We have recently hired two new assistants.
Joey Rufenacht started in the middle of May. He just recently graduated from Kansas State University in May with a Bachelor Degree in Horticulture with a Golf Course Management option. He grew up in Ness City, Kansas on a Family Farm where he worked until he graduated college. He worked at Stagg Hill Golf Club in Manhattan, Kansas for 3 years while going to school and spent one summer working there. Also, he interned at Creekmoor Golf Club in the summer of 2016. He is very excited to be starting his Career at Blue Hills Country Club.
Robby Henderson started at the beginning of April. He grew up in South Kansas City In the Red Bridge area. He has an Associates in Turfgrass Management, and has been in the golf maintenance industry for over 20 years, and playing golf for 35 years. Most of his time in the business has been spent in Arizona and California, but is glad to be back home where it all started.
This fall the Blue Hills Turf Crew began another tree project involving the removal of dead limbs, raising the tree canopy, and overall removal of dead decaying trees. We began the project towards the start of November by removing a few dead trees like the cluster of crab apples near hole number 4 tee box. There was another crab apple that was struggling on number 18 about 120 yards out from the green. We removed a few bigger trees that were beginning to grow hollow and already decaying towards the top of the tree. A few examples are the ash tree on the left side of 18 and another one on the right side around 250 yards out. Then we took a look and removed the two maples on the right side of 7 fairway behind the right bunker. These decisions will only benefit the turf health and possibly a few golf shots out on the golf course. We will be assessing more trees throughout the winter months and will make a decision whether those trees will need to be removed as well.
