October Goodbyes

Happy trails to Sam!

(Birdbrained)

This blog will be slightly different than the ones I normally write. It also has a small sting to it. Swope's superintendent since 2017, Sam Bailey, has taken another job and is leaving us. Sam is taking the Superintendent position at Fred Arbanas Golf Course in Lee's Summit. Arbanas includes an 18 hole normal course, a 9 hole par 3, and a driving range, and no one is more deserving of this position than Sam.

(Big ole Chiefs fan.)

Sam started his KC career down at Heart of America in 2012, previously he was managing a 9 hole course in Nebraska. When the position for Swope opened up in 2017 he was an easy decision to replace the previous super. Each year, Swope continued to show improvement. Greens that were notorious for dying each season became playable again. Tree's were removed to create better airflow on certain greens. And to the disdain of many golfers, he grew out some bunker faces to pay homage to Tillinghast.

(Still not sure if he shot this.)

(Sam's family) 

Sam has been an amazing mentor to myself, and I owe everything I've learned about this industry to him. He's an integral part of our team/family out here and  all of us here at Swope wish nothing but the best for Sam. He will always be welcomed back to play 18 holes, enjoy a cold beer, and lose a couple balls in the tall grass.

Goodbye and Goodluck, Sam.

Don't forget to fix your divots at Arbanas.

Swope's September

 Fall is here!

(The mecca.)

September gave summer it's last push, and it did a darn good job at that. It seems every year the heat lasts a week longer than the previous. This year was no exception. High 80's were present from the 1st to the 26th, making for a taxing month. However, as stated above, fall is here. 70 degree days, cool nights, and football. The course looks forward to this time of year, but so do I. Absolutely perfect weather for smacking a golf ball around and even better weather for football Sundays, (see picture above.) 

(Sam Marlin and our Harleys at Adam's Pointe.)

We were lucky enough to be able to compete in a tournament at Adam's Pointe this month. We being myself, Sam Marlin (HOA), David Carlson (Minor Park), and Matt Nash (Swope/HOA/Minor Mechanic). Swope is a city owned course, but is contracted out to a management company, Orion. Orion Management owns: Swope, Minor Park, Heart of America, Sycamore Ridge, Adam's Pointe, Winterstone, and more recently Excelsior Springs. Since we were all Orion employees, we were allowed to take out the motor-bike golf carts, the only group in the tournament I might smugly add. Golfing is already fun, but if you ever get the chance to ride one of these bad boys, say yes. The wind in your hair, silent hum of the electric engine, the open road er cart paths. It was all we could do to not buy some leather and head North to Sturgis. **Sam Marlin hit a hole in one; Hole #8, 165 yrds, 9 iron.**

(Mowing native on #18.)

Nothing to exciting course wise this month. As we do every year, our native grass areas were knocked down, giving the course a cleaner look. 

(New trash can with a view on #15.)

Someone was having a little too much fun and drove a cart over the trash can on #15 turn around. After a bag of cement and a new bracket it just may be the prettiest darn trash can on this side of the Mississippi. Check out that sweet neon golf ball in the concrete!

We will begin aerifying the course on October 5th, so some big days are ahead, but we are so thankful that Fall weather is here and look forward to improving the course every day.

Fix your divots!