What goes on in the winter?

For the past twenty years family members, golfing members and the general public have been interested in what we do in the off season.  Many people think that when the grass isn't growing that we are on some tropical island drinking pina colada's.  Currently, that is not the case.  Each winter we have a laundry list of things that need to be accomplished, and if the weather is cooperative we take advantage of it and get some outside projects completed. 

Inside Projects:
1.  Preventative maintenance to the equipment:  We have about $850,000 worth of equipment that goes through a maintenance program each winter. 
2.  Cleaning up supplies:  Each winter we clean the ball washers and replace brushes, paint the trash cans, refinish benches, soil & seed holders and tee blocks. (overall favorite of the staff)
3.  Preventative maintenance to golf cars:  We change filters, oil, clean and wax all the cars. 
4.  Cleaning up range supplies:  We refinish the bag stands and dividers for the range. 
5.  Maintenance facility: We clean, paint and make improvements to areas of facility each year.
6.  Education:  The full-time staff attends seminars and conference's to keep up with current trends. 

Outside Projects:

1.  Tree work:  Tree management program was put into place four years ago.  It includes pruning and removing undesirable trees.  It also includes improving air flow and sunlight to primary turf areas. 
2.  Capital projects:  Depending on the winter, we try to attack capital projects during the off season. 
We have built new tees, installed new decking and rails on bridges, cart path work, landscaping and basically anything else that can be accomplished during a mild winter.
3.  Snow Removal:  We are on call for snow removal each winter. 

I hope this gives a little light on what the golf course maintenance department gets accomplished in the winter time.  We are all for heading to a Tropical island, we just have a little work to do first.