Why The Low H2O?

When we drained the pond on #6 down last fall we noticed the muskrat control netting had slipped down a few feet in spots and there were some burrows in the pond bank.  With everything going on this spring so far we have not had a chance to rebuild the small portion that got dug out and also install some new netting up higher on the bank.  Another issue with the pond is the gate system has rocks in the bottom of the enclosure that is preventing the bottom gate sections to seat properly and seal water off from draining out.  This coming week we will climb down and pull the rocks out, and also start to rebuild the pond bank and install new muskrat control along the pond bank.

In other news, we have been very busy tidying up the multiple projects we had left over from last fall/winter.  The tracks from the work on the irrigation pond have been cleaned up and sodded over in front of the 13th green.  The drainage on #15 & 16 has been cleaned up and prepped for seed/sod.  Some of the smaller stumps have been ground up and the holes cleaned out.  The larger ones are too big to feasibly do in-house so we will hire out their removal.  Most of the landscape beds have been cleaned out and are awaiting a fresh layer of mulch.  And to go with all of that we have already started some normal rough mowing routines and are getting closer to a regular mowing schedule on fine turf areas (kinda crazy considering it is only April 7th).

Renovations Complete on #16

 Before

After

Course Close, First Snow

( 2010_11_15 - First snow cover #4 green )

And the season has come to a screeching halt, 8-9 inches of snow will do that I suppose. I left on Friday afternoon thinking  Monday morning would be a good day for some pictures and updates on the projects and course as we head into winter. Well, I can show you winter, and that is about all. There is not 8 inches of snow on the course, but there is at least a few still. The heavy wet snow did provide some great moisture for all the new sod we just put down. The total for the current project was over 5,000 yards, some regular height rough grass and some 1.25" premium blue.

We had everything pretty well done before this first snow volley hit. Tee markers and some odds-n-ends supplies are still being picked up today, but for the most part that is it. All the chemical applications were finished up on Friday, and that is usually the most important thing going into winter. We did not get any covers down on the greens. We have enough covers left for about a half dozen greens to be covered, the same number as last winter. As many of you know we have been phasing out green covers over the last 5 years, so to possibly not have anything covered this winter is just an acceleration of the plan in place. When I started there were 14 greens covered, over the years as the mats have deteriorated we have not replaced them and are down to about 6 greens worth of covers.

Some of the things we have done over the years to strengthen the plant and protect the turf going into winter that will not be covered has been: fall foliar fertilizers high in potassium which helps harden off the plant for the winter months and a thicker sand topdressing which helps in protecting the crown of the plant. This winter we had planned to use a turf paint which would help protect against desiccation if there is little snow cover and spring green due to heating of the plants with the dark green color. So far it is something that golf courses in the area have just started to experiment with, and we had planned to do our own experiment with it this winter.

I still think we will have an opportunity to get some covers down and even some turf paint, but if we don't I am not overly concerned. Thanks to everyone for a great 2010 season! Let's hope for a good winter and a better 2011 season.

Bunker Work Commences

The bunker work has begun. The old sand was removed from the fairway bunkers on #12 and they were re-edged. New sand was put in today and they are back in play, be forwarned though that the new sand is very soft and the ball has a tendancy to plug. The left greenside bunker was ripped apart and renovated today also, it is almost completed. By the end of the week the whole hole should be nearly finished, just waiting on sod would be my guess. If there is no rain in the forecast and it is feasible, I will bring in the sod for both #13 and #12 in one shipment to save on costs...

Since the approach is getting a little work, we have stolen some sod from there and are using it to repair some of the dead spots we have on a few approaches. There was also some extra soil generated from the greenside bunkers and that is being put where the new tee box on #11 is going. That was a project that got postponed last year because there was no extra soil to work with from the bunker project, so this year we will be completing that. It will put the yardage for that hole from 190'ish to 215 or so, making it a good challenge for the championship tees. It will not be completed until this fall, so for now it will be rough graded and seeded with ryegrass.

And I want to thank everyone involved for a tremendous 50th Anniversary Party at the club last Sunday. I am so glad I got to play and be part of the celebration...