expansions, 0:23:18.440 --> 0:23:21.040 and obviously I think that's something that we see it 0:23:21.200 --> 0:23:24.399 all all types of clubs, like everywhere kind of needs 0:23:24.400 --> 0:23:27.600 to get what how have you been going about doing 0:23:27.640 --> 0:23:29.000 the expansions. 0:23:30.280 --> 0:23:35.040 So what we did was we tried, you know, one 0:23:35.080 --> 0:23:36.560