Montana site visit, day two

In my previous blog post, I talked about day one of my Western Montana trip with Bob Lee who sales for Simplot Partners. He had asked me if I would like to tag along with him while he made his sales calls in the area. Since I haven’t yet had a chance to visit this area, I thought it would be a good opportunity to get the guided tour.

On day two, Bob promised me that we would see a golf course like none other so I really didn’t know what to expect. When he told me that no one plays this course, I just figured it would be so remote that the course hardly ever got play. Part of that statement was right. It was, in fact, remote, but then again, this is in Western Montana and most courses are fairly remote. I found out that the owner, Jim Smith, is an eccentric fella who invented a remarkable medical device and made a fortune. After he purchased the golf course, he decided that he didn’t want to deal with the public, so in 1995, he decided to only allow he and his closest friends to play. We turned off the highway onto a nondescript road that had no signs what so ever to tell us that we were approaching a golf course. After meandering down the road, we came up to the course. As the name would imply, there were at least six beautiful lakes on the property.

Crystal Lakes Golf Course is a full-length course with a vacant pro shop and even a fleet of carts. What I didn’t know, was that this property is also a fish hatchery, an airport, and an air museum. What really surprised me was that Mr. Smith had built a full-size and almost identical replica of the Stonehenge right in the middle of the golf course. It was constructed right down to the 13-degree adjustment to make up for the latitude so it would line up correctly during the equinox.

The fish hatchery is known as the only disease-free fish hatchery in the country. They raise all kinds of trout species which they supply to the state of Montana. The mile-long airstrip dissects the golf course in half and sitting at the end of the runway is a collection of aircraft from WWI through today. Each one, in pristine condition and still able to fly. Mr. Smith no longer flies, but his first superintendent, Robert LeBlanc is his personal pilot and takes him where he needs to go. The day to day operations of the golf course are now handled by Joe Joliff.

We didn’t get too much time to spend on the golf course since there were so many other attractions to check out. One part of the course that was unique, in my eyes, was the island putting green. This wasn’t your typical island green, like perhaps the floating island of Coeur d’Alene that has a boat as a shuttle. This one had a bridge constructed just inches below the surface so it would appear as if the carts were driving on top of the water.  All I can say is I hope you manage to keep it between the lines or you’ll be swimming!

Here are a few more pictures from Crystal Lakes Golf Course

Montana site visits, day one

Since serving the Northwest Region as the GCSAA field staff representative, I have learned that certain times of the year are busier than others. For the most part, everything seems to run together with the exception of the three summer months. This is normally when members are up to their necks in the middle of the season but it is also a good time for me to hit the road and make a few site visits. For the month of August, I decided to give the Peaks & Prairies a visit.

For the first leg of my journey, I was invited by Bob Lee of Simplot Partners to tag along and ride with him to Western Wyoming. Bob lives in Hayden Lake, Idaho, and serves Montana and Eastern Washington. Bob and his trusty traveling companion CB picked me up in Spokane where we made a quick stop at Gonzaga University to visit their field manager and previous golf course superintendent, Tom Brown. I had once considered a job in the athletic field industry and, if you ask me, it looks fun. Tom had some of the most incredible Kentucky bluegrass that I have ever seen. CB was surely impressed.

As we made our way across the Idaho panhandle, we made a quick stop to visit with Tim Heeney at The Idaho Club. The Idaho Club is managed by a small management company providing a high-end product on a pretty limited budget.

We finally made our way to our first destination which was at The Wilderness Club, just eight miles south of the Canadian border, near Eureka, Montana. I was thrilled when we drove up and met Mike Turner, CGCS. Mike was previously at The Reserve Vineyard in Aloha, Oregon, and had decided to take the assistant position under Larry Newlin so he could be closer to his and his wife’s family. Mike and Larry had worked together before and their working chemistry was evident. We had time for a quick nine-hole turf inspection before we headed off to dinner.

Just to explain how tinder dry the forests are in Montana, we were having dinner and a small system blew through which contained a couple lightning strikes in the hills above us. When we walked out of the restaurant we could see a fire starting just above us. The trees were literally exploding as we saw it start to grow.  By morning, the blaze had spread to over 1000 acres. We never seemed to get out of the smoke for the rest of the trip. Today, there are currently thirty wildfires burning across Montana including the Lolo Peak fire which displaced Lori and Tom Russel from their home for a couple days. Lori explained to me that most of these blazes will not be controlled until the snow begins to fall in October/November.


The next day we woke up to a smoky morning which gave the effect of an amber-colored light filter. It provided an interesting light for photos but I would have preferred to see the mountains.

Bob informed me that he was going to take me to a golf course that day that is probably unlike anything I had ever seen. Check back for my next blog post for a recap on that visit.

Just “Bee”cause

I like to keep tabs on the superintendent industry by letting Google send me alerts every day on anything that has to do with the phrase “golf course superintendent.” I get all sorts of interesting stories, but one that caught my eye in June was a story out of my own region up in Spokane, Washington. The title of the story was, “Bees among the tees: Golf course embarks on honeybee restoration effort”. I read further and discovered that Michael Greene, superintendent at Downriver Golf Course, a city-owned property, was being recognized for his work on promoting pollinators by the local paper. I knew right away that this would be a must-stop-and-visit for me the next time I visit the area.

I made my way there on July 11 after getting in from the event in Colorado Springs. I was on my way to The Club at Rock Creek off of Coeur d’Alene Lake for the Inland Empire summer golf outing. I met Mike and he said he had just a few minutes because he was on his way to the same event as well. He actually gave me more time than I thought and took me around to show me what he was doing to promote the bees. First of all, I was impressed with the condition of his course. I had read that Mike had cut his fungicide use by 60 percent, but from what I saw, you would have never guessed. The course was in amazing shape.

We drove up to a garden plot where he had planted pumpkins and some wild flowers. He explained that he applied for a grant with Bayer under the Feed a Bee program and was awarded $2,500. That money went to good use in preparing the garden plot by importing some soil amendment and purchasing the seeds. Mike also contacted a local beekeeper who was providing a couple hives for him to help pollinate the pumpkins and utilize the wildflowers. Mike explained that he is planning on hosting a local grade school this fall so the kids can come out and pick their own pumpkins. He feels that this will help them understand that food and produce doesn’t just come from a grocery store.

I thought this was everything that he had done but then he took me across the course and showed me an area of the golf course that was vacated due to a hole that had been re-routed. It was simply stunning. He had removed the turf and planted probably close to two acres of flowers instead. As we stood there looking at it a group of ladies drove by on their cart and commented how excited they were to see the flowers taking off. It was a win-win for Mike. It made me feel so wonderful seeing this kind of effort being done. Mike was taken back by the amount of attention that he had received. He said that once the word got out, he got all kinds of calls. The best part was reading a few of the comments that followed the Spokesman Review story!

I would like to recognize Doug McCullen and Bayer Crop Science for providing the funds for Mike to do this. Doug told me that he was surprised how few courses applied for grants. He believed that Downriver was one of two courses that were awarded the grant. If you’ve considered doing some pollinator habitat, fall is great time to get it done. Learn more about the Bayer Feed a Bee program.

Staying connected

It’s those long dreary winter months that seem to never end but now that the season is in full swing, July has come and gone just like that. As the Northwest region field staff representative, I have the pleasure of visiting individual courses and seeing all the great work that is being done around the region. Sometimes, I am lucky enough to be able to play a few of these courses. On July 10, I joined the RMGCSA at their annual tournament at the Country Club of Colorado in Colorado Springs. Glenn Samuelson and his staff had done a wonderful job preparing the course.

Prior to teeing off, I had the honor and privilege to meet Stan Metzger. Stan was the grow-in superintendent at The Country Club of Colorado, but more importantly, he has mentored more superintendents than I can imagine. When someone like Dennis Lyon, CGCS, regards Stan as a mentor, then you know this guy is special. Upon Stan’s retirement, the club had offered him a lifetime membership. It was so great to see him still hanging out with the guys. Speaking of Dennis Lyon, it was great to see him at the event, as well as his longtime friend, and also GCSAA Past President, Steve Cadenelli, CGCS. Steve was in town visiting Dennis and joined us all for the day’s event.

I stopped to wonder how often do you see such pillars in the industry, two of whom were GCSAA past presidents, at a chapter event? It may happen more often than I am aware, but in my circles, this seemed special. It was great to see these three individuals making their way around visiting with many of the members attending. When I look back at my career, there were certain individuals that I crossed paths with that took the time to get to know me and spend time talking with me. Dennis Lyon was one of those guys. I was a member of the Chapter Relations Committee from 2007 to 2009 and remember hanging around O’Hare airport waiting to fly home from one of our meetings. Dennis and I sat and talked about everything you could imagine until I almost missed my flight home. I remember how cool that was that someone of his stature would do that. To this day, I know that Dennis was one of those guys that had an effect on my career. It’s probable they were doing the same thing that very day.

My point: If you are one of those members that perhaps have served your chapter well over the years and have even retired, you may not see the point of attending your local chapter meetings regularly. I urge you to please reconsider. You are such a valuable resource and have the opportunity to continue to mentor young superintendents and assistants well into and beyond your career.