Demolition at Swim and Tennis

We began the new year by doing some demolition at the Swim and Tennis facility. We started by tearing up the carpet in the Men's and Women's locker rooms. We then removed the toilet and stalls. Once the area was clear of those obstacles we began to tear up the tile floor in the shower. We rented an impact hammer and used it to force the tiles up from the sub floor. The renovation turned out great!

Kevin tearing up the carpet in the lobby.

Kevin using the impact hammer.

Snow Mold

We have finally thawed out enough to see a few of our fairways. After such an intense winter, we were very nervous about the condition of the turf. While a majority of the fairways survived the winter unscathed, a few did not fair as well.

View of the hill on #3 from the green.

View of the approach and fairway of #12 from the green.

These fairways contracted a nasty case of Pink Snow Mold. This disease is a very common occurrence when any grass is under snow cover for a prolonged amount of time. We are fortunate that the damage that the disease causes is both cosmetic and temporary. We are happy to report that the affected fairways have already nearly recovered.

#3 fairway from the green, two weeks later.

#12 fairway from the green, two weeks later.

Bunker Face Compaction

Recently we finished compacting the faces of our bunkers. We attached a rope to a steel plate compactor and pulled it up the faces. This substantially firmed up the bunker faces. We will compact the faces of the bunkers once more this season.

Monte and TJ compacting a bunker face on #1.

Tree Removal at the Clubhouse Parking Lot

Recently we removed two pine trees from the parking lot of the clubhouse. One of these trees was located near the practice facility and earlier in the year had been struck by lightning. The tree did not survive the strike and began to drop limbs and bark at an alarming rate. The other tree was located near the parking lots. This tree's health had been declining over the past few years and it was starting to pose a risk of falling in a storm. The two trees were removed using a massive crane. The procedure went swiftly and safely.

Pine tree in the parking lot being prepped for removal

The top of the tree being lifted clear of the trunk after it was cut

Our Winter Wonderland

Today we endured the first snow of the season. We didn't accumulate very much snow but it stuck to the ground regardless. It made for poor golfing weather but offered a beautifully different look to our golf course.

The view from the 16th gold tee this morning.

The view from behind #18 green this morning.

Fall Aerification 2014

We have begun the process of aerifying our greens. We got an early start and punched the first two greens before the sun came up. We positioned our golf carts around the greens and used their headlights to see what we were doing. The aerification itself went very smoothly, however we were forced to delay the topdressing and dragging of our greens due to the weather. We hope to have the entire operation complete by Friday morning.

#4 Green

#4 Green

The Newest Addition To Our Crew

We have recently added a new member to our crew! Her name is Lyla and she is a six month old German Shorthaired Pointer. Jeremy Woundy, the Second Assistant of the grounds crew, is her owner and primary caretaker. He began bringing her to work shortly after acquiring her and since then she's become our official golf course dog. Initially we attempted to train her how to rake bunkers but she was prone to digging holes and rolling around in them. Instead we decided that her role on the course should primarily be to deter geese from nesting and loitering on the fifth and sixth hole. Please feel free to stop and say hello to her anytime!

Lyla helping out during aerification.