CANI on the Course

If you haven't heard the acronym "CANI" before, it stands for constant and never-ending improvement--or as we like to say, raising the bar.  With the goal of always seeking to better every phase of the golf course operation, we already have a Word document labeled "2020 Planning Notes" in progress.  This contains a list of changes we'd like to make in the future, dealing with everything from staffing, to fertilization and fungicide timing.  In early fall we will review the ideas and goals in this document, and include many of them in our business plan for the upcoming year.

Often times the improvements we make from year to year are minor in nature, and typically won't be noticed by a golfer.  However, these small tweaks can contribute to the overall quality of the product we are able to present to our members each day.

What's truly rewarding is when a suggested operational change comes from the front line staff.  A good example of this led to the way in which we are now mowing the approach on #11.  In the past, we would often see wear from the triplex mowers trying to negotiate this narrow area.  One of our full time employees, Jeff Stewart, suggested that we start hand mowing this approach when we cut collars.

When we looked at the cost (a few extra minutes of mowing) versus the benefit (improved turf condition) this change made complete sense. A simple, yet great idea--but that's not the best part of this story.

As Jeff is typically the person tasked with mowing collars, this idea actually increased his workload, and added to the 15 mile days he often puts in for us.  However, like many of the staff, Jeff has the ability to look beyond his own job, and focus on the big picture of what we are trying to accomplish.  We are truly fortunate to have such engaged team members, and look forward to continually raising the bar!