What Winter?

With this unprecedented lack of winter, we have been able to get things done this winter that we normally would not be thinking of.  Yesterday, the greens got topdressed for the 3rd time since Christmas and we started our fairway aerification, which will be done almost 2 months earlier than we originally had it scheduled.  If you notice the top picture, the covers really work, as you can see on the 13th fairway where we kept the beginning of the fairway covered to help it recover from the drainage project we did last fall and all the water damage from the flooding last summer. 

Disaster Averted by 17th Green

The large oak left of the 17th green was removed today as we noticed 5 major stress cracks in the base of the tree on Wednesday.  The cracks are a sign that the tree is starting to twist with the wind.  Once we made the final cut in the middle picture, the tree started to fall apart.  You will notice that the tree was rotted and hollow down into the root zone, meaning the tree most likely would have fallen this summer once the leaves were out and we had gotten a significant thunderstorm.  We most likely saved the green and more importantly someones life.

Tip Toe Through the Tulips

This large tulip tree is situated along the right side of the tees on 13.  This hollow cavity goes half way up the tree, leaving this vulnerable during wind storms.  The only thing keeping it standing this long is the tree is up against the woods where the other trees block it from the wind.  This tree can easily injure or kill someone since it is so close to the tees.  Another issue is the power wires from our pump house are right behind it and if this tree fell on the wires during the summer, we would be without power for a long time and unable to irrigate.

Tree Work Between the 8th and 15th holes

With pruning and removals, we are hoping to increase sunlight on our 8th fairway.  In the summer, the fairway receives no sunlight and is infested with poa and is very soft and prone to disease and damage.  Our Tree Preservation Program will allow us to remove the poor trees and help the healthy ones grow even better.  Out of the 7 removals, 6 were extreme safety hazards as you can see by the photo.

Drainage Problems

While we have been aggressively addressing drainage throughout the golf course over the last two years, one of the big issues we have found is that when the new irrigation system was installed back in 2004, many of the existing drains on the course were cut through with new irrigation pipes and were never repaired.  While some of these drains are already pretty old, they were still functioning to some degree, but now it is easier and cheaper to start over, rather than digging up every location a pipe may have broken a drain and trying to fix it.  Plus, over time, dirt has filled many of these pipes, which means they are probably clogged in numerous locations.

14th Hole Makeover

The transformation of the 14th hole.

10th Hole View From Patio Before/After

The hole looks totally different with the new bunkering and removal of poor trees on the left side.  All the new tees are squared off as well which will now add consistency from hole to hole.  Our contractor bid almost $100,000 to do this hole and our staff did it for $44,000, including labor.

New Greens Progressing on Schedule

The new greens will be covered again tomorrow and put back to sleep after another mowing.  If all things go well, they should be ready by hopefully mid to late April, but mowing heights will be higher than our other greens to start the season.

11th Hole Pond Drain

The pond on the 11th hole has an overflow pipe that travels to the ditch on the 12th hole.  Since all the heavy rains in August and September, leaves clogged the pipe so severely that we had to call Roto Rooter in with a snake to unclog the pipe.  At the same time, we had to dig up the 8" pipe in several locations to get near the problem so we could get the clog properly removed.  While we were digging, we added view ports to several areas along the way where we can now monitor the flow along the pipe.  Before we got the clog removed, the water was over the top of the rock wall around the pond.