The little things

We are proud when a member or guest has a good experience at Bretton Woods. We strive every day to make the course better than it was the day before, or the week or year before. Often, the little things do get noticed and the recognition is terrific. But, sometimes the little things we do go unnoticed. This is not a rant about wanting recognition. In fact, we know we are appreciated and do not work for the pat on the back. The point of this post is to mention a few of the little things we do that are examples of the detail and care that we feel for Bretton Woods.

Let’s discuss this past weekend as an example. One of our major club tournaments, the Stroke Play Championship, was contested. We have made an effort to increase our staff this season, not only to accomplish the many day-to-day tasks that are required, but also to do extra things for special occasions. This past weekend we mowed the fairways for the tournament. We mowed 9 fairways on Saturday and 9 fairways on Sunday. That, by itself, is not a new thing; but on the 9 holes we didn’t mow each day, we dragged the dew off of the grass. Most people will never know, but the first few groups out may have. There are many agronomic benefits to taking the dew off, especially if you have cool-season turf grass as the fairway grass. There are fewer benefits for us because we have Bermuda grass. But we were doing it for the benefit of the golfer. A drier, dew free fairway to play from is much nicer and much better for a tournament. It gives the impression that the entire course was prepared for the day, even if our staff and time allowances don’t allow for that to take place.

We also put out all new white cup liners inside the cups. All new flags were put out as well. A few people may notice, or many may notice, but the idea was to do one more little thing that made the tournament better, not to see how many people notice. Fresh cup liners make the cups look brand new. They are much more visible and clean. The brand new flags are spotless and the red, white, or yellow is brighter and more vivid.

Lastly, we developed a device to help us keep the intermediate cut of rough, or step-cut, a consistent width. We have been using this tool as long as we have been mowing fairways this season, but this was the first major tournament in which the results were on display. We have tried other tactics in the past, which you can read about here, with mixed results. The reasons we want the consistency remain the same, but we are trying a different way of achieving it this year. We haven’t created the next great invention, we simply stuck a broom handle, cut to our specifications, in a slot on the fairway mower cutting reel. When the fairway mower operator cuts around the edge of the fairway, the broom handle extends to the far edge of the step-cut. As he keeps the stick extended over the step-cut, his cutting reel automatically cuts in the correct position on the fairway. This, in turn keeps the step-cut a consistent width all the way around. Why does this matter? It doesn’t. We have never had a complaint about the width of the step-cut and only a few people may ever notice. We made this change to make the course look better and play better for all member and guests. Now, places that should be fairway are cut appropriately, and likewise, areas that should be rough are mowed accordingly.

Dragging dew or putting out new flags are small improvements that may not affect a single golfer’s round. We did them because we take pride in Bretton Woods and wanted to do something extra to make the course better, and for this weekend, the Stroke Play Championship better.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Golf carts must always remain on cart paths once past the green and white posts, through the next tee complex. This is not weather dependent!

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org