If you simply say the words ‘August’ and ‘storm’ in the same sentence around the Redwoods ears perk up and stories start being tossed around recalling everyone’s experiences during the final weekend of August 2015. Going into the weekend of August 28^th to 30^th, Redwoods was more than ready. We had just accomplished a huge week of Shotgun Tournaments and Banquets as well our annual Boys of Fall Charity Golf Tournament and Music Event; a weekend with three weddings, even with one being our biggest of the year, seemed like a breeze!

Friday’s wedding went without a hitch! But come Saturday and Sunday the forecast was looking pretty stormy—but it was nothing we hadn’t seen before!

Saturday’s wedding was our biggest of the year and no matter the weather the wedding was to be held outside. However, come Saturday morning… The wind: howling. The rain: pouring. The Thunder: rolling. The trees: falling everywhere. The course: unplayable. This was about to get real interesting.

Just hours before guests arrived and the wedding ceremony was set to begin, the power went out with absolutely no signs of coming back on; we had to think fast because this was a show that must go on. We found some generators to provide power to the wedding reception tent so that the lights could shine and the music could rock—it was as bright and lively as any other wedding evening. Inside, the bar was lit with candles and glow sticks giving some light to the bartenders mixing drinks on what ended up being the busiest bar night of the year! A walkway was created with flickering candles to guide wedding guests through the dark clubhouse to the washrooms, giving off a cozy, romantic ambiance.

Meanwhile, the kitchen was experiencing a whole different scenario. Our Executive and Sous Chefs were hard at work preparing a delicious buffet for 173 people in a dark powerless kitchen with only one small oven working! It was a team effort but somehow they managed to pull off a delicious feast! Wedding number one was a huge success!

By Sunday morning we still had no power and a whole other wedding to throw! We used all we learned from Storm Day #1, along with the help of the dishwashing machines at the Fort Pub, and we proceeded as best as we could. All was smooth—hey, we had already done it once before!—until our restaurant manager saw something hot and orange that could devastate the day: flames. One of our trusty gas generators was working overtime and had caught fire. Three employees grabbed fire extinguishers, ran to the scene, and put out the flames before it got completely out of control!

With that small(ish) hiccup, the day continued on as normally as possible. Part way through Sunday around 8:00 pm the power came on and everyone inside the building cheered in relief! Many guests in the tent, however, didn’t even notice the power had returned as it looked completely normal out in the reception area the whole time!

The Redwoods Team accomplished so much on that fateful August weekend. Everyone pulled together and did things that we had never expected we would have to do. We cook food, serve drinks, host parties, fight fires, and chop trees here at the Redwoods AND we can do it all in the dark! Having survived that August weekend, we have no doubt that at Redwoods we can accomplish whatever we need to in whichever situations are dealt! Go, Team Woods! 

At the Redwoods we love supporting local. We pour pints of locally brewed beers, glasses of locally made wines and we even grow some of our own herbs on site! Driving south over the rolling hills and past the luscious farmlands of 216^th street you can’t help but notice the vineyard of the makers of our most popular wines who resides right here in Langley: Chaberton Estate Winery!

Chaberton Estate Winery has been producing award-winning wines since it opened

for retail in 1991. They produce over twenty different wines that are all 100% BC VQA. Chaberton uses grapes that are grown right here in Langley as well as some grown on vines in the Fraser, Similkameen and Okanagan Valleys. At the Redwoods we have been serving Chaberton wines for over ten years; it is our most popular wine at weddings and one of our top sellers in the restaurant. We have poured enough Chaberton to fill the average swimming pool!

Back in July, Chaberton Estate Winery graciously hosted an educational (and supremely enjoyable) private event at their winery for the Redwoods Food and Beverage Team. Upon our arrival we were given a private tour of the vineyard where we could look across acres of land teeming with six different varietals of grapes; wandering through a vineyard on a beautiful sunshiny day just cannot be beaten! Apparently, when you are standing in among the vines, and it’s really quiet, you can actually hear the vines growing! However, in a group of 15 ladies, it’s a tall order to get some silence—quiet certainly is not our strong suit!

Following the vineyard tour, we were taught about the entire process of wine making followed by Chaberton from the harvesting of grapes in early fall to a unique natural filtering process that they practice, to the ageing of the wine in French oak barrels to the bottling and labelling. So many individual efforts and practices go into each and every delicious bottle.

After the tour, we were greeted with a wonderful spread of cheeses, bread and crackers and a variety of wines to sample! Our tour leader Louise did a phenomenal job of teaching our team proper wine etiquette all the way from presentation to pour. Everyone got the opportunity to practice opening and serving wine to the group, reaffirming the tips that we were given.

The wine itself was amazing. We were fortunate enough to sample six different wines giving us all a taste of how fantastic BC wine is. Louise took the time to teach the team how to properly taste wine and gave us tools to help find the words to describe what notes and flavours we taste in wines.

An afternoon spent tasting (and learning about) wine while sitting on a shaded patio overlooking a vineyard is an afternoon well spent! Thank you so much Chaberton Estate Winery, your staff members are wonderful and your wines delicious—you make it so easy for us at the Redwoods to continue supporting local!

 

To learn more about Chaberton Estate Winery head on over to their website!

 

 

“Anybody who plays golf slower than me is an idiot. Anybody who plays golf faster than me is a maniac” -George Carlin

 

The pace of play is a well establish issue for the game of golf. While waiting a little bit can sometimes be a part of the game—and also gives you a few minutes to collect yourself before teeing off—there are few things less frustrating than waiting for long amounts of time to take your shot on all 18 holes. In order to improve the pace of play, many golf course owners, superintendents, and architects are actually setting up easier golf courses. However, it’s not just the golf courses to blame for a slow pace of play: we are all accountable!

Here are 10 ways we all can improve the place of play for the golfers around us and for ourselves as well:

1. Walk with a purpose:Proceed to your ball and be ready when it’s your turn to hit.
2. Play promptly:Take no more 30 seconds to hit your shot and definitely less than 5 minutes to look for a lost golf ball.
3. Be efficient on the greens:Read it. Hit it. Tap it in. Go to the next tee.
4. Be prepared before you get to the tee box:Start the round with tees, markers, balls and a ball-mark repair tool in your pocket. Replace head covers while you walk. Write down scores on the next tee.
5. Be cart smart:Drop off your partner and drive to your ball. When you leave the cart, take a couple of clubs with you, not just one.
6. Don’t give lessons on the golf course:Know your playing partners' strengths and weaknesses; help them on the driving range not while a group is waiting behind you.
7. Play a provisional: Not sure where that last shot went exactly? Hit another one so you play that one if need be.
8. Play the right course for your ability level:Choose a set of tees that will allow you to have the maximum level of enjoyment, not a gruelling round.
9. Be quick at the beverage cart: You will see it again, you don’t have to get everything for the round the first time you see the beverage cart on the golf course!
10. Arrive at the golf course on time: Nothing slows down a golf course like groups showing up late for their tee time.
11. Accept responsibility:Recognize that slow play isn’t just the other guy’s fault—you can do your part to manage the pace of play as well.

Remembering even only a few of these tips will significantly help improve your pace of play. Next time you come out golfing try your best to keep these simple tips in mind and enjoy your round while others enjoy theirs too! Happy golfing!

One of the most popular selections this year from the Signature drink selection in our Diamond Wedding Package has been the house-infused White Sangria. What makes it so darn good? We asked our resident mixologist who invented it (that's Tim, our restaurant manager) and believe it or not, he is willing to share his recipe with you!

In his words… "it all starts out at least three days in advance. I collect all of the necessary ingredients; some from the grocery store, some from our liquor storage and some straight from the herb garden that we have growing around the Redwoods clubhouse. To make sangria great it needs time to sit and get all of the flavours working together. To make your own white sangria combine all of the following in a jug and store in your fridge for a minimum of three days." (Yields approx. 4 litres of sangria).

 

• One litre of organic pear juice
• One 750ml bottle of white wine – an inexpensive Riesling or Gewurztraminer works best
• ¾ litre of white grape juice 
• ½ litre of white cranberry juice
• ½ litre of Sprite (Or soda if you don’t want it too sweet)
• One cup (8oz) of Vanilla Vodka
• Two cups of whole mint leaves (25-30 leaves) slightly torn
• One cup cubed cantaloupe 
• One cup cubed honeydew melon
• One cup halved green grapes

 

"Place all ingredients together in a container and store in the refrigerator stirring once a day to agitate the mint and really blend the flavours. When you are ready to serve it at your big event—by big event I mean after work on a sunny Friday on your patio—I find it works best to strain out all of the fruit and set it aside. Make sure that you remove all of the mint leaves as they might wilt and turn a brownish colour from the acidity of the juices. Serve the sangria over ice, top with a spoon full of fruit and a sprig of fresh mint. Cheers and Enjoy!"

This week our Assistant Superintendent Cameron Watt sat down with one of our newest Turfcare team members to help us introduce the face behind all the flowers at the Redwoods! Jean-Paul Raymond, JP for short, is the Redwoods’ horticulturist that joined us in early spring. He has a gardening and landscape background and came aboard for a new opportunity. If there is anything more you want to know, whether it’s horticulture or personal, you can find JP smiling away in one of our gardens doing a fantastic job keeping them beautiful!

 

CW: How did you become involved with Team Redwoods?

JP: I was trolling craigslist, looking for anything new or exciting. I was motivated for a new change for some time, something that could maybe help accommodate my personal life and goals a little better. I saw the ad for horticulturist and was intrigued, what an exciting and cool opportunity it could be working on a golf course! I applied and got the call for an interview. I thought about the possibility of new overwhelming responsibility, maybe I wasn’t really worthy (as he laughs).  But then again as a career building bonus, I thought if anything, this could help improve my interview skills. I’m very excited to have been offered the position.

CW: Give me a brief background of your work history.

JP: When I was younger, I was a bike courier for the city of Vancouver. Every day in my shipping travels, I would see gardeners and landscapers working outside of the many buildings. They all took lots of pride in their work because of the beauty and creativity. The results were always awesome. I was curious and began asking them many questions. I was hooked and I just fell in love with it. That’s when I made the decision to get into gardening.

CW: What might your new colleagues be surprised to know about you?

JP: Nothing really (as he chuckles).  I own a landscape company for which I do side jobs and projects. I’ve owned it for about five years. I am a proud father to twin boys.

*What JP wouldn’t say on record was his ex-BMX skills and success when he was younger, I saw the pictures, impressive!

CW: What do you enjoy most about Redwoods?

JP: The entire team here from every department is very friendly, I love the country feel and family atmosphere. The people that golf here is friendly, I love communicating with all of them about gardening. I also really enjoy the progression of my work, seeing the results happen. This whole place just has beautiful surroundings. I also really love the coffee (laughing).

CW: What motivates you?

JP: I’ve been gardening and maintaining landscapes professionally for 20 years. I get to be creative with colours, scents, structure, and balance. The results are always so beautiful and I love that—that’s what keeps me motivated.

CW: How would your friends or family describe you?

JP: I guess in a couple words, a quirky comedian (laughs).

*I didn’t find him funny ;)

CW: What do you enjoy doing when not at work?

JP: Spending time with my family. We have a trailer at Cultus lake and it’s the perfect place to spend time together having fun, sharing memories. We try to go there often.

CW: Is there anything I missed or anything that you would like to add?

JP: I’m really looking forward to becoming a better recreational golfer! (laughs)

 

Interview conducted by Cameron Watt, Assistant Superintendent at the Redwoods