Skip to main content

Winter is here...

Happy New Year! The winter weather has certainly arrived with sub zero temperatures and snowfall  accumulating...We were very fortunate this fall with a balmy forecast, work continued right up to the Christmas break is steady fashion.
Our most recent phase of drainage work was completed in due time. Dry and warm conditions made for clean and quick work. Areas of focus this fall were the rough, fairway and green on the 14th, some smaller rough areas on 11, 17 and the upper landing area of the 3rd fairway. Our tree management plan is in full swing with the removals of some dead Ash trees. An important part of our tree plan is to re-plant a more desirable species in these key areas. The trees have been tagged for delivery as soon as possible in the spring.
Our winter greens preparation plan was completed in due time as well. We have performed all of our fall cultural practices and winter prep tasks to give our greens the optimal chance of winter survival. In addition to our annual practices we lowered an number of collars and removed sod strips to allow water runoff in the event of a thaw and refreeze event. Each year we address as many issues as possible, but in the end Mother Nature decides how we will come through in the end!
Inside work has also commenced with IPM submissions, course accessory refurbishment and shop maintenance (painting, cleaning) and of course our ever important equipment service. Here's to a great winter....

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Finish Grading on #2 & #12 Tees

With the great weather that we have had the last two days, we were able to get the tees shaped and all of the tee mix out to the tees. In this picture here, Derek Vergeer (our contractor) is finish grading #2 Tee to be ready for sod. Unfortunately the forecast is for rain the next couple of days and could hold us up for a bit. We are doing out best to complete these projects in a timely manner, of course with this blog we will keep you updated.

Greens Cultural Management Practices Schedule

The fall is a great time to perform a number of necessary cultural practices. Our goal is to amend the upper portion of the greens surface with enough sand to help insulate the crown through the winter as well as removing and diluting organic matter. Below you will find a schedule of cultural practices that we aim to complete before the covers go on and the snow flies!!! Wednesday, Sept. 30th- Light topdressing followed by a Cocoa matt Tuesday, Wednesday October 13/14-Course Closure full core aeration with heavy topdressing. October 19th- Light topdressing followed by a Cocoa matt October 26th- Light topdressing followed by a Cocoa matt November 2nd- Light topdressing followed by a Cocoa matt November 9th- Deep Verticut, followed by a sufficient topdressing. November 16th- Post Course Closure, Heavy topdressing followed by Deep tine aeration. Of course this is all in hope that the weather cooperates...happy fall!

Golf Course Update

As our season slowly comes to a end our department has been working away at year end projects. We installed drainage in a few areas of the practice range and short game area. These areas were perpetually wet and caused turf and aesthetic issues. We have also been chipping away at the bunkers on #17, smoothing out the faces and recreating the grass edges. These bunkers suffered some severe frost heaving in the faces during the winter after they were built. Our team has removed a number of trees and brush from around our maintenance facility to allow some expansion of our operation. We are working away at clearing space to install aggregate bins and sufficient staff parking. This will also allow delivery trucks and semi's to access our facility without any issues. We are also removing the fallen trees and brush from the woodlot on the right side of #16 fairway. This is a challenging area to work as it is a peat bog and remains wet even in the hottest and driest of summers (like 2010)...