2020 A Year in Review

February 2020 just returned from the Golf Industry Show in Orlando. We decided to take our kids and their families, stay a few extra days, and enjoy the Florida warm weather. Had a couple of trips to Disney World planned. We did the first day with everyone enjoying Magic Kingdom and being a little kid again. Then 2 of our adult kids got sick, of course the doctors in Orlando ask were you at Disney? Of course, we were, and they blamed it on all of the germs at a place like Disney. We got back to Des Moines and I got sick, I blamed it on the same thing and then in a couple of weeks I felt much better and I was ready for the golf season. Looking back did we have some of the first cases of Covid or not? The golf season started very early this year with an opening date of March 7th. I was not quite prepared for that early of an opening, however we got everything out and ready to go. Obviously by that time there was news of a new virus, social distancing, no touching, single rider carts, all of the scary items that no one wanted to hear about. We quickly pulled in ball washers, water fountains and bunker rakes. We put a pvc pipe over the flagstick to keep the ball from falling all the way into the cup. Some members complained because we were still possibly touching the flagstick. We then cut some old cups and placed them on top of the ones in the ground to stop the ball from going into the hole. More complaints, it was too easy to just ram the ball into the cup and people’s score were being lower. Then it was on to the pool noodle over the flagstick, more complaints. By this time, it is only the last week of March and we put our heads together and made our version of a ball elevator. We made them to last a couple of months. Little did we know we would be using them for the entire season. Hopefully, we never see them again.

The Covid virus then brought the single rider golf cart user. We had 14,500 double rider rounds in 2019. In 2020 we had almost 37,000 single rider rounds! Early on I thought there was no way the turf could sustain this type of traffic. It seemed like everyday at the golf course was a weekend day. The only safe place members had to go was the golf course. We experienced a record number of rounds almost hitting 66,000 rounds for the year. Obviously, this type of wear and tear on a golf course takes its’ toll. I will tell you that I am very surprised how well the turf responded to the abuse and usage. Besides par 3 tees the golf course took it very well and our team of turf professionals did a great job of growing turf that was sustainable and very playable all season long.

We started the season with some timely rains and then we were in a slight drought about May 1. By June, the drought picture was worse. We would get some precipitation, but it would be in a very heavy rain that ran off quickly. Nothing that was charging the aquifers. July it was a little worse and we were well dependent almost every night. Our well is 2,808 feet deep. Water comes out of the ground at a balmy 81 degrees and it is full of bicarbonates and salt. Did I mention the salt? It started to accumulate in ball marks and the only way to work with it is to add more water making for some wetter conditions and member complaining about it. Very frustrated heading into August and we got some much-needed rain on August 10th in the form of a Derecho. Damn those winds blew hard. We lost 43 trees and had a lot of clean up to do. Nothing like eastern Iowa but none the less we had a lot of work ahead of us. We only lost 2 days of golf to the storm clean up and thanks to a group of members who helped to do some clean up on the golf course with us. By the way, the Derecho rained so hard and fast it really did not give us any relief.

Zoom, Teams, Web Ex are now a part of lives. I had a group of turf professionals who were moral support all year long and lifted each other up. I really appreciate their friendship much more than they know.

If you have been in the turf busines as long as I have you develop a lot of different friends from all over the world. We lost a few of them that I call a friend. Dave Heegard was one of the first salesmen to call on me back in the 70's. He was our local Scott's salesman. Mr. Jim Pursell was a true Southern gentleman who also was in the fertilizer business. Mr. Jimmy has a golf course outside of Sylacagua, Alabama. Sherry and I went there many times. Last time we were there he asked me about where to locate his new home that he and Miss Chris were going to build. He was the real deal and a great guy. Ron Toney was one of the first golf course superintendents under Bill Byers when DMGCC moved to it's current location. Red was a superintendent for a while, then a turf salesman and then made a career in the commercial/residential irrigation business. All will be missed.

September now is here, and we are ready to aerify both golf courses. What does it do? It rains for almost a solid 5 days, delaying our work and it just makes everyone a little edgy. We get through it; the golf course is better for it and it is on to leaf clean up and the fall. We experienced a great fall golf season. Things healed up quickly, weather was good, and we played golf until the weekend after Thanksgiving. We received some snow during that period, but they quickly melted, and it was a great November.

Had a great snow mid-December and as I type this today it is 55 degrees, and the snow is all gone. Supposed to be 5 degrees tomorrow morning with 40 mph winds. Could get some direct low temperature kill of the turf, I hope not but that is how this season has rolled. Here are a couple of photos, one from the start of the 2020 season and one from the end.

While all of this seemed like doom and gloom it is not meant to be. I am very thankful we were a safe haven for people to go too and forget about the Covid for at least 4 hours. We saw a lot of smiling faces even those things were very disrupted. Jim Cutter our General Manager for 22 years retired, he will be missed. We had our new leader Matt Ruehling take over the helm during a very difficult time and we survived it and we made budget. Not many places can probably say that. Biggest thing most of the team has stayed healthy and he kept us working. We are in a planning phase of a big clubhouse project that will start in 2021. Hopefully while that will bring a new look to the place, I hope it kindles a spark to come back to DMGCC and enjoy what you have. Matt has been great to work for in a very difficult year. He has done a great job and kudos to him. Personally, Sherry and I have stayed home almost all year. We did a little driving vacation in September to the UP of Michigan. Other than that, is social distancing parties in the driveway with the neighbors. We still do our family dinners every Sunday with our kids and that is more meaningful to me now than it ever has been. I will leave you with a few photos of what I think about 2020 and the year. I think they both express what many of us feel. I wish you a blessed Merry Christmas and I pray that we all enjoy a new 2021 that is much better than last year.