COMPETENCIES

In the summer of 2015 I decided to enroll in the turf management certificate program featured by Olds College. Unbenounced to me, nearly 3 full years later I would be nearing completion of an applied degree for Golf Course Management. During my time at Olds College, I discovered the importance of this school in providing hopefuls the skills and education needed to be successful in a turfgrass related industry. The instructors at the college are all industry members and have all spent time of various durations fulfilling the role of a golf course superintendent. The skills and knowledge they have passed down has been an additional perk of attending an institution of this magnitude.

    Spanning a vast area of land, Olds College provides an impressive mix of differing instructional styles including hands on practical instruction, distance learning through field school studies, and industry mentor days to explain to industry the importance of both the block style format, as well as mentorships for the duration of the summers. These different instructional methods are all great, but the most important part of this style of schooling is the relationships built through networking with other hopefuls in the industry from all over western Canada. The turfgrass management course used to be provided in a typical eight month in class period, followed by a short internship in the field for four months over the summer. With recent changes, the format has done a complete 180 degree turn. Now we spend just four short months in school working on research based assignments and leave to spend the next eight months actually working in industry completing extremely relevant assignments to the successful progression of our careers.

    Dave Moroz, Ian Morrow, and Jason Pick have all worked intensively with us throughout our schooling and have gained the respect of most , if not all students, including myself when it comes to industry related issues and education.

    Listed below is a description of the various skills I have gained through the three years of instruction and knowledge I have gained from the courses at Olds College. Each course I have effectively worked my way through has been organized into broad topics called General Areas of Competencies (GACs). Each GAC has then been further broken down into specifics.

 

Golf Course Pesticide Certification

• Identify specific Integrated Pest Management (IPM) thresholds.

• Determine when action thresholds require chemical treatment to reverse disease or pest injury to turfgrass.

• Use golf course equipment to apply chemicals to turfgrass using appropriate buffer zones, and application techniques.

• Create an effective winter snow mould protection plan, while considering product groupings and protection durations.

• Calibrate equipment effectively to apply at appropriate label rates for each product.

• Procure a landscape pesticide applicators license.

• Implement knowledge of safe handling, transport, and usage of all chemicals at our facility through the field schools.

• Maintain clean, detailed application records for each product applied to the property.

    

Golf Course Cultural Practices

• Identify golf course areas that would benefit from each cultural practice discovered.

• Implement cultural practices when turfgrass conditions demonstrate the need for aid.

• Educate members on why cultural practices need to be completed throughout the golf season, while maintaining focus on playing conditions.

• Schedule these practices at ideal times throughout the season, at the most beneficial times to the plant.

• Create a year round agronomic calendar with respect to grass type, soil and water tests, and traffic conditions that are property specific.

 

Golf Course Irrigation

• Diagnose irrigation component issues and employ fixes in the field for electrical, hydraulic, and physical components.

• Replace irrigation heads that are underperforming, wasting irrigation water, or requiring too much yearly repair attention.

• Audit full irrigation systems to assess performance and coverage efficiency.

• Apply software skills for central control programming on RainBird irrigation controllers.

• Schedule the efficient use of water in a short watering window, while considering pressure and flow rates across the system.

• Design an effective irrigation database detailing all irrigation components.

 

Golf Course Operational Management

• Attend operational meetings to determine future budgets and long term plans for the facility.

• Create lasting positive relationships with department heads in the pro shop and in the food and beverage areas.

 

Golf Course Business Aspects

• Use yearly soil samples to create a low impact cultural program to create pristine playing surfaces.

• Determine where savings could be beneficial to the property, and know where to cut a budget when budget cuts come to the maintenance department.

• Attend board meetings to answer any condition related questions the membership may have in concerns to the playing conditions found on the golf course.

• Educate membership on the use of various cultural practices

 

Golf Course Construction Practices

• Design new golf course features using advanced construction skills featuring the use of project schedules and management.

• Use construction planning and design software to create effective designs for the property giving the membership the design they requested, but leaving functionality and ease of care for the maintenance crew.

• Use gantt charts to ensure project timelines are kept and continually monitored.

 

Golf Course Communication

• Apply team building philosophies to aid in the completion of daily golf course tasks

• Deploy strategies to build a positive rapport amongst members, pro shop staff, and greens committees or board members.

• Utilize presentation skills and effective public speaking to convey a message, handling any criticism positively.