May 11 Update

Hey Folks,

Tomorrow is opening day!!  I'm sure everyone is excited to get out on the golf course and see how their swings have kept over the winter.  We've been busy prepping the golf course for play and working on the recovery from the winter.  

The past weekend saw some temps that were well above the seasonal norms, which is great, how ever the rest of the week was dreadful.  The highs barely broke 10 degrees and the night time temps were below freezing.  Fortunately it doesn't look like we've lost too many seedlings due to the freezing temps, but the growth rate was negligible for most of the week. 

This is from 18 green, you can see the seedlings are fine but not much movement from last week.  The important part is that we haven't gone backwards.

Please feel free to walk up to the greens and see how we are making out.  The greens look good from a distance but with closer inspection its easy to see how sparce they are. We understand the temps are frustrating, but the pain experienced now will pay off later. 

This is three green on April 14th

Three green today.  Its still thin but improving quickly.

The weather for today, Friday and the weekend looks good and hopefully by late next week we should see some of the greens back in play. Number 3 and 18 are not far from opening, we just need some more growth to spur them on.  Some of the others are farther behind and will require more time to move forward, but things are still going forward despite the poor weather.  On Monday we will add another layer of seed and continue to encourage growth with fertilizer and water.  

I should address some rumours though. The damaged greens are not in great shape, but will be back into play as humanly (or rather as vegetatively) possible.  We have all the resources needed to return  the greens to the condition that our customers expect, however we do not have the weather. Despite the poor weather we are using all the tips and tricks I know to speed things up, and as the weather improves so will the conditions of the greens. Historically the weather will begin to improve now and growing conditions will as well.  I'm not sure who is saying the greens will take until July to recovery but please stop, that's ridiculous. 

If you have a question please contact me, by email, by phone or in person.  We are very transparent about our conditions, and will gladly have a discussion about any aspect of the golf course.

As we continue our war of attrition with the greens recovery we are also working on other parts of the golf course.  All of the golf course has been mowed at least once, and the routines are starting for regular growth expectations.

The staff has been pulling dead wood out of the areas along 6 and 16 during the recent frost delays we have had.  We will get to chipping this early next week.

The large tree on number seven fairway broke off during the winter.  We have removed the tree, but were still deciding what to do with the area.  

The staff are also working on the traps. We began the process on Monday with the return of the University staff.  In between taking tarps off and putting them back on we have been cleaning the debris and repairing the liners from the winter damage.  We usually begin with the greenside traps and then move on to the fairway traps. If you end up in a trap that is still in disrepair take a lift and play from the rough. 

We've also been hard at work installing drainage on 15 fairway, 5 tee and lining cart paths with topsoil to better the transition from turf to asphalt.  

During the first week of play the carts will remain on the cart paths, this is not due to wetness but rather to aid in reinstating the fairways damaged from the winter.  Much like the greens we have some fairways that suffered ice damage and will be cart path or rough only for a while.  

Good luck tomorrow and enjoy your day!!!!  Stay tuned for further progress!!

May 5th Update and Opening date

 Hello Folks,

Just a quick update to talk a bit about the opening and whats going on around the course.  Despite the cold and wet weather of the past week we continue to move forward with repairing the greens from the winter damage.  Shout out to my staff to have worked hard in rather uncomfortable weather over the last week. 

On Monday of this week we took the germination tarps off the greens and I was pleasantly surprised to see that our mid -April seeding had germinated.  In anticipation of the poor weather forecasted for Wednesday/Thursday, we put the tarps back on for Tuesday night but not before mowing the healthy parts of the greens.  One of the big concerns with seeding this early in the year is loss of seed to freezing.  Fortunately, the tarps prolong the warmth of the day and shelter the seedings from the frost.  This morning, we pulled the tarps off again to mow, fertilize and water the greens.   It looks like Mother nature is going to help us out next week with some high teen and low twenties temps and some greatly needed sunshine. Its probably going to be too hot this weekend (hard to believe I'm saying that) to keep the tarps on, with that amount of fertilizer and and water we could cook the seedlings.

The seeding growth on 18 green as of May 5th.

Our plan as of today is to open the course on the 12th of May.  This is much earlier than expected but it comes with a caveat, there will unfortunately be eight temporary greens.   We know the damaged greens are not ready for play but the rest of the course is in pretty good shape, and as it wont hurt anything, you should be able to take advantage of that.  

Here are the current photos of the greens (less 3green) that will be temped for the opening.

Number 11 green

Number 18 green

 

Number 7 green

Number 16 green

Number 13 green

Number 12 green

As you can see from the pictures the common problem with these greens is the damage has occurred where the pins would be set. Some are more severe than others so the recovery rates will be different for each location.  Ill keep updating this blog with our progress.

Over the last few weeks our efforts have not gone unrewarded.  Here are a few photos of the 17th green and its progression.

Number 17 green April 26

Number 17 green April 30th

Number 17 green May 5

The tarps will remain off for the weekend so feel free to come out for a walk and see the course and current conditions (watch out for the sprinklers).  These are not the types of blog posts that are pleasant to write, but rest assured, we will continue to grind until things are back to normal.  As always, feel free to drop an email, ask a question, or stop by the shop for a chat.  See you soon!