What A July, What A Wind!

How many days with 90+ degree weather so far this year? I think we are at 25 and counting. The month of July was something that is for sure. We had multiple days with soil temps at or over 100 degrees, it was a challenge keeping the turf cool. Collar areas took the brunt of the stress and there are quite a few poor spots to show it. We will be sodding a couple of the worst areas with bentgrass sod from the nursery area, and aerifying, seeding, and topdressing all the collars to help with a quick recovery. The recent cool down has been greatly appreciated that's for sure.

And now for the topic everyone has been talking about the last couple of days, the storm that blew through on the 3rd of August. Here are pictures to give you an idea of the damage and cleanup challenges we are facing right now. We hope to have 75% of the work done this week and the rest finished up by midweek next week. In all we will lose 17 trees due to the damage caused, some completely came down but many are so badly damaged that they need to come down. There are hundreds of hangers and fallen branches. Once the course is cleaned up and the hangers have been cut down we will start with the removal of the trees. A huge thanks to the members that showed up Sunday morning to help rake and pick up sticks, the effort is really appreciated by the staff. And a special thank you to Dean Geiger for the continued help he is giving us to load and remove brush from the golf course.

Looking Good!

It's pretty awesome the course drains as well as is it does.  Again, kudos to those that spent the time, effort, and money to get as much drainage into the course as they could many years ago.  With about 6" of rain over the last 9 days, we were able to cut all the fine turf and a lot of rough yesterday.  By the end of the day today we should be nearly caught up on all mowing.  The grass is trimmed, the turf is lush, and the course is looking great; You should get out here and play some golf!

Rain Rain Go Away...

We added another 0.75" of rain to the golf course last night.  This goes with the 2.0" the night before and the 1.5" the previous Thursday.  Oh yeah, not too mention the 1.5" in the beginning of last week...  Suffice it to say, the golf course is saturated.  There were also some strong winds last night the wreaked havoc on small branches and twigs.  The grounds staff is spending the entire day today picking up debris littered all over the course.  And all this in anticipation of the next volley that is supposed to roll through late tonight.  But don't be deterred members and public golfers; The golf course is still very much playable and in great shape.

At least this is rain and not snow!

( 2011_04_26 - Rain gauge reading )

I'm not even sure those are great numbers if your a duck! An inch of rain and 42 degrees, are you kidding me. I think someone missed the memo that there are golf courses out there trying to get some turf recovered and rounds in the books. Oh well, such is life. We actually have it easy with just a little rain and some cool weather. My heart goes out to those further south who are experiencing major flooding, numerous tornadoes, and such heart ache. 

Summer is on its way, I know it is...

Casual Water

Here are some snapshots from the golf course this morning. Needless to say, 3.25" of rain is going to take a little while to drain. Adding the 2" from Tuesday it brings us up to a nice 5.25" in 3 days, not bad...

2010_08_11 - Flooding on #6

2010_08_13 - Flooding on #10

2010_08_13 - Flooding on #14

Busy Couple of Weeks

Maia and I had our baby on Sept. 25th. Clara Maria Knox was born around 4:30pm and she weighed 8lbs. 7ozs. So needless to say the last couple of weeks have been busy and full of joy. Everyone is healthy and doing great.

The cold snap we are going through is slowing things down a bit on the course. We are not mowing everything on a regular basis right now because of the slow growth and not to mention wet weather we have had. Since last Thursday we have had about 5 inches of rain total and the golf course is plenty saturated. To top it all off the leaves are starting to fall and we are now beginning leaf patrol, trying to keep things as clean as we can. A couple things about the wet weather is that leaves do not blow away very well nor mulch up worth a hoot.

Over the next week or so we will start removing trees around #4 tee box in preperation for the renovation project that should be starting soon. The steps and flagstone path are in on #9 tee, we just have some work to do regarding the path and firming up the mulch so it is not so rough to drive on. Thirteen fairway is coming along, even with the weather lately. So all in all things have been coming together this fall so far, and right around the corner is tree trimming.

I stitched together a couple of snapshots I took of the clouds that rolled in this morning over the golf course, right before we got dumped on for about 5 minutes. Thankfully it was not enough rain to delay the project on #13 any longer. The bulldozer and tiller are now working on it as I type this. We've made the hole a par 3 for the time being, with the tee box located about 125 yards out on the left side of the cart path. We will be keeping the hole cut on the right side of the green to keep it as playable as possible. We may readdress the location once the fairway is seeded, because at that point there can absolutely not be any traffic on it while the seed is being established. Overall I think it works out well, and everyone can play to the green rather then a situation where a temp green is involved.

Rain Delayed

I wonder what the people driving by the club think when they look out over 13 and 14 and see a dead fairway? After a good couple of days over the weekend the RoundUp has worked through the plant and the turf is checking out. I did spray it again with diquat on Sunday night after the club championship to burn it down quicker and Monday was a good weather day for that. Then Tuesday brought the rain and it looks as though the project will be delayed for a couple of days because it needs to be drier for the tiller and scraper.

We have also worked out a deal with Hartman that will get the project on 7, 4, & 8 completed this year also. We are currently working on scheduling and details for that. Stay tuned for a update of what's going on in regards to that and also the progress on #13.

Who Ordered The Rain?

On Wednesday we received 2.5" of rain. On Thursday we received 0.75" of rain. The golf course is very saturated at the moment to say the least. For the last couple of days we have been paths only with golf carts, and I see that continuing today. Even the maintenance staff is limiting any traffic around the course while trying to tie up loose ends before the tournament begins tomorrow morning for the bulk of the field. The championship and presidential flights were able to get their first round in yesterday, it was what you typically call 'mudding'. And though the ladies could not get their first nine of eighteen holes in on Wednesday, they will be able to get their modified championship round in today along with the juniors. While it has been wet, the course is still holding its own and playing pretty good.

Just some reminders and notes because of the weather and wet conditions:

• Please repair your ball marks and a few others. The greens are very soft and even short chips are leaving a mark. There is going to be a lot of play over the next couple of days and it is important to give everybody a good putting surface. Fix your ball marks.
• Try to stay on the paths and cross fairways at 90 degrees. There will also be signs out there to steer carts clear of wet areas, please follow them. Again, we want the course to be in great shape for everybody.
• Remember to put the bunker rakes back in the bunker when your done. Let's keep things consistent throughout the course for all the players.
• Be sure to keep the carts on the paths when around greens and tees. The areas we have sodded will be soft and prone to damage, not to mention the bare and muddy areas.
• Because of the rain there is some long rough in a couple of areas between holes that we may not be able to mow. The fairway is your best bet to keep your scores low.
• The rough around the greens is wet, thick, and may be long in spots. Try and hit the greens, another best bet for keeping your scores low.
• Have fun, be courteous, and take care of the course so everyone has a great weekend of golf.

Day 44 - Rain, EAB, & Bunkers

And again I am extremely grateful for a super irrigation system! With very little rain this spring we have been pumping a lot of water onto the golf course. And though we have had the usual hiccups, the irrigation system has been working wonderfully. However, with all the wind we have had it has been a struggle to keep some of the seeded areas nice and damp. But things are progressing nicely. On that note, while most poor fairway areas are showing signs of good re-growth, there are some approach and collar areas that we plan to cut and sod next week. For the most part I have been pleased with the recovery of most of the golf course, excluding a few areas here and there.

Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) has been in the local news on a daily basis now that it has been found in St. Paul. How does that effect us is on a lot of members minds I gather, considering all the questions I have had in the past couple of weeks about it. There is no question it is devastating to any ash tree population, literally killing every tree, and we have a high population of ash trees. In fact the majority of trees on the golf course are ash trees, so when it gets here it will open the golf course up considerably. Our plan of attack right now is to inventory the golf course trees and start determining any "key" ash trees that we should consider chemical treatments for. This will start amongst the greens committee and go out to the board and membership from there. Preventative treatments have come down in cost, so it is reasonable to consider some for treatment but not a high number of trees. The best thing we can do is follow that course of action and start treating key trees to help prevent their demise. And along with that, let nature follow its course and deal with the tree removal when it comes to that. We could have it now, though I have seen no signs of it yet, or it could be many years before it makes it our way. The big thing is to not panic and start making any rash decisions about dealing with the high number of ash trees we have on the golf course. I will definitely keep everyone posted as to what we are doing in regards to the whole issue.

Bunkers, bunkers, bunkers. The project is starting early this year, next Tuesday as a matter of fact. Holes 12 & 13 are being renovated this summer, with some more work being put off until the fall. As usual there will be some minor tweaking to all the bunkers, the fairway bunkers on #12 will just have the old sand taken out and new sand put in. There will not be any moving, adding, or removal in that area. The greenside however will get some dramatic change with updated bunkers and a slight pinching of the approach. The work on #13 will really bring that hole into light. The fairway bunkers are being moved slightly more into the fairway and the second one will be brought in a little closer to the first. The willow tree along the pond will be removed and the fairway cut will be extended to within six feet or so of the pond edge. The greenside bunkers will be shifted slightly, with the right side bunker being brought in to the green closer and more towards the front right corner. The fall work which is tentatively planned right now would be a complete regrading and seeding of the 13th fairway. This would eliminate the drainage issues we have in the fairway, allow us to kill the predominantly poa annua fairway and seed in supreme blues, and make a much more playable surface. The winter kill that fairway suffered is a perfect example of how poorly the water moves through that area.

I apologize for the lapse in updates, I will do a much better job going forward. With EAB, minor projects, and everything else there is plenty too talk about.