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As the golf season quickly approaches I wanted to take you behind the scenes of what goes into maintaining the entire Gold Mountain golf complex.

The greens are a crucial part to the success of our golf courses, we mow on both courses every day (weather permitting) during the summer at a height of cut (HOC) of .110 inches.

It takes two mowers per course and totals about four hours a day to mow all 36 greens, and immediately after cutting we take one roller out and smooth the greens.

We set up both courses every day, this includes cutting fresh cups (holes), picking up broken tees on each tee box, sanding and seeding divots on the tee boxes, moving tee stones and benches, emptying all trash bins, and moving/fixing the ropes on the course.

One team member is devoted to this task on each course, taking between four and five hours to complete, depending on how much play there was the day before.

Moving on down the hole, we mow our short cuts of grass at a HOC of .450 inches, this includes tees, approaches, and fairways.

These areas of both courses are mowed two days a week and take about six hours per course, with two team members on Olympic and one on Cascade.

The areas we consider our rough take the longest for team members to complete.

The area surrounding the greens take between 16 and 20 hours for two team members to complete between both courses, the area surrounding the tees take up to 16 hours to complete on Cascade and only four to six hours on Olympic, and the rough takes about 10 to 14 hours to complete on Olympic, whereas Cascade can take up to 40 hours to complete depending on traffic throughout the property.

Our rough areas are moved at 2 inches throughout the property, apart from Olympic course tee surrounds, which are mowed at 1.25 inches.

While we are proud of the entire golf complex, we especially take pride in the condition of our sand traps.

of weeds.

The Olympic sand traps are hand raked throughout and weeded three to four times per week.

The Cascade course sand traps are raked once a week using a Sand Pro, followed by hand raked edges, and manually pullingThere are various other tasks that take place throughout the week depending on weather, overall it takes our team up to five hours to complete sand trap care.

Filling divots with a sand and seed mix is one of our ongoing projects on both courses, and as long as we have golfers this will continue to be a big point of concern.

We dedicate a minimum of two and a half hours a day with two team members just to our practice area recovery and our fairways get their divots filled as often as possible, which ends up equaling up to 30 hours per week for our team.

Fertilizing and spraying the property is done on a regular basis throughout the year.

We do one granular fertilizer application on both courses that covers everything, except our greens, and this takes one person up to 35 hours to complete.

We then spray our greens, fairways, and tees with a variety of fertilizers and other products to continue growing healthy grass, this process totals about 20 hours per week for two team members to completely over the entire property.

A key part to our success includes the topdressing, venting, aerating, and verticutting of our greens, fairways, and approaches.

Topdressing our greens is done every four weeks, this improves overall playability and takes four people about five hours to complete.

Venting, aerating, and verticutting is implemented within each four-week window and takes one to two employees up to six hours a week to complete.

There are a few final miscellaneous jobs that we try to squeeze into an already tight working window.

Hand watering is a crucial part in maximizing course conditions, we dedicate 20 to 26 hours a week to hand watering localized dry spots across the property.

Irrigation issues are also an ongoing struggle and are difficult to anticipate, between the Cascade and Olympic course roughly 15 to 20 man hours are dedicated to prevention and repair of the irrigation systems each week.

Lastly, cleanup on the course is always a top priority, anything including trash, debris, tree limbs, divots, etc. is considered a cleanup item.

We try to accomplish this before our guests arrive so they have the best experience possible, this process takes about seven hours on each course to complete.

None of our course maintenance would be possible without the work of our two mechanics, Andrew Goodell and Jim Gregoire.

We have well over 60 pieces of equipment here at Gold Mountain, and they are responsible for making sure each piece of machinery is running and cutting perfectly.

This includes everything from string trimmers and chainsaws, to mowers and carts, and even our tractors.

They are also responsible for making sure the fleet of 127 golf carts at the Golf Shop is working properly.

And as if that is not enough, they make time to help on the golf course whenever assistance is needed.

It is pretty obvious that it takes a tremendous amount of man hours to maintain at 36-hole facility.

We are able to achieve this with five full-time team members on the Cascade course, six full-time team members on the Olympic course, seven seasonal members, two mechanics, and a superintendent.

There is so much more that goes on outside of what I have listed here, but needless to say it is very impressive what this group of people can do in such a limited amount of time.

We love Gold Mountain Golf Club and we want to make sure our guests love it just as much.

Patrick McKenzie
Gold Mountain Golf Club

According to the calendar spring is here, but the weather sure has a funny way of showing it!

On Saturday, April 8 we hosted our spring Demo Day, and while the weather didn’t completely cooperate, all the guests and vendors were nothing but smiles.

We host Demo Day every spring and it gives our guests a chance to try all the new equipment on the market and receive a nice discount on that new set of irons they’ve been eyeing.

This year’s event felt different than any other we’ve hosted before.

To say our winter and early spring have been bad would be an understatement, probably the worst I have seen in my 28 years, but what struck a chord with me was the upbeat, positive attitude of every one of our guests.

Everyone was so excited to be at Demo Day and it reminded me of why we all love golf in the Pacific Northwest.

I know I have hung my head several times this winter wondering if it would ever end, but our Demo Day really reiterated that the season is upon us regardless of if the sun comes out to play.

So, while the weather may be a little tardy to the party, grab your umbrella and rain gear and get golfing.

Daryl Matheny
General Manager

Well, spring has officially arrived today and hopefully the spring weather will arrive with it.

With the arrival of spring comes our semi-annual greens aerification, this project is scheduled for the week of April 10 through 14.

My plan is to use 1/4” solid tines this year as they will cause the least surface disruption of the tools in my arsenal.

Normally I would use 3/8coring tines in the spring but with the slow start we are experiencing this year, and the unpredictable weather we have been having, I have opted to go with solid tines.

If the greens are too wet it becomes difficult to completely pull the 3/8″ cores out, and it risks the cores being stuck sticking up out of the greens.

Needless to say this is not preferable for course conditions or the golfers!

After the aerification we will follow up with a light sand topdressing and off we go for the season.

During the summer we will occasionally “vent” the greens with a small solid tine, or our Planet Aire, which is more of a slicer.

We have many different options available to us to perform this task, in the fall I like to use a larger coring tine and backfill with sand.

This allows us to remove organic matter (thatch) that accumulates in growing turf and filling with sand keeps that channel open for good drainage going into winter.

The main reason we aerate greens is to introduce oxygen into the rootzone and release gasses built up in the soil.

Aeration also allows better drainage as the greens will seal up and not allow water to penetrate easily if we don’t perforate the surface regularly.

I know aeration is not popular with our guests but it is the single most important maintenance practice we accomplish each year.

With that being said, this spring our guests will hardly notice we have done anything to the greens thanks to the small solid tines.

Happy Spring!
Ed Faulk
Area Golf Course Superintendent

 

When it comes to deciding a grab-n-go menu for our golfers we strive to make the hot and cold products readily available at your fingertips.

The placement of the snacks, soda, Gatorade, and water, is easily accessible in the pro shop during registration, or at a nearby entry or exit to the golf course.

Hot items ordered in the restaurant at the turn, such as a huge Chef Jon burger, will take no longer than 8-12 minutes for our golfer’s in-between their nine holes so they do not lose their place on the course.

On course, we provide beverage carts and two full-service concession shops to cater to your needs during a round.

Join us before or after in the restaurant and have a delicious breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and enjoy one of our drinks designed with golfers in mind.

We take great pride in being able to customize any menu to fit your specific event requirements whether you have a group of 30 guests or 300.

A big highlight to all events at Gold Mountain is our big screen TV that is always showing local and national sporting events.

When you visit us for golf retreats, weddings or corporate meetings, please take advantage of our outstanding views of the Olympic Mountains and the beautiful Pacific Northwest scenery.

We will be hiring food and beverage employees for our upcoming 2017-2018 season in March.  Join our exciting team today!

Happy Eats,
Chef Jon Forcier

The rain has washed away our February snow, revealing the bright greens below.

This week we’ve laid out ideas for your golfing valentine. Special prices on gift ideas like “His and Hers” golf club sets, warm fleece jackets, and new golf balls.

Combine these with a couple’s golf lesson to create a thoughtful date-night invitation.

Be sure to come by and treat your Valentine to one of these great gift ideas or a gift card, (add golf and dinner too!)

We’re also preparing for the new line up of golf clubs for 2017. (Which means closing out the 2016 Demo’s at great deals!)

This month we’ll be receiving the new demos for Taylor Made M1 & M2 and Callaway’s Great Big Bertha Epic while preparing for the clubs to hit the sales floor in March.

Titleist Display

Get prepped for the season!

Plan to call for your fitting appointment with a golf professional soon at 360.415.5432.

The New Titleist 917 D2 and D3 drivers and F2 and F3 fairway woods, as well as the new Titleist ProV1 and ProV1x golf balls are available today!

Come roll some putts with the 2016 Odyssey works putter now $30 off.

Check out the Ping G30 line at reduced prices.

They’re an excellent value with high end technology and performance.

Wondering about GM’s Annual Demo Day?

This year’s demo day is planned for Master’s Saturday, April 8 from 12:00pm to 4:00pm.

Come try out all the new clubs from Callaway, Ping, Taylor Made, Titleist, Cleveland, Cobra, Mizuno, and Wilson.

Enjoy the new beers on tap, drawings for prizes all day, and get immersed in Master’s fever.

Now that the snow has come and gone, it’s a good time to gear up and get ready for spring golf!

Brrr!

The winter struck us early and fiercely this year, luckily it now looks like we are well on our way to spring.

Our Olympic golf course officially had its longest closure since it was built in 1996, totaling a staggering 37 days!

Our Cascade course was open periodically during that time, but was on all temporary greens.

We officially opened play on both courses on Saturday, January 21, 2017, and all regulation greens are now opened.

Since our reopening, we have heard nothing but positive things about the condition of the courses from our guests.

I played this past weekend and my shoes hardly got wet!

So, if you have been itching to get out and play some golf during this arctic winter, Gold Mountain Golf Club is the place to visit!

As I mentioned earlier, we are creeping into spring time and golf season is right around the corner.

You know what that means, it’s time for our first annual golf event, Mountain Madness.

Saturday, March 25 – Sunday, March 26

2 Person Scramble/Best Ball

$290/team: Includes a practice round for each player, competition rounds, prize fund, and lunch on Saturday.

Call the Golf Shop at 360.415.5432 for more details.

You can register online, call the Golf Shop at 360.415.5432, or register in person! The registration deadline is Monday, March 20, 2017, so reserve your team’s spot today!

Finally, if you want to establish a handicap and play in some of our Gold Mountain men’s club events this season, join the Men’s Club today!

It is just $55 (cash or check) for the year and you will receive various benefits, such as:

– Access to all the men’s club events throughout the year
– A GHIN handicap so you can post scores throughout the posting season
– A one-time 15% discount in the golf shop on an item (excludes golf balls, PING, and sale items)
– One free round on either the Olympic or Cascade Course
– Men’s club membership forms can be found in the Golf Shop, call us if you have any questions
– We hope to see you out here playing golf soon. Here’s to warmer weather and lower scores!

Thanks,
Travis Cary, PGA
Assistant Golf Professional
Gold Mountain Golf Club

gold-mountain-golf-club-wedding-woods

Weddings in the Woods at Gold Mountain Golf Club (photo via Fyrelite Photography).

Wedding season is just around the corner and Gold Mountain will soon be bustling with the excitement of celebrating that magic moment shared between soul mates.

Gold Mountain has so much to offer today’s bride and groom, with many different venue options to suit any palate.

Our Wedding in the woods has quickly become an extremely sought after location.

It is a hidden gem for both locals and visitors alike.

Nestled in the trees just off of the first tee you get all the comforts of being right next to your reception space, yet you feel like you are away from it all.

The great Pacific Northwest feel and quite beauty offers something unique to our guests that can’t be denied.

With wedding expos quickly approaching we are going to be offering a discount to all of our couples who book this amazing location from those shows.

You can find us on January 7th and 8th at the Tacoma Wedding Expo, February 18th at the Kitsap wedding Expo, and March 19th at the Kitsap Wedding Tour.

We are always available to give private tours of the property as well.

Come visit our inviting staff and take a peek at the newest local wedding attraction.

We are excited to share our space with you.

For booking or tour information Please contact Gold Mountains Sales and Planning Manager, Jesse McGee at jesse.mcgee@goldmt.com or 360.415.6894.

Saturday November 12th and the proceeding week was a very exciting time for the maintenance crew at Gold Mountain.

It began Saturday morning with a city council member tour and ended later the following week with the arrival of our four new John Deere Gator utility vehicles.

Saturday morning afforded us with the opportunity to not only show off our property and facilities, but also inform some of our City of Bremerton council members as to what our team does to make Gold Mountain Golf Club such a successful and sought after commodity.

Three city council members, Leslie Daugs, Pat Sullivan, and Christine Grenier joined Daryl Matheny (GM), Shawn Cucciardi (Director, Golf Division), and Patrick McKenzie (Assistant Superintendent) on their first facilities tour.

This was a great opportunity to show our guests, from a maintenance stand point, the equipment we are working with and how we maintain the grounds.

This allowed us to show and explain to them some items such as water usage and capital equipment improvements, which are always hot topics.

This was the first time Ms. Daugs, Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Grenier have toured our property and it seemed to be any eye opening experience for them to see what a production, in all facets, it takes to run a golf course.

Overall, the tour went very well and it is always great to show our city council members what we do to make this place so great.

Next, our new John Deere Gator utility vehicles arrived!

This is a major capital equipment improvement for the maintenance team. Our fleet of utility vehicles was in desperate need of improvement and these new Gators will allow us to perform daily jobs in a more efficient manner.

Work on a golf course is not all riding around on mowers. We rely heavily on utility vehicles to set up the course, complete projects, hand water, clean up downed debris, and a long list of other tasks.

Not only are these new Gators in better working condition than our previous utility vehicles, but they also have a better towing capacity as well as can haul a much bigger payload.

Some of the perks the team members enjoy are the covered cab and wind shield.

This allows them to get around the property on cold rainy days with some protection from the elements, which we all can appreciate the importance of after last week’s snowstorm!

Happy Holidays from all of us at Gold Mountain!

Pair your creative mind with our Wedding in the Woods venue, and rock a rustic natural wedding full of woodland touches.

This month we are featuring one of our favorite 2016 couples.

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The Wedding of Josh and Alycia at Gold Mountain Golf Club. Photo via Elisa Watkins Photography.

Josh and Alycia come from amazing families who shared in this once in a lifetime experience.

And now for the details: they were married in our new venue full of woodland touches and ambient lighting.

It included their own personal touch, a beautifully crafted cross.

The added the touch of acoustic instruments for part of their wedding music, was perfect.

Standing beneath the beauty of the enormous fir trees which open beautifully above, they shared their vows with overwhelming emotion and love.

After the exchange of vows, guests were escorted back in golf carts to our rustic Olympic room for a night to remember.

Our Wedding in the Woods venue can hold up to 250 guests, and is situated amongst the firs just past the first tee of our Olympic course.

If you want to have a destination ceremony, paired with a bit more of a traditional ceremony with that perfect Pacific Northwest feel, Gold Mountain is surely the venue for you!

Our Olympic room seats up to 200 guests and has all of the amenities bride and grooms long for.

It’s bride and grooms like Josh and Alycia that make our job so fulfilling.

We look forward to hosting many more beautiful and creative destination weddings in 2017!

Tiffany Schenk
Area Director of Food and Beverage
Columbia Hospitality

gold-mountain-golf-club-daryl-matheny-general-manager

It’s been a year of big changes!

As we move deeper into fall, I want to take a second and reflect on the season and what we’ve accomplished so far at Gold Mountain.

Both golf courses saw some upgrades this year, so let’s start with the Olympic Course.

We were able to purchase new bunker sand in the spring and re-fill all the bunkers throughout the course.

As we did this we were also able to re-build the bunker faces on some of the green side bunkers that get a lot of use.

The Cascade Course received a face lift of sorts this summer, as we changed the mowing patterns throughout the course.

These changes were different on every hole and ranged from a smaller fairway or landing area on some holes to more collection areas and bigger aprons on others.

This new look was intended to change the appearance but also make the golf course play a little faster.

The other significant change on the Cascade course is the addition of a new tee on the 5th hole that will turn the par 4 into a par 5.

We were able to add roughly 100 additional yards to the hole with the additional tee that should be open sometime this month.

The last addition of note on the Cascade Course is the new bathroom located on the 5th tee that was opened in the spring.

Food and beverage saw some very exciting changes this year, the biggest being a complete menu change that we rolled out in July.

This new menu offers a large variety of exciting items like stone fired pizza, street tacos, and hand dipped mini corn dogs to name a few.

Another big addition on the F&B side this year is our new outdoor wedding venue.

This new venue offers a dramatic outdoor space that can seat up to 300, and offers that outdoor Northwest feel.

Pretty cool stuff as I sit down and reflect all that we accomplished, and I can’t tell you how proud of the team I am.

Please make it a point to come out and see all these changes if you haven’t already, and I will see you out here!

All the best,
Daryl Matheny
General Manager, Gold Mountain Golf Club