The season is upon us! Well, maybe it doesn't look like it outside with the snow/ice we just received to start the month of April, but it is right around the corner. I would like to use this post to introduce our full-time seasonal staff. Our turf crew will have a total of 7 guys including myself and my assistant. Four full-time guys and one part-time guy. As of now, the 4th full-time position has not been filled and won't be until May. Our one part-time guy will also not begin until school is out later in May. We will open our fourth full-time spot for hiring later this month, so if you or someone you know may be interested, please apply!
First, I would like to introduce our Assistant Superintendent, Chase Tjelmeland! Chase is a recent graduate in December of Kansas State University. He is a native of Topeka, Kansas and attended high school at Seaman. Chase played soccer and golf early on in his college career before he decided to settled at K-State to earn his Turf degree. During his time at K-State he spent his summers working and doing his internship at Firekeeper Golf Course just north of Topeka. Chase accepted his job at Minor Park in November and began on January 2nd, 2018. He and his wife Kelsie moved to Overland Park, KS in December. Kelsie is a student at UMKC nursing school and works at Overland Park Regional Medical Center. Chase is a huge asset to our facility with his strong work ethic and turf knowledge!
Next is our longest tenured employee and full-time seasonal guy, EJ Doolittle. He has worked in the golf course maintenance profession since he graduated high school in the 80's. EJ has worked at a hand full of different courses around the city as a native of KC. This season will be his 7th at Minor Park. Patrons at our facility would refer to him as our "Rough mower guy" because he spends a lot of his days on the rough mower mowing acres of grass. EJ is capable of doing almost any job for us on the course which is very helpful for our crew. On those hot summer days, he is the one and only that is willing to sit on that hot mower all day to keep us mowed out!
Our next crew member is Amilcar. He is a master on the golf course. Pretty much any job you put Amilcar on you can expect it to be done right and above and beyond what was expected. This is Amilcar's 4th full season at Minor. He is a native of El Salvador but has been a citizen of the US for many years. Every year when it is time for our seasonal guys to start coming back, I get nervous until I see Amilcar walk back through the door because he is such a great worker!
Last, but definitely not least, is Tulio. He is also beginning his 4th year with us at MP. Tulio has also worked at a few different courses around the city. Tulio is a very big part of our crew because he isn't afraid to do the not so fun detail work. He is the type of guy that you tell to go do one thing and by the time he has finished that job he has also done two other jobs as well. He is also a native of El Salvador. Tulio is a very hard worker and always holds two jobs at a time. He spends his mornings and afternoons with us at Minor and then goes to Indian Hills CC and works his evenings on the kitchen clubhouse staff there. Tulio is just a guy you can trust and works hard for us!
All of our crew guys are very reliable. That is something in our business that is big in my opinion. Being able to trust that every morning at 6am these guys are going to walk through the door and go out and do their job at a high level is something I don't take for granted. Without our crew and their attention to detail, our facility couldn't keep improving. They make it easier for me to get some sleep at night knowing I have these guys on my team! We look forward to a great golf season and PLEASE feel free to introduce yourself to our staff members and say Thank You!
