Self Evaluation Paper

 Liam Chapman

Kelly Griffin-Brown

Senior Project 

May 24, 2022

Senior Project - Self Evaluation Paper

I have learned about The Country Club of New Hampshire and how they run their business while learning about golf to become a better player throughout my senior project. Our Initial goals (2) for the project were to understand and analyze the business perspective of the golf course learning about facets that go into the country club. Improve our golf game by practicing and being engrossed in the sport. The only goal that we didn't complete was because of Quin's knee injury; he could not participate in the golfing portion; regardless, it allowed me to get a lot of golfing in. Some of the benefits derived from our project were the appreciation of a golf course and the care that goes into making one and maintaining it, along with the value of hard work and effort. Some of the negative aspects of the project were that some days being stuck at the golf course on a ninety degree day when the sun was bashing down felt debilitating; luckily, the pro shop had air conditioning. I have learned so much from this project; Quin and I showed up at the golf course for the first time and met our mentor during the senior project. When we first went into the pro shop, we met all the staff and were introduced to the country club as we learned about the course; after he gave us the keys, we went to play 18 holes; this was the first time I had played the course, and I had nothing but a good time. After we finished golfing, we learned how to clean our cart. After that, we talked with some guys in the pro shop about scoring and good scores on their course. I felt very confident with my 48 on the first nine. As the week went on, my personal goal was to score lower and lower every round I played. It is a humbling experience because a golf course can look like a grassy field from a distance, But to others, a golf course is a screenshot of the hard work, dedication, and patience it takes to maintain that image. I enjoy the project I'm working on; I've had a lot of fun and learned so much from the guys who work here. Also, it has been an excellent opportunity for me to get out on the course and get back into the game. Dad, my uncle, and I would go out and play 18 on a Saturday morning. So far, we have had some surprises. The first and most devastating was Quinn's knee situation. That was a shock for everyone because a freak accident resulted in Quinn needing crutches as his injury would take him through a tuff surgery. This has been a challenge during our project because there is a limit on activities that Quinn can partake in, so we have to pick and choose what we do. Overall we have done well at a balance of keeping his knee safe and being on the course doing everything possible. I will benefit from this week's work activities because they will help me this summer when I work at the golf course. I plan to work with the maintenance crew, and this project has allowed me to prepare for that. This project helps me achieve my goals because it gives me real-world experience that I can use when I'm in the future. The skills I'm learning will be helpful in the near and far future. From this project, I feel that Discipline and Compassion as personal qualities have stood out. Discipline because being punctual and managing time is different when you are the boss, we were responsible for being there, and it was our job to keep on track, and that's where Discipline came in. Compassion because doing this project with someone on crutches is difficult because I want to go out and play 18. It was hard for Quin to sit in the bumpy cart with his knee, so in cases like that, we would chill in the pro shop. So Compassion because I had to feel for him and do whatever I could to make it easier. The most significant thing I can take away is a quote from one of the workers I took with me, "If you're going to do it half-ass, then don't do it." (spanky- on the course). This quote stuck with me because it is true and can be applied to all of my activities and chores. Spanky is an old-timer that works at the course, and I respected his work because regardless of his age, he was out on the course keeping himself busy. One person who stands out to me from the course is Spanky. I met Spanky on my first couple of days at the course, and his comedy and jokes are to die for. He also is brilliant and showed Quin and me a lot about the maintenance crew. If I had to do the project again, I wouldn't change anything. We had so much fun and learned so much about the golf course; maybe we could be a little bit more punctual in the future. We got to know the workers there and started to form friendships with guys at the pro shop. The golfing that I got to participate in was incredible, and the care and time that the maintenance crew put into the course were remarkable. Derrick, the man who runs the show, has been not only our leader but a role model and a friend to us and has guided us along the way, teaching us, coaching, and mentoring us. There were a lot of small specific tasks that we learned about through our time with the guys learning about how the country club runs and the business aspect or learning about the food or all the techniques the maintenance guys showed us. Over the week, my favorite thing that we did was picking up balls in the driving range or learning about the grill. These were so much fun to me because the ball picker-upper is fun to drive around and when we learned about the grill, we got to have some of the food, and the food at the country club is delicious. We had a great week, and they weren't any surprises other than a couple of days when the weather was rainy