Course Opening FRIDAY!!!

Although today it feels more like winter than spring, we have made the call to open the golf course for the season this Friday (4-5-13).  Additionally, we will open all practice facilities (range, chipper, and putting green) on Thursday in order to allow a little warm up before your first round of the season.  For those of you looking to use carts...Good News!  Carts will be available on opening day!!!

A couple of things you should know about this years opening:

• Due to the cold temps and frozen conditions in the bunkers, many of them will not be groomed prior to opening.  The crew is out working today, and will be all week, on the ones we can but many of them are simply unworkable at this time. 
• While the greens will be mowed prior to opening, many of the other surfaces (tees, fairways and collars) may not be mowed prior to opening unless they begin to grow.  We will mow each of these respective areas as soon as they are ready.
• Deeptine aeration of the fairways is on-going and will continue daily into the week of April 14th.  It's a slow process but extremely important to relieve soil compaction in the fairways.  After last years unusually long, dry and warm season, the fairways are more in need then ever of this process. 
• Course Aerification - The greens and tees are scheduled to be aerified April 15th and 16th.  With cooperation from Mother Nature, in about 10 days time the holes should completely heal.
• Fairway Graden - This spring we intend to conduct an aggressive verti-cutting procedure known as "gradening".  This process is less intrusive than conventional hollow-tine aerification but still extremely effective in removing excessive organic matter (thatch).  We expect the process to take one week to complete all the fairways.  This work will begin April 17th and will continue daily until complete and as weather allows.

Look forward to seeing everyone back out on the course.  Here's to a great 2013 season ahead!

Authored by:  Bob McCurdy, Golf Course Superintendent

Course Update

Well Mother Nature continues to not cooperate this spring like she did last.  Last week we were able to be outside and start cleaning up the property but this week we have been completely idled due to the snow.  We managed to clean up the entire clubhouse area, driving range, and short course before the snow came so we do have a good head start as we await some better weather. 

The extended forecast is still not very favorable over the next 7-10 days.  With highs barely reaching forty degrees and lows at or below freezing well into next week, it does not look very likely that there will be any golf this March.  In these temperatures, the frost in the ground will not come out and until that happens, we simply can't open the golf course.  My hope is that our crew can resume the clean up efforts the early part of next week and perhaps finish that component by the end of next week.  With any luck, by then the temps will have elevated and we will begin to see the frost come out of the ground and the turf begin to grow. Ideally, we would get a week of good growth before we open so the course can defend itself from divots and ball marks.

We will continue to update you as conditions change.  In the meantime, keep hitting balls under the domes in anticipation of a great 2013 golf season!!!

Authored by: Bob McCurdy, Golf Course Superintendent

Extended Forecast Trending Up...But Slowly!!!

 

 

The extended forecast is starting to move in the right direction, but very slowly.  Below is graph from Accuweather.com prediciting the weather for the remainder of the month.  You will see the forecast highs and lows will be at or below average for the duration of March.  Certainly far different than last year when we were mowing by this time.  

 

 

Although the forecast may not be as aggressive as last year, we are gearing up to go to work full tilt next week.  We will be welcoming back a limited staff on Monday!!!  Once the paperwork is done, the clean-up of the golf course and grounds will begin in earnest.  After a long winter...Everyone is excited to get back outside and doing what we love!!! 

Looking forward to opening as soon as we can!!!

Authored By:  Bob McCurdy, Golf Course Superintendent 

Course Amenities Upkeep

Another time consuming winter project is the re-finishing of all the on-course supplies and amenities. Pictured below are the benches and ball washers that line our tee boxes during the season. The club has made a significant investment in very high quality materials and we are determined to make sure they get the greatest care possible!!! To maintain all of our wood products in "like-new" condition, we apply a specialized cleaner and scrub every surface of the benches, trash cans, stakes, divot sand boxes and water coolers. After a light power wash and two days of air drying, we are left with a bare wood surface that is ready for a new finish coat. This year we opted to convert the benches to the same color stain as our garbage cans and water coolers. We think the new improved look is fantastic and hope you agree!
Pictured above are two of our finest, Lino Bautista and Martin Perez, applying the new finish coat to a perfectly cleaned bench. These two gentlemen have repeatedly done this process for two months straight and deserve a big round of applause. Below you see a bench that has been throughly cleaned along side a already finished trash can. The contrast is stunning.
To keep their fresh shine, the ball washers are disassembled and cleaned of any imperfections. A coat of slide polish is applied and they are ready for play.
Authored by: Kevin Peck, Assistant Golf Course Superintendent