Making Omelets

You know the saying, "You can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs".  Well, we are definitely breaking some eggs right now as all our winter projects have gotten started, but the wet weather won't allow us to finish anything. Our average rainfall in January is upwards of 6 inches and we are already there with still a week left to go.   The rain and snow has made it challenging, but things are finally starting to come together. We're almost done making messes and the team is excited to get things cleaned up and restored.  I guess you could say we're ready to pour the omelet into the pan.  Here's an update our winter projects.

 We always have a project planned for when it snows.  Weather like this is limiting, but with good planning we can always keep the crew working at peak efficiency.  Last year when it snowed we expanded the parking lot at the practice hole.  It was then that the Committee and the Board discussed the next snow event and put in motion the project you see here which is to replace the huge cedar trees in the guest parking lot.  They had simply gotten too big for their space.

This is what it looks like today.  The stumps have been pulled out and we'll be getting some new plant material for these planting strips as soon as possible.  Typically, it isn't till March or April when we can get a nursery to dig up and deliver new plants.  In the meantime it looks pretty good, and it's certainly a lot safer now that you can clearly see down the road when trying to pull out of the parking lot.  The project on the 8th green is also starting to look a lot better.  The new evergreen buffer is going in quickly.  Check out this series of pictures.

Here's another series of pictures from a different angle.

You can see that we're about half way done with the planting phase.  It looks fantastic and there is so much more light, air, and space to play golf over there near the greenside bunker.  I knew this project was going to turn out great, but it's already exceeded my expectations.  Things aren't going so well on holes 11 and 7 where we're working on an "oak release" project. Work started on New Years Day but since then little has been done given the wet weather.

Getting the trees off the property requires the use of big machines and to avoid injury to the fairways we need to wait a little longer for the right opportunity.  Lastly I want to show you where we're at with the project on #9 green near the driving range tee.

Yes it's kind of a mess right now but once we get a couple of dry days this should come together quickly. The new plants have been dug out and they should easily be transplanted to this location when the opportunity arises. Thank you for your patience as we try and get these omelets cooked up to perfection.  

Just Get'n it Done!

 The work continues behind #2 green.  The communication cable conduit is installed and now it's just time for restoration.  The good news here is that we wont just be restoring the area, it will be an improvement.  This area has been one of the most shady spots on the course for as long as I can remember.  Once we began the tree management plan in 2009, things have gotten a lot better here because our goal was to increase sunlight to the putting surface which incidentally brought more light to the area behind the green.  Now after the renovation which resulted in a short mowed collection area behind the green, the need for sunlight is now increased here since the expectation for quality turf has increased for this area.  Once we started mowing this area as short fairway type turf this past spring, it quickly became apparent that this area would not support that type of sward without some sort of renovation.  Since we have disturbed the area with the conduit installation, it seems obvious that this would be the opportune time to also renovate it as we restore it. It's really quite simple, all we are going to do is bring in 6 - 8 inches of sand so we can smooth the area and thereby cover the shallow roots that are interfering with the quality of the turf.  This means we will also be able to regrade the area to improve the runoff so that golf balls have a better chance to stop on turf and not run through into the garden or out of bounds.

 In the center of the above picture you can see the open space and the exposed fence.  This openness in  the result of removing some of the scrubby brush that was shading this area and creating a dense vegetative spot that was swallowing golf balls.

Now here is a picture of the same spot after Jeremy and Gabe transplanted some new shrubbery.  This new stuff is perfect because now we can maintain them to just the right height which screens off the fence and maintenance facility without shading the turf, but it also is airy near the ground so you can find your ball or maybe even get a club on it.   These shrubs came from the area around the second tee where have another renovation project going. 

 The above picture of the 2nd tee was taken back in September.  Check out the dead tree right in the center of the photo.  That is an old native yew.  I'm not sure why it passed away but right now we are working in here removing it along with some blackberry bushes and the like.

Above you can see a close up of this area before we started the work.  Basically it's just a bunch of native scrubby stuff that has been allowed to grow out of control so since we are in here getting out the dead yew, we might as well clean it up a little and put something in here that is native looking but yet not noxious like blackberries.

 Here's how it looks today during the removal phase.  Incidentally, as we started digging around in here, we found evidence of the old teeing ground perimeter which we will be able to restore once we start putting this area back together.  Once complete, we should be able to play the hole from 370 as it once was versus today's yardage of 360.

 Richard was leading a group that was working on renovating the stairs to 10 tee.  They turned out great.  Nothing fancy here, they just took it apart, rotated the timbers so that the rotted side was down, and put it back together.  I'd say they're good for at least another decade. The simple construction and materials are very functional and low maintenance.  Boo say's nice work guys.  It's just so nice to be getting some stuff done.  When we aren't cleaning up after wind storms, we can put a lot of energy into just fixing things up.  This is when we can really make a difference.  It feels better working on updating or improving areas versus just cleaning up after mother nature's temper tantrums.  

 So how's the turf???  Well considering we set several record low temperatures early this month, I'd say things are looking great.  Obviously the turf looks good in this picture, but up close as in the picture below, you might think it looks a little off color. 

 You can see that there is a lot of leaf blades that are brownish or yellow, but there is a lot of leaf blades that also green and healthy.  We really came out of the deep freeze in good shape.  The turf is hardened off nicely with a little growth.  With turf like this we can produce some really nice winter putting surfaces.  Get out there and enjoy.

Dr. Pinke

Here you can see Jeremy Pinke our Horticulturist using the touch of a surgeon on the 1894.  Today it's clear what an incredible job Jeremy does since everything is starting to bloom and he's seen all over planting annuals.  What most folks don't know is how many countless days Jeremy puts in preparing for the growing season.  All fall, and winter he daily blows the parking lots, and rakes the beds.  Every shrub gets pruned.  Dozens of shrubs are dug up and relocated.  Flowers are ordered months in advance.  The custom flower baskets are planted at the nursery in February.  There is simply hours and hours of planning and hard work that goes into the presentation that Jeremy gives us each summer.  So right now is when all that work pays off and he gets the chance to show off.  Don't be afraid to tell him next time you see him that you really appreciate all that he does.  And even more so, tell him the same thing on a winter day when it may not be so obvious that he makes such a difference.  Jeremy, thank's for all that you do, we can't imagine what it would be like without you here on the team.

Wet Feet

Some of you may have noticed that several of the plants behind 12 green aren't well.  In this picture you can see a hole where we removed a struggling shrub, and if you look close you can see that the hole is full of water.  Remember this area is a new planting that was as a result of the sewer installation project.  This area was excavated to a depth of 7 or 8 feet before the sewer was laid, and then we imported several yards of fill to shape the mounds.  In that process several different soil types were layered in and compacted by heavy equipment.  The result is that several areas in this new complex have poor drainage so some of these plants have wet feet.  What needs to be done is we should replant these shrubs and dig a hole three times as big as necessary so that we can put several inches of gravel in before replanting.  This should keep the roots from drowning. When can we do this??  Right now is a very busy time so it will have to wait but it is on our "to do" list.  Below is a picture of this area before restoration was complete.