Continuing Education

Continuing education is a vital part of maintaining a golf course. Turfgrass research and technology has greatly improved in recent years. New materials and methods are constantly being developed that directly influence the maintenance of all courses. Our staff is committed to keeping up with the latest advancements in the industry.

Members of our staff recently attended the Iowa Turfgrass Conference & Trade Show and the GCSAA Education Conference & Golf Industry Show.

The Iowa Turfgrass Conference is held in Des Moines. During this conference members of our maintenance staff attended over 50 total hours of classes and seminars. Topics which were discussed this year included: sustainability, the relationship between golf and the environment, and "doing more with less." John Temme gave a 45 minute speech to hundreds of colleagues outlining the recent changes at Wakonda Club.

The GCSAA Education Conference was held earlier this month in San Diego, California. Once again, our staff attended over 50 hours of classes. These classes are much more in- depth and are conducted by university research professors. Class subject matter included: turf fertility, fungicides, green speed, leadership, and technology. The Golf Industry Show included some motivational speakers and a huge trade show where we were able to observe every product related to golf course maintenance.

Products and knowledge obtained from these conferences and trade shows are used every day for the maintenance of Wakonda Club and directly impact course conditions.

Winter Work

This has been a historic winter season. We've set records for total snowfall to date and consecutive days with 5 or more inches of snow (62 as of February 8th.) We've spent considerable amounts of time and energy clearing the parking lots, walkways, and the walk path through the course. This is taking its toll on our snow clearing equipment.

With so much snow cover we've been keeping busy in the shop. Every winter our staff has the monumental task of maintaining our fleet of over 50 maintenance vehicles and mowers. Also requiring maintenance are our hundreds of hand tools and more than 30 small, gas- powered tools. During this season we also refurbish all of our on- course equipment such as rope stakes, hazard posts, yardage plaques, tee markers, ball washers, trash cans, etc.
Special projects this winter have included the renovation of the assistant superintendents' office, painting the break room, and replacing the floor of the superintendent's office.

Watch Out! (we're blogging)

Hello blog readers. Thus begins our effort at creating an official Wakonda Club Grounds blog. We were inspired to create this blog by colleagues we connected with at the Iowa Turf Conference and the Golf Industry Show. (We will have a summary of our experience at these conferences to follow.)

We are optimistic that blogging can be a useful tool to communicate with our membership. We intend to use this space to update our members on topics such as: recent or upcoming activities, course conditions, projects, and rules we would like our golfers to follow.