Time Flies

I guess time flies when you are having fun. I realized this morning that it has been over a month since I've updated the blog. Now that we are in full swing of the season we have had a lot going on.

One big issue that we tackled in the last month has been the large oak tree on #9. It has a large split right down the middle of it. The tree is not in great health. With advice from a certified arborist who consulted with the club about the tree, we decided to try to get as much weight off the tree as possible and utilize chains and cables to prolong its life. While there is no guarantee that the tree will be saved, it was worth the effort instead of immediately removing the tree. Below is a picture of the arborists and the installation of the chains and cables in the tree.

We have also been working on improving some areas on the course. The area in front of 7 green has been washing out due to the large amount of rain that we have been receiving. We have gone in and aerified the area and seeded it to try to get it to fill back in.

I have also had a few questions about the spots on #14 and #15 greens. The spots are moss. I believe the moss started growing under the covers when we rebuilt the greens a year ago. We had a small amount last year and it has really taken off this year with the cool wet weather. There is a chemical that can be used to get rid of moss. I will begin applications in late summer or early fall to try to eradicate this problem.

And finally, if anybody is curious we had 10.89 inches of rain in June and over 4 inches in the last 24 hours! We are less than 10 inches away from our average annual rainfall amount. By the looks of things, we will probably surpass that this month!

#7 Spring

We have finally had a full week of good weather! As many of you noticed on the golf course last week, we had a spring come to the surface in the middle of the 7th fairway. With the good weather and slow play this week we decided to try to alleviate this problem. We did our best to find where the spring was bubbling up from. At that point, we dug a trench down to the new drainage that was installed in the fairway a year ago. We then ran a drain line from the area of the spring to the drainage area and made the connection. The trench was then filled with gravel and resodded. The gravel in the trench should allow any increased flow from the spring follow the trench instead of coming to the surface. Unless the spring moves to another location, this should solve the problem.

Locating the new drainage on #7

 

Digging trench to make the connection

 

Backfilling the trench with pipe and gravel

 

 

After a few nice days of dry weather, it looks like we are getting into another wet spell. We have had 3.65 inches of rain over the last 3 days. Hopefully things will dry out for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.

Rain, Rain Go Away!

At this point I think everybody is tired of the terrible weather we have been having. Apparently the fog, rain, and cool temperatures haven't learned that they have worn out their welcome.

When I came into work this morning our running total was around 3.5 inches of rain since Sunday morning. It rained more today so I'm sure we are over the 4 inch mark by now. Hail also decided to make an appearance this afternoon. Luckily it wasn't big enough to cause any damage but it did cover the greens and tees.

Despite the bad weather the past few weeks we have been getting some things accomplished. We had to take on an unexpected drainage project when an old terra cotta pipe collapsed on #8 fairway. With old courses, things like this happen at times. Nothing that my great team couldn't accomplish! I'm grateful we have our new backhoe attachment or the job would have been much more challenging and time consuming!

 

Believe it or not, we actually do get to mow fairways and rough once or twice a week when it's dry enough!

You will also notice that we have all of the sprinkler heads marked with yardages. This should help during your rounds this summer. All yardages are measured to the center of the green.

One thing we can't control is the weather. Spring and summer will arrive when they want to. Until then...we'll keep our rain suits handy!