Winter Maintenance

One of the most commonly asked questions of our department is "What do you do all winter?" Even though it may be considered the off season for golf in Michigan, it is anything but for the Greens Department. In addition to handling all of the snow and platform tennis maintenance duties, we must tear down every piece of golf course equipment during the winter months in preparation for the next season.

Pictured above is our Head Mechanic, Nathan Foondle, working on one of our three fairway units. These cutting units(reels) must be completly disassembled, thoroughly cleaned, bearings replaced, greased, reassembled and sharpened for the upcoming season. This detailed work is just some of the routine winter maintenance required to upkeep our equipment at the highest level possible.


This fairway unit already has had the reels sharpened and is now ready for a through inspection. The machine is placed in our lift to inspect, and replace where necessary, every hydraulic hose, change filters, and all necessary fluids.

Winter provides our two mechanics with about four and a half months to thoroughly dig into every piece of equipment from the smallest weed whip to our large John Deere tractors. This is an extremely key and time consuming task. With the season just around the corner, about 85-90% of the all the equipment is complete. Just a handful more items to get through before mother nature says it's time to golf. Authored by: Kevin Peck, Assistant Golf Course Superintendent

New Intern Housing Standing by for the 2013 Season

New this year is a dorm style house for students that are completing internships for their college degree. The dorm is capable of housing six students completing a professional internship as a requirement for their degree in higher education. These interns will come with an interest in various areas of private club management: golf course maintenance, inside management, cullinary, tennis, and future golf professionals. The dorm consists of a full kitchen, six bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a common area. Here in the Greens Department, we are excited to announce that we have our first intern lined up to start in late March. Bryan Kiel is a student from Michigan State University in the Turfgrass Management program. He will be with us for nearly five months getting as much on the job experience as he can. Our goal is to be the "launching pad" for Bryan and hopefully many more like him to follow. Be sure to check back throughout the season to learn more about Bryan's experience at CCD! Authored by: Kevin Peck, Assistant Golf Course Superintendent