What do young mobile and unemployed golf construction workers do when work is scarce? Go abroad, of course! Post construction at Old Macdonald I have had a series of job leads which have gone the way of the dodo, projects which could have taken me to places like Nebraska, Michigan, Florida, and even Scotland. In the end I took the most immediate opportunity to go on a golfing odyssey in New Zealand and Australia. In between time, I have taken jobs volunteering my work for accommodation on organic farms, pruning grape vines, and washed dishes just to get by. In a moment of desperation I recently walked over to the local golf course in Wanaka and directly asked the superintendent for a job. Being that the golf course is in dormancy there were no jobs to be had but I was put in touch with TIC, the only golf construction firm in NZ. I set up a meeting for the next day and before I knew it I was offered the job! Unbelievably 14 months have passed since I worked on a construction crew, time sure does fly.
I will be participating on a project which involves the reconstruction of 5 greens and the re-routing of the Cromwell Golf Club. Located in Cromwell, NZ I will be commuting 100km each day through the completion of the project in October. Interestingly, the site is blessed with deep sandy subsoils, much like Old Macdonald, on the Oregon coast. I am looking forward to this project as it presents an opportunity to apply many of the skills I learned on my last project. It will no doubt be another tremendous learning experience! I can't wait to begin.
Pictures to come....
