Holes 1 and 2 Reopen for Play!

Hello and welcome to The Greenkeeper! Today is Thursday, January 19, 2023 and I want to take a moment to answer some questions I know have been floating around the past couple days. First allow me to apologize, I did spend the past two days in a training session as we are upgrading our irrigation control software this season. The timing of the class falling on the heels of a holiday and the completion of our winter course improvement projects I'm certain contributed to folks noticing no work was taking place on a couple of holes closed for play. 

By now most of you should have received and hopefully read the winter edition of the Ross Report. If so, then you know Golf Course Services completed our Capillary Bunker renovation last Thursday. The project which began back on October 3, 2022 utilized over 445 cubic yards of capillary concrete and nearly 1250 tons of new G-Angle bunker sand. GCS also installed just over one acre of new sod as years of sand splash buildup was removed and all the bunkers restored back to their original shape and contour.

I will be sharing more on this project and the others at next week's Annual Meeting. I look forward to sharing with you greater details along with our tips for you to help us maintain these bunkers to your high standards each day. 

As for our drainage project, the update in the Ross Report touched more on Hole 8. You may recall Turf Drainage Company took a holiday break as was mentioned here (Christmas Break) and returned on January 6. Also, my most recent post from January 5 (Nature's Wrath) talked about the major rain event (1.87 inches) that fell just two days before they resumed work. Needless to say, Mother Nature has been anything but cooperative as it relates to our drainage work.

Despite the challenges and setbacks we encountered, the work was completed this past Sunday, January 15. And I am happy to report this morning we reopened Holes 1 and 2 for play. Hole 1 does contain a large swath of Ground Under Repair across the fairway. This "crosswalk" area was utilized to haul soil into the wooded area on the far side of the hole for storage until used at a later date. Hole 2 opened for the time being as a shortened par 3.

"Crosswalk"

It has been my intention from the outset of this project to use a large multi-ton asphalt roller on both Holes 2 and 8 to smooth and firm the surface following project completion. We also want to topdress and then further protect the areas by restricting golf car traffic and give all the sod the best opportunity to survive the remainder of winter. 

Once we are able to perform these two operations the plan is to open the holes playing from the forward most teeing positions. This will allow most players to carry the ball over the impacted areas while still playing the holes as a par 4 or reachable par 5. 

Unfortunately the golf course has now received 11.60 inches rain (that's almost 300 mm) over the past eight weeks and more is in the immediate forecast. The soils on both holes were saturated from the outset of the project meaning despite the systems working to drain excess ground water and seepage water, dry weather is needed in order for us to catch up and access those areas with very heavy equipment. 

Today - Mon

Next Week

Until then, the holes will unfortunately need to remain shortened as much as possible. The agronomy team continues to focus on tidying up the golf course and repairing collateral damage from all projects. Cart path edges are being resodded where necessary and potholes will be addressed as soon as possible.  

Again, I will touch more on this topic and answer whatever questions you have at the Annual Meeting this coming Tuesday, January 24. 

See you on the course,

Matthew Wharton, CGCS, MG