Golf Course Maintenance Update

#11

It's been almost four weeks since we conducted aerification on the golf course and things have healed up nicely. We still have some areas in the fairways with a light coat of sand, but this should continue to get better as we get more good growing weather. We also have the front nine rough to aerify as well. I had hoped to get some of the approaches verticut and sanded by now, but weather and other factors have delayed this process. We are looking at the schedule to see how we can fit this in without too much disruption to play. We also are about to apply our post aerification fertilizer to the entire golf course.

Much of our time lately has been working on the irrigation system. Typically after the winter months there are issues with valves and damaged sprinkler heads that have to be repaired. When repairing valves, this involves digging down to a lateral line which is connected to the main line. Many times this can be quite deep and digging can be difficult. Based on how deep and how it's configured to the main line, repairs to valves can be very time consuming.  Sometimes the entire plumbing has to be redone. Frank Pablo Jr. and Jeff Ellison, our two irrigation techs, do a great job of identifying the problems and make the repairs as quickly as possible.

Members have commented recently that the grass in some fairways are thin. I agree, and we are working on a more aggressive plan to try and stimulate more growth in these areas.  Part of the problem, as we all know, is due to shade and some of it may be due to a lack of increased inputs in past years to help with winter recovery and addressing soil issues . Our goal this year is to target some of these areas with increased agronomic inputs to try and address the root cause of the deficient turfgrass. Hopefully over time this will improve to give us a much thicker stand of turfgrass. 


The pictures where taken on Wednesday the 8th on a beautiful sunny afternoon.  I never get tired of taking pictures! 

 #10 

#12

Aerification Update

I'm pleased to announce that our spring aerification process is in its final stages. As of today, April 19th,  we have finished aerifying and sanding the greens, collars, and tee complexes. We've also finished aerifying the fairways, and will now topdress them with sand over the next several days, weather permitting. We also are going to be verticutting and sanding the approaches to the greens as well. Our last aerification will be in the roughs, which we plan on doing next week. Once these final processes are done our spring aerification will be complete. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the membership during this process as I know it's an inconvenience.

#10 Tee

#9 Green

Additionally, you will notice that our snack shack/restroom at the 9th hole has a new roof and new support posts. We are planning on putting in a new counter as well. When weather permits, we plan on painting the building utilizing the same colors that are on the clubhouse. The food and beverage department is planning on utilizing the building this summer, stay tuned.

Snack Shack/ Restroom Before

Snack Shack/Restroom After

Golf Course Maintenance Update

The golf course maintenance crew has been busy the last couple of weeks with a couple of projects along with continuing to adjust to our spring growing season. As soil temperatures increase, we will continue to see additional growth out on the golf course. The past couple of weeks have kept many of our mowers busy trying to keep up. The photos below are of some recent activities around the golf course you may be interested in seeing.

#10 Behind the Green

You may be asking, why behind the green? As you probably know, this area stays wet and soggy year round. We had difficulty mowing this even in the dead of summer and it was very unsightly.  It's a natural low area where the existing drain had failed. Once drained, golfers who carry their bags or use push carts will eventually be able to walk through here without losing their shoes! We know this is not an area of great importance to play, but was something that had to be fixed.

#3 Brush removal

This is an area to the left of # 3 green that was once a large blackberry bush and a small grove of holly trees. If you hooked your ball off the tee and it bounced left you probably would never have ventured very far due to the thorny consequences. Now you can most likely find your ball and be able to play out either into the approach or possibly to the green. While not finished completely, we are planning on doing some more clearing to make the area even better.

#6 Left rough cleanup

The three pictures above where taken to the left of the rough on #6 down in an area you definitely don't want to hit your tee shot. The crew spent the better part of one day cleaning out this area to make finding your ball easier. Good luck with your next shot!

Snack Shack/Restroom 

As you may be aware, we are in the process of re-roofing the snack shack/restroom building. The building has some good news and bad news. The bad news is, we had considerable rot going on in the posts on the outside of the building and the cedar shakes on the roof. The good news is, the rest of the building is in very good shape, with no interior damage or structural rot, except one main beam of the four that support the roof. As you can see by the photo rain delayed some construction, however we have been able to get the new beam installed along with the new outer posts that are now treated lumber and not resting on the ground along with three sides of the roof sheeted with plywood.Weather permitting we hope to have the roof on next week. No new construction or renovations are planned for the existing restrooms, we are focusing on just the roof at this time.

And finally, one fine spring day #10 !

#10

Golf Course Maintenance Updates

The following photos are of projects the maintenance crew has been busy with over the past several weeks, some of which will be on-going until our mowing season starts up.
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Freshening up the landscape around snack shack/restrooms

Removal of dense underbrush and trimming of the Rhody's

The restroom area was pressure washed and new drains were installed in the ground completely around the building. The old drains were non-functional and failing completely. We are planning some needed improvements to the roof and pillars. Opening up this area has helped the tee on #10 in providing some badly needed light. We have targeted the removal of a couple more trees in this area also to help with our light issue on this tee.  

Walk path improvement

If you've played golf over the winter months you surely will have remembered this soggy chip path leading from #9 green to # 10 tee. We have installed some drainage to this area to keep the water from entering the pathway and we've also removed the old soil and chips and installed a gravel bed covered with new chips. This has improved the path completely and walking through here now is less of a problem.

#11 tee landscape bed improvements

#18 tee landscape improvements

#18 tee landscape

#14 Restroom landscape improvements

#16 Black tee tree removal

If you happen to slice your drive on #1 and go in amongst the trees you will now have a better chance of finding your ball. We have been trimming some of the Salal down in this area and will be continuing to do this throughout the golf course in the weeks ahead. We also are going to focus trimming around the base of trees and stumps, as will notice in the last photo. 

#1 Rough along OB line

#1 Rough along OB line

#1 Stump with Salal removed

Drainage update

In the photo's below you will see some of the finished work on #4. Starting at the tee, we finished putting in some needed drainage by the ladies tee. We expect this wet area to dry up considerably from it's former condition. In addition to the tee we also cleaned up some cat tails along the bank of the lake on the right side. And further up the fairway we completed some mainline drainage that will once and for all handle the water coming from the bog on #5.

Ladies walk-on area #4 

Pond cleaning #4

#4 upper fairway/rough

Pipe in and covered - seed to follow

Golf Course Restroom Update

Below is a current photo of the men's restroom on #3. We've been busy painting and you will notice we have installed a new vanity and mirror. We have some additional painting and touch-up to do and then we will be off to #14 to finish up there as well.

We are currently working on selecting colors for the women's restrooms and will proceed with those renovations when the men's rooms are completed.

#4 Tee drainage

In the photos below you will see some additional drainage being done on #4 tee. Why here? Unfortunately when many of the tee boxes were built they used ground swales instead of drain pipe to help with water runoff. Over time these areas have developed a lot of thatch and water just collects there with virtually no runoff at all; making it difficult or essentially impossible to mow or maintain to a good standard.  The drains will help get the water out of these areas faster and make for a more acceptable appearance. We use the small pea gravel to fill the ditches in the turf and alongside of the cart path we use a inch and half size washed drain rock. The larger rock along the cart path will be able to catch more run off from the path and get into the drain much quicker and if a cart tire should get into the ditch the larger rock keeps the tire from getting stuck in the ditch itself. We may install some plastic drain grates along this area to help with collecting the water, which will also help with cart tires and the over all look.  

 

In the picture above, in the distance you can make out the crew starting to work on an area by the ladies tee. This area had a water line leak for some time, which was fixed last summer. This did solve some of the wetness in this area, however it also is a low area and the water tends to collect here making it difficult for the ladies to get to their tee with dry feet. The drainage here will help dry up a lot of the sogginess in the turf and make for a lot dryer pathway. When finished here we will proceed to some additional drainage in the fairway/rough on #4 and beyond, stay tuned!