- Joined
- Jul 24, 2007
- Messages
- 4,219
Rep Bank
$5,375
$5,375
User Power: 458%
So many people are not happy with their situation. They want more and are looking for ways to achieve.
But, so many people fail at starting. Many more fail at the first obstacle. Yet even more fail at the perceived line of roadblocks in front of them. The ones that get through are the real doers!
The doer is a solution finder. The doer will grind while others wonder why they bother. The doer will not be intimidated by words from others. The doer will not be stopped by problems that look insurmountable.
The doer will do!
I am going to take this moment to brag a bit. Just for an example, mind you...
Our most recent purchase of the golf course was a huge leap of faith. So many things were wrong. We needed to take a completely f*cked up course and make it playable again. In the process we have to count on players coming back to play after walking away in frustration.
The playing area should be primarily grass. More that 30% of it was dirt!
Everyone around here had an opinion on why and were happy to tell me how to fix it. The GM and Superintendent informed me of how simple it would be. Just replace the missing sprinkler heads they said.
We have a winter seed process that happens every year. It is critical that it works. I was assured that this process was simple that that the facility was ready for it. If the grass does not come in.... we fail! Our business relies on the winter visitors that come from the north to play golf. We must pull in enough money during the season to carry us forward.
Well, we had a pump problem the first day that we shut down for the overseed process. The seed was delayed because we were preoccupied and did not have the ability to put water down. This took a few days to patch and we hired someone to come back and fix correctly at a later date.
Anyway, a week later the seed still was not down. Our operations and all income were shut down for this. The super had all sorts of excuses. I told him that we were seeding ready or not. He said that his experienced guys were not there that day and wanted to wait again. I told him that he was going to train me and the other workers and we were going to put the seed down. So we did and it was not difficult.
This continued the next day and we got most of the seed down.
Then the wind came up... real hard. The 30% of the course that did not have grass were blown clear of the seed. We did not have time to react and put anything in place to hold it down. The seed for the course cost over 25K! The real problem was that nobody noticed that the seed was gone.
A few days later it started growing. I was happy. A few days later, I realized that less than 50% of the course was sprouting. When I went to the super about it he said that he was concerned also and started giving all sorts of excuses. Even bringing up the idea that the course was sabotaged. I turned into a rabid dog.
I was spending a lot of time on the mowers and was all over the course most of the time. During this time, I was observing and noticed a lot of unevenness in the moisture on the course. All of our irrigation is setup on a complex system. I started mapping out the dry areas and asked for more water to be placed in those areas and was told that this was not possible. Then came the answer I was looking for... "well, it may be possible but I don't know how to do it".
We immediately got our rep on the phone and he told us how to make the changes.
I continued mapping out the course and making changes. I found empty locations between golfers and put more water on during the daytime. More grass grew but not much more.
The super then told me that there are different nozzle sizes for the sprinklers and that some may have low water volume heads on them. I went around the entire 130 acres and looked at each sprinkler head. I changed over 150 to the higher volume nozzles.
I was now monitoring all of the areas that had low/no growth and making sure that they had enough water.
Still... over 20% of the areas had no growth to speak of. It is now 22 days since the original shutdown. Members were expressing their concern. I am working every waking hour.
I decided to reseed all the bare areas. It was now becoming apparent that some of the areas had lost seed.
I found more problems. The majority of one of the fairways was bare. I dug into the dirt and found that the grass thatch was so thick (and dead) that there was no way that the seeds could root through it. The super suggested taking one of our tractors with a rake attachment to take up the thatch. I suggested a deeper thatching method but he felt it would be too disruptive to the golfers.
I continued to drive the course multiple times a day fixing irrigation problems and watering between golfers. All the while still mapping and monitoring.
Much of the seed was now starting to fill in but other problems were now becoming apparent. Many of the sprinklers were not putting out the volume that they should. I talked to the irrigation crew and they told me that they needed to frequently clean the individual sprinkler filters as they plugged. I had them teach me as this was not an easy process.
As I continued monitoring and cleaning it became clear that the heads in some areas were plugging immediately after cleaning. I tried to flush the system (miles of 8 inch pipe does not flush easily) to the point that I was saturating the course but not solving the problem.
The guys that work on the irrigation do not speak good English. One of them had been here for 15 years and told me that algae was growing inside of the pipes. This has been a problem here for a long time.
So, I continued cleaning, monitoring and mapping. I put the irrigation team to task on helping keep water on the problem areas.
to be continued...
But, so many people fail at starting. Many more fail at the first obstacle. Yet even more fail at the perceived line of roadblocks in front of them. The ones that get through are the real doers!
The doer is a solution finder. The doer will grind while others wonder why they bother. The doer will not be intimidated by words from others. The doer will not be stopped by problems that look insurmountable.
The doer will do!
I am going to take this moment to brag a bit. Just for an example, mind you...
Our most recent purchase of the golf course was a huge leap of faith. So many things were wrong. We needed to take a completely f*cked up course and make it playable again. In the process we have to count on players coming back to play after walking away in frustration.
The playing area should be primarily grass. More that 30% of it was dirt!
Everyone around here had an opinion on why and were happy to tell me how to fix it. The GM and Superintendent informed me of how simple it would be. Just replace the missing sprinkler heads they said.
We have a winter seed process that happens every year. It is critical that it works. I was assured that this process was simple that that the facility was ready for it. If the grass does not come in.... we fail! Our business relies on the winter visitors that come from the north to play golf. We must pull in enough money during the season to carry us forward.
Well, we had a pump problem the first day that we shut down for the overseed process. The seed was delayed because we were preoccupied and did not have the ability to put water down. This took a few days to patch and we hired someone to come back and fix correctly at a later date.
Anyway, a week later the seed still was not down. Our operations and all income were shut down for this. The super had all sorts of excuses. I told him that we were seeding ready or not. He said that his experienced guys were not there that day and wanted to wait again. I told him that he was going to train me and the other workers and we were going to put the seed down. So we did and it was not difficult.
This continued the next day and we got most of the seed down.
Then the wind came up... real hard. The 30% of the course that did not have grass were blown clear of the seed. We did not have time to react and put anything in place to hold it down. The seed for the course cost over 25K! The real problem was that nobody noticed that the seed was gone.
A few days later it started growing. I was happy. A few days later, I realized that less than 50% of the course was sprouting. When I went to the super about it he said that he was concerned also and started giving all sorts of excuses. Even bringing up the idea that the course was sabotaged. I turned into a rabid dog.
I was spending a lot of time on the mowers and was all over the course most of the time. During this time, I was observing and noticed a lot of unevenness in the moisture on the course. All of our irrigation is setup on a complex system. I started mapping out the dry areas and asked for more water to be placed in those areas and was told that this was not possible. Then came the answer I was looking for... "well, it may be possible but I don't know how to do it".
We immediately got our rep on the phone and he told us how to make the changes.
I continued mapping out the course and making changes. I found empty locations between golfers and put more water on during the daytime. More grass grew but not much more.
The super then told me that there are different nozzle sizes for the sprinklers and that some may have low water volume heads on them. I went around the entire 130 acres and looked at each sprinkler head. I changed over 150 to the higher volume nozzles.
I was now monitoring all of the areas that had low/no growth and making sure that they had enough water.
Still... over 20% of the areas had no growth to speak of. It is now 22 days since the original shutdown. Members were expressing their concern. I am working every waking hour.
I decided to reseed all the bare areas. It was now becoming apparent that some of the areas had lost seed.
I found more problems. The majority of one of the fairways was bare. I dug into the dirt and found that the grass thatch was so thick (and dead) that there was no way that the seeds could root through it. The super suggested taking one of our tractors with a rake attachment to take up the thatch. I suggested a deeper thatching method but he felt it would be too disruptive to the golfers.
I continued to drive the course multiple times a day fixing irrigation problems and watering between golfers. All the while still mapping and monitoring.
Much of the seed was now starting to fill in but other problems were now becoming apparent. Many of the sprinklers were not putting out the volume that they should. I talked to the irrigation crew and they told me that they needed to frequently clean the individual sprinkler filters as they plugged. I had them teach me as this was not an easy process.
As I continued monitoring and cleaning it became clear that the heads in some areas were plugging immediately after cleaning. I tried to flush the system (miles of 8 inch pipe does not flush easily) to the point that I was saturating the course but not solving the problem.
The guys that work on the irrigation do not speak good English. One of them had been here for 15 years and told me that algae was growing inside of the pipes. This has been a problem here for a long time.
So, I continued cleaning, monitoring and mapping. I put the irrigation team to task on helping keep water on the problem areas.
to be continued...
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today
]
