On Nov 12, 2012, five days after opening the golf course we had our very first 18 hole shotgun on Nov 17, 2012 for Ladies Fall Team Play at 8:30 am. This was unusual to have an event so close to the opening of the golf course especially after the opening week was during a reduced staff due to the holiday and the first time we opened on a Wednesday vs a Friday as we have done for the past 40 years.
So why do I bring this up after a month since the event - well yesterday it was brought to my attention that there have been some e-mails about the divots on the range from the opening weekend. Now I will admit I haven't seen these e-mails so their exact content I do not know ... but I would like to discuss that day to get everyone on the same page.
Historically, and every time before this event when we have a 18 hole shotgun on a Monday we save the practice area (except the putting green and chipping green) until after the shotgun starts. There are several reasons for doing this such as allows my team to focus and prepare the golf course on time for the event (since on Mondays we preform an entire mowing including tees, fairways and approaches), and also to pull a majority of the team off the field and to the practice to be out of the way for the ladies or the event.
The plan was working perfectly, and we included several extras for the ladies such as rolling the greens, painting the cups with hole-n-white, blowing clippings of the greens and their surrounds, ensuring the bunkers were correct, checking sand and see divot boxes, and the list goes on and on. The good news is that a the golf course was prepared on time and to the 10 to 15 groups I spoke to they loved the conditions ... even after only being opened for five days.
Sounds great? Well not everything was that smooth. The golf course may have been fantastic but at 8:45 am I received a call from the GM stating that their were several upset about divots on the DR tee complex (by the way the sweeper was on route to clean as planned). Being that the last time I was near the practice area was at 5:30 am (in the dark) I went over immediately to check out the issue ... and sure enough there was excess divots. We handled them and the practice area as planned and made a change to our normal routine from hence forward.
Well I hear the e-mails keep flying blaming me for the whole thing. My question is simple ... where was everyone else? With shortened staff levels, holidays, etc. it would be nice if the team (including the members) helps in anyway possible to showcase our product. I will admit that I was focusing on the golf course and its showing, and never returned to the practice but several others were there before the ladies team play appeared. One quick phone call from anyone would have made us shine especially considering we just opened after overseed.
So please, if there issues you see (anyone) that can make Avondale be better, do not hesitate to contact me directly and immediately. I am only one set of eyes with what I think is important to get done and being human I will not see everything. As a team ... great things can happen. Knowing what is wanted aids us in giving those things.
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