A note from the great, white north

I got an e-mail late last week from Chris Tritabaugh, the superintendent at Northland CC in Duluth, Minn. You might remember Chris' name from a couple of earlier posts where I mentioned the blog he had created to chronicle maintenance activities on his golf course.

While we were aware of what Chris was doing in Minnesota, he wasn't really aware of what we were doing with the blog here in Lawrence. So when he began to notice a great deal of traffic hitting his blog originating from "gcm.typepad.com," he was curious. He tracked things back here.

"I must say I am quite flattered to be recognized in this way," the nine-year GCSAA member wrote in his e-mail. "Last year was my first season at Northland and communication with the membership was one of my biggest priorities. I used the club's mass e-mail system early and often, and the membership really loved it. Wanting to expand this communication with pictures and a more colorful format, I began looking for options."

That took him to a club member who had been maintaining a general Northland CC blog for going on two years now. With some technical assistance from that member, the maintenance blog was born. "It has been very well received by the membership," Chris wrote. "It's given me a way to stay in touch over the long winter months and the possibilities are endless during the golf season."

Thanks for writing, Chris. Glad to hear that we've given your blog (you can find the link in the list to the right) a little boost, and hope some of those outside visitors will pick up a trick or two that they can apply at their own club.