2013 Season Passes On Sale SOON!

2013 Season Passes On Sale September 1^st 2012!

Buy Now and Save!

Purchase Your 2013 Pass Before January 1^st 2013 and Pay 2012 Prices!!

Save $25 off a Single Pass and $50 off Couples Pass

Starting September 17^th Next Years Pass holders can Play Until November 26^th 2012(weather permitting)!!

Are you a 2012 Pass Holder? Renew Before January 1^st 2013 and Not Only Will You Save Money, We'll give you FOUR FREE rounds to share with your Friends!!

2013 Single Player Season Pass $600

2013 Couples Season Pass $850

Project Drainage

As we mentioned on the Facebook page the course has seen an ENORMOUS amount of water in the past few days.  Our course is well designed to handle such weather events and for the most part our natural drainage system is sufficient to handle large amounts of rainfall without too much soggy turf.

However there are a few areas on the course where the existing natural contours need some help shedding excess water.  We went to work on remedying two such areas today.  The first was near the ninth tee box in the valley between the tee and the fairway.  Unfortunately the water tends to pool there as there is no way for it to run off into the pond.

   

Our first job was to dig a trench so we could get the standing water flowing towards the pond. Once we got the water drained we began the process of laying in drainage pipe which will mitigate some of  the problem in the future.  After running into a few small problems with buried rocks and an irrigation pipe we laid in the new drain pipe.

We're going to let the remaining water continue to drain out of the area giving us a chance to see if there are any other areas that may need addressing before we completely cover the area and fill in some of the low spots in a few days.  

We then moved on to a much more ambitious project near the ninth green.  The area running from the small pond down past the bunker has always been a very troublesome area because it holds water making it difficult to mow and a very wet experience for people whose balls wind up right of the green on nine.  So we decided to take action to address this issue.  The first thing we did was to trench out the fairway under the bunker to allow the water to drain into the smaller stream.  We laid a section of perforated pipe in which will continue to collect the runoff from the fairway.

We then moved up to the small pond and ran 120 feet of a combination of perforated and solid pipe from the small pond all the way down the old drainage ditch which will help tremendously in our efforts to capture more rainwater for our larger irrigation pond.

  

 With the addition of an overflow valve and a dam there will be no other way for the water to exit the small pond other then down the pipe we have installed.   Currently the smaller pond captures all the runoff from our parking lot and a lot of water is wasted on its journey from the parking lot down to the irrigation pond.   We're hopeful that with these new modifications we will have a much larger source of water to draw on during the summer months.

Below is a photo of everything tied together near the bunker. Again we're going to let everything drain out in the next few days while looking for any problems before filling everything in and re-seeding the area.

So the next time it rains and you don't want to get your feet wet, come out and play Brunswick Greens!!!

-Andrew

Verticutting the Greens

Some of you may notice in the next few days that our greens and collars have lines on them, no there isn't a problem with our cutting units and we didn't decide to cut funny patterns in our greens just to mess with your heads.  We're verticutting!  

Trails left by the verticutter

The easiest way to explain verticutting is that we are simply "pruning" our grass the same way you would prune a tree or a flower.  Normally our cutting blades cut horizontally which lowers the vertical height of our grass, keeping it at the desired length.  However the grass eventually wises up and stops growing in a vertical direction and starts "laying over" horizontally.  This is detrimental for several reasons, first off we aren't getting a clean cut which makes the green bumpier, and secondly laid over grass is a breeding area for many turf grass diseases that can harm our greens.  So on a regular schedule during the early and late season we swap our regular reels for blades that cut vertically.

When we verticut the greens we are trimming the horizontal growth of the plant to encourage healthier growth due to better airflow between the grass shoots above the ground and more efficient transport of water and nutrients to the root structure below the ground.  As you can see from the photo below some of the horizontal growth was QUITE a bit longer then the 13/64 of an inch we're currently cutting at with our regular reels.

 

One of the horizontal grass shoots that was clipped off

This year we've also extended our verticutting efforts to the collars near the greens which as you can see from the video REALLY needed a trim as we cut a MASSIVE amount of horizontal growth.  Our efforts will provide the golfer with a much smoother transition from collar to green surface.

The results of our verticut can be seen in the photo below, you'll note that the grass is standing up nice and straight and we're able to go out and mow it much more efficiently.  While the lines on the greens are the most obvious signs of our verticutting.  If you're looking closely you will notice a few subtle changes in the greens  in the next few days first the greens may seem a bit more light green then normal.  This is a normal due to the higher stress level, when we verticut and follow with a double cut on the greens we're removing a large amount of the mass of the plant.  If not done properly this can make our greens susceptible to disease and pest problems.  We will mitigate these effects by giving the greens extra water, and a shot of fertilizer and fungicide later in the week.  

  

Result after verticutting is grass that stands up

So as golfers what can you look forward to in the next few days and weeks.  The most important thing from a golf perspective is that the greens will be tighter, smoother, and faster for daily play while remaining stronger and healthier from a maintenance standpoint.  In this case verticutting is a winner for everyone involved!!

-Andrew

Under Construction

Please pardon our dust for the next few weeks as the crew up at Brunswick Greens gets a couple of projects accomplished.

First off many have noticed the new gravel cart path near the pro-shop.  Over the past winter Jim Prescott and I have been working on a solution to the nagging problem of carts not being allowed into the parking lot.  Due to the previous narrow concrete walking path and the blind corners around the building there really was no good way to allow people to drive carts to the parking lot.  After considering all of our options we decided the easiest way to proceed was to remove some of the front lawn and create a wider gravel pathway for cart traffic while keeping walking traffic on the concrete path.  No longer will you be forced to carry your clubs from the car all the way to the golf carts parked on the other side of the pro shop!!

We're also doing some on course improvements as well.  We've always struggled to keep the back tee on the 9th hole through the season.  Due to its poor location boxed in by trees the tee doesn't get enough sunlight and almost no airflow.  So we are in the process of re-configuring the tee box to bring it further out into the sunlight.  We are hoping with the new tee box we will rectify some of the problems we faced previously and allow us to keep grass on that tee though the season.  As for the tees scheduled completion we're hoping to have the construction and grading finished within the next week and we should be able to seed it by Easter week if Mother Nature continues to bless us with good weather.  If everything proceeds according to plan we should have the back tee in play by Memorial Day!

See you on the course!

Andrew

What a week!

Wow,

As I sit here at my desk and check the live weather station and see it's currently 75* down from a high of 77* then I look at my calendar and it says March 21st.  A quick glance out my window towards the golf course and the fairways are striped, the greens are emerald, the sky is completely bluebird and we're seeing lots of happy golfers coming of the course.  I'd like to take the time to once again publicly commend the work being done by the grounds crew under the supervision of Jim Prescott.  These guys are absolutely working their tails off to get this course in the kind of shape it's been in and I would appreciate it greatly when you see them if you'd take the time to thank them for all their efforts.  They really do a lot and without them the course just doesn't run.

Moving along to whats on tap in the upcoming weeks.  Since the weather has been so nice we've spent the majority of our limited time doing course maintenance.  It's a long and somewhat repetitive process because we have to set a higher height of cut, mow, then head back into the maintenance barn, re-set to a lower height and then go out and mow again.  We know that there have been a lot of people who are chomping at the bit for us to open up the range and Bunkers Grill.  So here's the lowdown, we're going to spend Thursday and Friday getting the range nets up so look for the range to be open for the weekend!

As for Bunkers Grill, we're really excited to get open but we've got a couple of things we're working on downstairs to get everything all set for the season..  I can announce that we're planning on having a huge grand opening party for Bunkers in April on Friday the 13th, featuring Hair of the Dog upstairs in the Banquet Hall.  Then we'll get everything running on a normal schedule on Saturday April 14th in the usual downstairs location.

Again we'd like to thank EVERYONE who's come out the past few weeks, this is easily our best March in the history of the golf course and we can only thank our customers who continue to support us!

See you on the course!

Andrew

Golf Tip of the Week!

Andrew shares a tip on how to improve your putting this season.  For the best viewing click "view in you tube"

Jim Prescott Joins the Inside the Ropes blog with his Superintendents Corner!

I'd like to welcome Jim Prescott to the Inside the Ropes blog!  Every so often he'll be chiming in with a report from the course we're calling "superintendents corner".  This time he's going to highlight what we're doing with the greens mower to get the greens back in shape after their long winters nap!

“Here We Go!"

The first cut of the season.

Yesterday while many of you were out enjoying the golf course you may have noticed that we were working in the maintenance barn. Winter has been very kind to us the year and we're taking advantage of this early start and getting the machines in shape.   During the course of play you may notice the greens will be cut higher for a few weeks. This is a common practice used by most golf courses to reduce the stress levels on the greens coming out the grasses dormant period during the winter.

We have reset the greens mower to 1/4” and our intent is to cut the greens this week at this height and then to reduce the high each time we mow. So golfers should see a increase in green speeds over time as we drop our heights. Our greens are normally cut at 3/16” which gives us a green speed of around 9.0(green speed and how we measure it will be explained in a future blog)

My staff and I will be making every effort this season to reduce our visibility on the golf course during playing hours, insuring that your round will be uninterrupted by our maintenance. I have been working with Andrew all winter long creating a new golfer friendly work schedule for the staff , which will put more of our efforts into getting all work to the greens and tees completed before you tee off in the morning.

I hope you and your family can enjoy the 2012 golf season with us here at Brunswick Greens. The Grounds Crew and I will be making every effort to ensure that your visit to the course is both pleasurable and memorable.

See you on the course!

Jim

Open 3/8/12!!

We are OPEN tomorrow!!!

Now after you're done doing the happy dance and figuring out how you're sneaking out of work tomorrow to play golf here's the lowdown.

We still have A LOT of snow out there, The course WILL be VERY MUDDY.  I don't think we will have all 9 holes open either and I'm planning on opening around Noon to give the course a chance to dry out.     At this point I'm expecting to have the following holes open: One, Two, Six, Seven, Eight, and Nine(possibly from an alternate tee box).  I'm hoping to add either Three, Four, or Five depending upon which melts fastest overnight but I can't promise anything.

Rates will be $10-$13 for unlimited golf depending upon how much of the course I can get open.

We hope to see a bunch of you out tomorrow as its going to be BEAUTIFUL out!
-Andrew

Job Openings for 2012

For anyone looking for a fun and rewarding place to work this year, we have the following positions open.  Any questions can be submitted via email to pro.brunswickgreens@gmail.com or call the course at 518-279-3848

Please note that positions will not be available until mid March or early April (weather pending) and is seasonal employment (thru mid October / November).

Please apply in person at the Course.

Grounds Crew

Seasonal position open for Golf Course Maintenance. Must be a hard worker, enthusiastic and have a positive attitude.

Duties include, but are not limited to:

General mowing with walk behind mowers, bunker maintenance, using string trimmers and any other related duties to maintain a golf course at a high level. Must have valid drivers license and ability to lift 50 pounds

Pro Shop Staff

Seasonal position open for Pro Shop Staff

Duties include, but are not limited to:

Responsible for receiving monies for green fees, carts, and shop sales. Required to maintain a neat and professional appearance at all times Ability to keep pro shop clean and orderly. Provide customer service and deal with complaints/issues. Strong customer service skills required, must maintain professional and courteous manner at all times. Prior cashier experience a plus as is ability to multi-task. Must be able to work nights and weekends.



Chef

Position open for Banquet hall/Restaurant Chef, primary goal is to provide our patrons with excellent food quality and consistency. Responsibilities include managing the culinary functions to meet food quality, financial and personnel goals.

This is a working chef position that is very active and highly visible

Position Requirements: Demonstrated progressive career advancement. Knowledge of F&B preparation techniques, health department rules and regulations. Thorough knowledge of food handling and preparation techniques of large catered functions. Ability to develop new and creative menus based on current industry trends. Educate and train staff on various culinary techniques. Work closely with FOH staff to ensure menu knowledge. Knowledge of Banquet Event Orders & Banquet operations. Excellent communication skills. Ability to adapt to change quickly

Duties include, but are not limited to:

Interviewing, hiring and training new-hire employees as well as ongoing training for existing staff; event planning, assigning and directing work; staff performance reviews; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems. Working chef aspect and very active in food preparation. You will be working side by side with your staff.

Bartender/Waitress

Position open for a Full-time Head Waiter(ress)/Bartender in our restaurant/banquet hall. Primary goal is to provide our patrons with excellent service. Responsibilities include supervision of day to day FOH responsibilities such as staffing and service. Handles all opening and/or closing duties required to properly operate banquet and restaurant bar. Is responsible for various administrative tasks up to and including: Maintaining par levels, submitting daily/weekly orders, and ensuring that all stocking is done.

Qualified applicants will have the ability to work weekends and most holidays. Applicants will have access to reliable transportation, a keen eye for customer satisfaction, a professional appearance and demeanor. Must posses excellent communication skills, and the ability to be trained on our procedures and practices. Must be able to stand for long periods of time; and perform recurring activities such as bending, crouching, stooping, stretching and reaching. Must have previous banquet hall bartender experience and be able to handle functions of 40-150 guests.

Duties include, but are not limited to:

Take orders placed by guests for alcoholic, non-alcoholic beverages and food items from menus. Required to be fully familiar with all food items available and all beverage items for guest consumption. Maintain sales record, collects cash or payment by credit card from guest. Clean, reset and arrange tables as required

Looking forward to the 2012 season

For those who have found the inside the ropes blog, welcome.  We're hoping that with this blog and the Brunswick Greens Facebook Page, we'll to be able to both engage with our customers and give everyone a sense of what goes on behind the scenes here at Brunswick Greens. With that out of the way I'd like to share with you some of the upcoming improvements you're going to see for the 2012 season.

• First off we'd like to welcome superintendent Jim Prescott back to our staff.  We were thrilled when Jim was able to step in towards the end of last season to fill a vacancy and he has graciously offered to return this season.  Jim brings with him a treasure trove of experience from Mechanicville Country Club and also has worked here at Brunswick Greens for many years so its going to be a welcome relief to have someone who really knows this property running the show for us.   

• As a direct result of Jim's presence on staff he has manage to repair and resuscitate much of the equipment that I had written off for scrap.  Due to his considerable mechanical skills we can look forward to a MUCH improved playing surface, in particular areas like the tees, green banks, and fringe around the greens will be able to be mowed MUCH shorter then they were last season simply by having the right tool for the job.

• Early last season we made the decision to spend much needed capital on the refurbishment of our Toro GM 3250D Greens mower.  While the machine was fine mechanically it was clear that the cutting units had been neglected over the previous seasons.  Cutting greens with dull blades leads to a poor putting surface and encourages the spread of fungus and other turfgrass diseases which require the use of chemical treatments.  I heard many compliments over the course of the season about the quality of the putting surface and I'm proud to report that we saw far fewer outbreaks of disease which required much less use of both chemicals and fertilizer.  While I doubt that as an industry we will ever be able to go 100% chemical free, I made it a personal goal of mine to see that Brunswick Greens becomes much less chemical dependent and more environmentally friendly, this is a small step towards that goal that we will continue this season.  

• Adding onto the theme of Brunswick "Greens", while it didn't see much use this past year we DID make some amazing renovations to our irrigation system which will allow us to make much better use of our limited water resources.  We installed both a second pump and feeder lines which doubles our irrigation capacity.  In plain terms we can get more water onto the course in less time which means we use less power and have less wasted water.

• Towards the end of last season we made a significant investment in a new Jacobson SLF 1800 Fairway mower which replaces the tired old Ransomes AR250 that we had previously been using to cut fairways.  While we only had the new mower for a few weeks it's clear that we had made a substantial gain in overall mowing efficiency.  Over the course of a full season this efficiency will allow the grounds crew to devote more attention to some of the areas of the golf course that had been neglected in previous seasons, and will also allow them more time to take on new projects around the course.  Not to mention the overall quality of our fairways will improve drastically.

• We are looking forward to an exciting year in Bunkers Grill, with a new chef cooking all of your old favorites and some new menu items as well.  We're planning on adding some new beverage options like six packs of soda and some new beer choices to the mix so if you have an requests please don't hesitate to let us know.  We're also planning on staging some live music events and are VERY excited to bring you a Nine and Dine special every Friday night which allows you to play nine holes and then pick from a specially prepared menu of our chefs creations.  Trust me you won't want to miss it.