Michael S. Williams
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126
Pistacia Lane
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Pomona,
California 91767
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(818)
425-6142
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El Rancho Verde Golf Club
| Director
of Agronomy/Infinity Golf and Hospitality |
| Golf
Course Superintendent - 2006 to Present |
| 355
E. Country Club Drive |
| Rialto,
California 92377 |
Director of Agronomy
Infinity Golf & Hospitality is management company based out of Rialto, California. Currently our portfolio includes one 18 hole upscale public golf course and one 18 hole golf course under construction in Southern California. Scheduled for a 2011 opening is Cascades Golf Club in Sylmar, California. Currently the golf course is going through a total renovation for housing. Once completed the golf course will offer large greens, hilly terrain and tight fairways. El Rancho Verde Golf Course is a upscale public facility located near the San Gabriel Mountains in Rialto, California. Designed by Harry Rainville in 1957 the golf course features large challenging greens, wide fairways and all practice areas to improve your game. The golf course plays almost 7,000 yards from the back tees and can be a true test to any golfer both young and old. The scenery around the golf course is something to be seen. With the mountains in the backdrop it adds a quiet but ominous view of mother nature. Future plans for El Rancho Verde includes a partial renovation to the golf course due to a large housing project that will be built with in and north of the property.
My responsibilities include the day to day operations as Superintendent at El Rancho Verde Golf Club plus overseeing the maintenance at the other golf courses that we manage. I work closely with the Superintendents at these courses as well the General Managers to make sure that the properties have no maintenance issues. My goal is to visit each course at least two/three times a month to check on conditions and view the golf course with the Superintendent. During these visits it is not uncommon to incorporate new ideas that the Superintendent or General Manger may have that may enhance the playablility of the golf course. Every property has different maintenance priorities so communication is vital from each management team to help the company reach it's goals. One of the main challenges that dictate the yearly revenue goals is the weather climates at each golf course. Structuring the correct budget expenses in water and chemicals are important to the overall success of the golf course.
In addition to managing El Rancho Verde, I have been responsible for these properties:
Stallion
Mountain Country Club - Las Vegas, Nevada
Shorecliffs Golf Club - San Clemente, California
California Oaks Golf Course - Murrieta, California
Plans for 2010 include increasing our portfolio by adding new golf courses. With the nations economy nearing an all time low and affecting the golf business as a whole, the Infinity Golf corporate team remains postitive in bringing in new business. We are constantly looking for properties to offer our assistance to create a "win/win" situation for both parties involved.
El Rancho Verde Golf Club
In addition to overseeing the other properties within the company's portfolio I am still responsible for El Rancho Verde as Superintendent. During the Summer my biggest challenge is the heat and during the Winter it is the winds. The Summer months can bring long periods where the temperature is over 100 degrees. This weather related issue increases the stress on greens and water management. By having a preventive pesticide program in place I can decrease my chances of diseases such as Summer Patch, Anthracnose and Rapid Blight from occurring. In conjunction with disease outbreaks is the concern for properly irrigating the golf course. The golf course was built on an old river bed which is full of stone and silt with little native soil to work with. During periods of extreme heat more irrigation is required to keep certain areas full of moisture. Maintaining moisture with in the green soil profile is a challenge in itself. Some greens dry quicker then others so by managing the irrigation system efficiently I can reduce drier greens and reduce diseases. A major plus to our irrigation system is our water source. We are lucky enough to use potable water on the entire golf course so issues like high salts and black layer do not occur.
Come the Winter months brings gusty winds. Since the golf course is located near the San Gabriel Mountains we receive windier then normal conditions. Stories from long time golfers have mentioned 100+ mph gusts at the golf course. I have come across old notes from pervious superintendents where a wind storms have caused over 150 trees to be uprooted and a massive cleanup. During these times the course needs to be cleaned from debris on a daily basis. One project that the grounds crew is in the process is of completing is tree trimming and removal. The course has many mature sweetgums, pines and eucalyptus which haven't been thinned out in years. Removal of suckers and low branches aids in mowing of rough and allowing sunlight to thin grasses to eliminate bare areas.
While our irrigation water supply provides the purist of water, the issue is how it is applied. The current irrigation system is run through controllers on the course as well as manual quick couplers with no central computer to manage output. Approximently 1/3 of the golf course is manually water by a night irrigator. To eliminate this time consuming task, a small "in-house" renovation project of installing new irrigation heads began in January 2007 by doing one fairway and in 2008 another fairway was converted over to automatic. By adding additional sprinklers to a fairway controller I will increase water coverage and save on labor. By the end of the winter I hope to renovate the weakest turf areas and turn them into some of the best fairways the course has to offer. The opportunity to make solid agronomic improvements are within reach at El Rancho Verde Golf Club
In July of 2007 I was fortunate to be featured in Southland Golf Magazine. This magazine is found at most public golf courses around Southern California. It was an honor to be recognized by this fine periodical.
http://www.southlandgolfmagazine.com/t-People-Green-Days.aspx
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2
Fairway - Par 4
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3
Green - Par 5
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Behind
#13 Green - Par 4
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