Super bloggers continued

If the four blogs created by golf course superintendents that I've been stockpiling for the last few weeks are any indication, it's clear that golf course maintenance professionals in the northern part of the continent are putting their winter downtime to good use.

All four of our newest inductees come from golf courses that, at worst, are in the northern stretches of the transition zone — Nebraska, Wyoming, Minnesota and (here's why I used "continent" instead of "country" in that last graph) British Columbia in Canada. Toss that in with the first member of our super blog hall of fame, Chris Tritabaugh from Northland (Minn.) CC, and the northern guys are setting the bar pretty high for superintendents in the South. I'll give the Southerners a pass because of the whole "year-round golf" thing, but come on fellas! Dive in to cyberspace; the water is fine.

As always, there is a permanent list of these site in the far right hand column. The only change now is I've pulled them out of the "Favorite Links" section and gave them their own "Super Blogs" list. If you publish your own blog on golf course maintenance at your course or know of someone who does, feel free to drop me an e-mail. We'll feature them on the blog and add them to that coveted list.

And now on to the four new additions, along with a fun little fact about each one:

• Josh Maher, a 14-year GCSAA member, is the Class A superintendent at Wild Horse GC in Gothenburg, Neb., conveniently located 290 miles east of Denver, Colo., and 180 miles west of Lincoln, Neb. Despite it's rural setting, the course is a looker and is ranked among the top courses you can play on a number of national consumer golf publications. Maher details maintenance activities at Wild Horse on the "Super News" section of the course's Web site. Fun fact: The largest employer in Gothenburg is Baldwin Filters with 200 employees.
• Players at Lander (Wyo.) GC keep posted on course conditions through this blog, maintained by superintendent Jason Aanestad, a 5-year GCSAA member. The blog also features profiles of the staff, a glossary of turfgrass terms and (my personal favorite) a snazzy chart that tracks green speeds. Fun fact: I've been to Lander, Wyo., on a camping trip a few years back. Lander is about 120 miles southeast of Grand Teton National Park, about 200 miles southeast of Yellowstone.
• Gary Deters is the assistant superintendent at St. Could (Minn.) CC and an 8-year member of GCSAA. He's maintaining this blog that details not only specific maintenance issues at St. Cloud, but also general golf course maintenance issues like pre-emergent applications and preparing bunkers for a new season. Fun fact: Deters is the captain of the Avon Lakers, an amateur baseball team that plays in the Victory League. According to the roster, he plays center field and pitches.
• Not sure exactly who produces this blog — the GCSAA database shows only a Craig Stanley as the assistant superintendent — but if you're headed to British Columbia and want to find out about conditioning at Mountain Meadow GC in Elkford, this is your blog. Fun fact: This nine-hole layout was built on a natural elk grazing field in 1976 and calls itself "The Best Kept Secret in the Kootenays." And really, who am I to argue with that?