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Full Swing

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June 2, 2021 – Brandon Razzo

Full Swing

The season is now in full swing. Leagues have started, outings are taking place, and school is out for summer. Not only is golf in full swing, but now we have our full crew doing what they can to bring you a great course to play this year.

Right off the bat we were hit with an irrigation setback as we had a cla-valve issue in the pump house. Not only was the irrigation down, but we got hit with 5 days of 80+ degree weather. The crew did an amazing job putting in some long, hot days to get water transported around the course and to the greens. We were able to come out of that stressful period and the greens have bounced back. The system is now back up and running and ran successfully through a full cycle.

We now have a new toy for the course. You may start to notice a drone flying around while you play. We are looking forward to being able to capture pictures and videos of some of our bigger outings this season. The drone will also allow us to get a better visualization of what is going on around the course. Especially to help us notice irrigation issues, and pinpoint stressed out areas. This tool will also help with communication with members, allowing us to keep you up to date on projects or issues we are having on the course.

As the season becomes busier, we also need to remember to follow course rules and course etiquette. More and more every day I’m seeing golfers disregard cart path rules, not fix ball marks, drive next to the tees and greens, jump hole to hole cutting in front of other golfers, and the course is becoming damaged because of it. I understand that most people feel like Cross Creek is a home to them, but that doesn’t mean it is your backyard to do whatever you want. Carts need to stay on the path around greens and tees. There is no reason to pull into the surrounds and park next to the green. This is causing green surrounds to lose grass from the wear and tear of cart traffic. It’s not going to kill you to walk from the cart path to the green or to the tee box. We can do our best to make sure the course is in good shape, but it takes the members doing their part to also take care of the course. You wouldn’t go to another course and drive up next to the green, so why do you feel that it’s okay to do it at your home course? I would hate to see it get to a point where we start suspending golfers from the course, but if that is what it takes to start getting the point across then that is what will happen.

Focus on remedies, not faults.

-Jack Nicklaus

Meet Brandon Razo

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Brandon Razo   –  Golf Course Superintendent for Cross Creek

Brandon is 35, born and raised in Decatur, IN. Married to Miranda with 3 daughters (Lauren, Alexis, and Ayneira). He has been with Cross Creek Golf Club for 8 seasons, starting his 3rd season as Golf Course Superintendent.

Brandon graduated from Penn State University with an Associates’s Degree in Turfgrass Science and Management. Brandon’s career path has led him to work such events as the 2015 Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club, the 2017 Presidents Cup at Liberty National Golf Club, and the 2018 TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club.  Brandon is currently the Vice President of the Hoosier GCSA.

In his spare time, Brandon enjoys playing golf and catching the Chicago Cubs baseball games with the wife and family either on TV or heading to Wrigley Field.

Brandon spends a lot of his time away from the Golf Course helping to coach the Bellmont High School wrestling and girls softball programs.

Bring On 2021!

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MARCH 2021 – BRANDON RAZO

Bring On 2021

Last season was very busy and stressful. Lots of open play, hydraulic leaks, irrigation pump going down, and the tragic accident losing not only an employee but 3 amazing young men made it very difficult for me to put what was on my mind into writing. But now I am refreshed, refocused, and ready to get this season going.

At the end of the 2020 season, we did a little tee renovation project. There were a few tee boxes that we wanted to flatten out to allow a better playing surface and open up more area for tee placements. I am very pleased with how they came out. We will be opening up 3 of them as soon as we get them rolled and mowed. The tee box for BK 2 still needs a little more work, we were about a week late on getting that one seeded last fall.

A main focus this year will be getting all the new greens totally filled in, and pushing the damaged greens hard to grow in. They are looking a lot better, but I feel we can have them totally fixed up this season. These greens could roll slightly slower as I will be pushing them with fertilizer every week to two weeks getting them to grow and fill in. These greens will also have sand applied regularly to help the process.

This year, Cross Creek is playing host to the Hoosier GCSA Member/Guest event. I am looking forward and excited to host this event this season to display the course to my fellow Superintendents from across Northeast Indiana. The date of the event is August 25th, so that gives my team a date and goal to get this course looking better than ever. I feel like this crew will do an amazing job this year.

Lastly, there will be one big change this year to Cross Creek. We have decided to change all out-of-bounds to red/white stakes. They will no longer be marked with white only. This decision will help speed up pace of play for leagues, outings, and open play. This is also something that the USGA is pushing for courses to do, and probably in a few years all courses will be making the transition.

“If you set your goals ridiculously high and it’s a failure, you will fail above everyone else’s success.”

-James Cameron