May 15 Update

Hey folks.

As of Tuesday this week we have officially set our opening date as May 20.  Our original target was earlier but the weather just hasn't been co-operating.  If your curious as to what metrics we use to determine the opening date, I hope this blog post will answer some of your questions.

There are a number of factors that influence the decision to open the golf course, with soil temperatures probably being the most important.  As the soil temperatures increase plants begin the process of breaking dormancy, some plants earlier than others. Things like hostas, crocus and forsythia are often the first to begin activity, while perennials like ferns, wisteria and hydrangeas usually become active later in the spring.

Bent grass, the turf species that we have seeded the green to, generally becomes active around 12 to 15 degrees, but doesn't really take off until the soil reaches 17 to 20 degrees Celsius. 

The soil temperature on Number Seven Green from Thursday May 14.

So how does that effect the opening? Its about the regenerative processes of the plant.  Playing golf and all the things that go with the sport causes damage to the turf that under normal growing conditions can be handled by the plants.  In the spring when the plants are not fully active and somewhat tender the damage can set the plants back.

The other factor is really important is damage recovery.  With the poor winters we have had in the past three years, its taken longer for the turf to recover.  This obviously reduces our eagerness to open quickly.

This spring has been a bit of an outlier.   We had a very warm, dry stretch in late April which forced us to start up the irrigation, followed by snow and cold weather returning in May.  Fortunately the  warm weather allowed for the plants to begin breaking dormancy, but the cold May so far has arrested any growth at all.   My expectations is that the weather over the next few days will push the turf to where we can see it healthy enough t play on.  Thursday through Sunday look to be good growing days with the night time temperature above freezing, allowing us to look, with some confidence, to opening on Wednesday.

Number 13 as of Thursday

Number 12 as of Thursday

Number 11 as of Thursday

The course conditions are pretty good right now.  11, 12 ad 13 greens are still the worst off from the winter, but with a bit warmth they should return quickly. All weak spots have been seeded, and Thursday this week we will have completed our second cut.   The tees are not great, with damage to 1, 2, 4, 13, 14, and 18.  All of these have been seeded and we are waiting for the recovery process to begin when the weather warms up. 

Please remember that when we open the course will not be in summer condition.  As of  last Monday we still had snow on the course. Between the slow spring and limited staff we haven't been able to bring the course up to standard but given a few nice days and the staff returning now things should improve quickly.

As with most of the current things in our lives there will be some change to the way the golf course functions.  Most of which will be small inconveniences, that shouldn't make a great difference to the game, but will help to keep the staff and the clients safe.  To limit the contact points among both staff and clients the ball washers, club washers, divot boxes, benches and garbage cans will be removed from the course.   

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At the end of the ninth hole and the 18th hole 2 garbage and 2 recycling containers will be available for use.  Please keep you garbage with you and deposit it into the correct container.

We will also be removing any of the bunker rakes from the course as they are also a shared object that could transmit the Covid-19 virus.  We will be increasing the number of times the traps are raked per week to help maintain the traps.  Please smooth out the sand as best as possible with either your foot or club until its possible to return the rakes.

We would also ask that you not touch or remove the flag from the hole. We have created a plug that fits into the using drainage caps that allow water to flow through the cup. 

The current cup system.

 It will allow your ball to drop partial into the hole and is designed to not allow golfers to reach into the cup.  I know this is not ideal, and perhaps the biggest inconvenience, but it's this way to reduce interaction.  Here's a video of me putting into the cup.

For a period of time the carts will be cart path only. This is to reduce traffic on the fairways during the time when we are seeding and recovering the turf.  When the carts are allow on the turf they will be four per tee time.  Please do your best to not drive on the fairways, or in any weak areas that are process of regrowing.  This is not a rule but rather an ask, as the increased traffic will surly cause problems. Good Luck, stay safe and see you out there.

  

May 1 Update

Hey folks!

Great news from the government this last Friday about the lessening restrictions and the our ability to open in a limited capacity.  If the weather cooperates we should have the course open by mid may in a reasonable shape.  Up until now we have been running with a light crew. Aside from me and Mike our Mechanic working full time, we had also had Assistant Superintendent Lincoln and Lead Operator Vaughn working part time.  Obviously the uncertainty of the opening and trying to maintain social distance had left us in a state of limbo so the nod from the government came a good time.  On Monday of next week we will be bringing more staff in and, with some certainty, continue to prep the course for play this summer.

Since the my last post early April, the temperatures have been slow to rise.  By comparison the weather was actually better in late April last year then this year.  However with less damage, its clear that conditions certainly be miles ahead of 2019.

As far as the greens conditions its looks like 11, 12 and 13 took the brunt of the damage from the winter.  There are some other areas  on the greens that have suffered but the most wide spread were the North facing greens where  the snow and ice didn't melt completely.  In anticipation of some ice damage we purchased some special seeding heads that attach to our 3250 Toro Triplex.  Here is a video of its simplicity.

These units poke holes and seed at the same time, replacing the less efficient and time consuming method we used last year.  As of today we have seeded roughly 30,000 square feet on the greens.

The soil temperatures are approaching the growth potential and the hope is that the weather improves this weekend to start the physiological process of germination.  The above photos show the difference of the temperatures at a six inch depth, 0.3 degrees Celsius and at the surface, 20 degrees Celsius.  These photos were taken on Monday and since then the six inch depth has increased to roughly 7 degrees.  The soil is a great insulator so as the subsurface temps rise they generally don't fluctuate too much in a short period and retain what ever gains they have made.  As we get warmer days the soil temps will continue to rise and the turf will begin to function.

After getting the seed out we want to protect it from the elements.  The next step is top dressing heavily to cover the seed.  Here's a video of that process. The video is a bit short as blogger would only let me upload so much, but you get the idea.  This is 13 green.

The last item we need at this point is water.  This has been a very dry cold April.  Very little precipitation as compared to the historical average.  On Monday we charged the irrigation system to water the greens, which were in the dire need of moisture.  Lincoln and I pressurized the system and are happy to report we had very little issue with it.  There was a leak on 12 green but we new some thing was leaking there last year and it finally let go with the initial pressurization.

Here's Lincoln mid repair on 12.  Vertical social distancing.

We have also began repairs on the fairways, aerating and seeding the worst ones first.  Mike the Mechanic chipped in and drove the aerator on 18, our worst hit fairway.

Similar to the process on the greens, we aerate, seed and break up the cores to cover the seed.  As the soil temps rise and the rain starts the seed will begin to germinate as well.

We have also been busy repairing the damage that occurred when removing the snow on the greens.  Lincoln replaced the damaged areas on the greens with plugs from the Nursery.

In a few weeks when the growth really begins these will be hardly noticeable.

We also took advantage of the dry weather to improve some drainage areas on the course.  Number 12 is a problem area as all the water drains from the wood on the right side of the hole out into the fairway during the winter.  This open drain will capture the surface water and in the future we will add stone and pipe to complete the project.

You can see the straw colored turf on the fairway where the ice has damaged the plants

 The other area we have worked on was number 13, where the drain from 18 spills out.  by redirecting the water to a catch basin we should reduce the run off into the cart path and fairway.

Here's a freshly first mowed first green!

When the turf is actively growing and has the strength to withstand play we will open the golf course.  There will be some differences in regards to way that the game is played but we intend to present the best conditions possible.  Please bare with the regulations as we are very fortunate to be able to continue to play while other sports are on hold. Stay tuned!