Construction Update and Front 9 Notes

LREP:

• The woven fabric layer was installed in the pond on #18 today and the new liner will be laid down  over it on Saturday. The crew from Layfield as well as 4 temporary workers hired by us will work as long as possible to try and beat the forecast of rain for later in the evening.
• Irrigation upgrades are progressing nicely with less issues to contend with than last year. This will make recovery that much quicker next spring. Greens 13 to 18 are up and running. Alpine is currently at the 11th green and will move to 10 and 12 soon. There are some significant irrigation changes required on the rest of the 10th hole as well as the new practice facilities. These areas should be ready for upgrading by the time Alpine is finished with the greens.
• Its difficult to put a "percentage complete" on the progress of the bunkers but the work has been steady and consistent. As long as the dry weather holds this trend will continue.
• As the days pass by the wear and tear on the back 9 increases with equipment moving back and forth. The good news is that there are no haul roads across any of the fairways on the back (so far). The rough is in tough shape in some spots but it is easier to deal with than a fairway. The haul road in front of the 9th green will be repaired in the same manner as #6 was earlier in September. If there is any similar turf remaining from #10 it may be possible to change #1 and #9 (near the tee) as well.
• All I can say about #10 is that it doesn't look like a quarry anymore. The lake has taken shape, the new tees are roughed in and the trees have been removed around the tee house. A lot has occurred in the last 5 days.

Front 9 Notes:

• The greens are aerated and have been topdressed twice. To fill the large aeration holes properly we will have to topdress again next week. The weather isn't as warm and dry as it was when we aerated the back 9 greens and we have try and get them into some sort of acceptable condition for play. Not an easy task at this time of year. Thank you for your patience as we work around several restrictions.
• The fairway topdressing will begin on Monday. Back 9 first and then on to the front 9. It should take about 2 weeks to complete due to daylight and the frost that is sure to delay us.
• Leaf cleanup will be an ongoing, daily chore. Greens are priority with fairways a close second. Leaf rule in effect?

Pictures changed soon,

Wade

Aeration Update Part 3 and LREP Progress

Aeration:

The greens aeration will start on Wednesday evening (practice greens and a few on the front 9) so that we can get finished quickly on Thursday morning. It will also help us if there is frost to contend with. No more delays assuming it doesn't rain that is. Please be prepared for less than "ideal" putting conditions. The fairways will be solid deep tine aerated this week. Specialty Turf will begin either Wednesday or Thursday and be finished by Friday. We will begin topdressing the fairways immediately after the weekend. As we move into October fungicide applications will begin as well. I will post notification for what, when and where we are spraying. We can usually treat greens and tees without seeing golfers. Fairways on the other hand take several days and we have to be out there when conditions permit so please keep that in mind when you see the sprayer. Thanks.

LREP:

• Pond liner on #18 is being installed this week.
• Sand will be installed into any bunkers that are ready beginning today.
• Greens 17, 16, 15, 14 and 13 will have the new irrigation upgrades completed by Friday. That leaves greens 10, 11 and 12 for upgrades and major work on #10 in the next few weeks. 18 green was completed in 2010.
• Sod will be laid down around the 15th greenside bunkers on Tuesday.
• Cartpath prep work has begun on holes 15/16/17. 

Aeration Notice Part 2

Greens aeration has been postponed until Monday for several reasons with the warm weather being a major consideration. Shouldn't matter much as long as it doesn't snow next week. Enjoy one more weekend of smooth greens.

Wade

Aeration Notice

I have been sending out "aeration advisories" for some time now in the enews, my blog and through twitter (to all 11 of my followers). Thursday morning the front 9 greens will be core aerated and heavily topdressed. That will leave fairway aeration for the first week in October assuming all goes as planned with Specialty Turf and the weather.

The greens will no longer be in the condition we have been used to all season. The holes, sand and raising of the mowing height will be present a challenge for the remainder of the fall. We have used a larger aeration tine to remove more material (thatch) than any time in recent memory. Based on the speed of the aerator, the spacing of the holes and the size of the tine we will remove approximately 7.5% of material from the green. You will have to trust me when I say that is a significant amount for a single core aeration. Besides the advantage of removing more material than usual it allows us to apply more sand and get it into the aeration holes faster. However, it will take another topdressing on Friday to "top up" the holes. There is a long term gain here that will become more apparent in the future as the greens firm up and roll more consistently throughout a single golf season.

We will do our best to quickly get them to a point where the ball isn't bouncing along but that will take a few days. The warm weather will certainly help shrink the hole size but they will not close up this year. I actually prefer the aeration holes to be present in the spring as I think it helps with recovery and aids in moving water and air throughout the profile during an important period of growth and rejuvenation. Its been a good run but we need to prepare for winter and assure that we will have premium putting surfaces for the future.

Wade

Aeration Schedule For The Front 9

Unfortunately the time has arrived to aerate the greens, tees and aprons on the front 9. The back 9 was completed last week and as you can well imagine it went off without a hitch. No golfers always helps. Sorry, but I had to put that in.

The greens will be core aerated and topdressed on Thursday and topdressed again on Friday. We are punching larger holes than usual thus the requirement for the high volume of sand. Think long term here. This will go a long way to firmer, healthier greens (and all the other areas as well). Putting on the greens will obviously change for the remainder of the golf season but we will do our best to improve the surface as quickly as possible. Warm weather will definitely help matters. The tees and aprons will be worked on throughout the week as time and labor permits.

I am still working on dates for fairway aeration with Specialty Turf. It will likely be the last week in September. We will be solid tine aerating and then topdressing immediately afterwards with straight sand. A core aeration would be my first choice this fall but time and other "projects" have dictated otherwise. No harm as the fairways will still be opened up and approximately 450 cubic yards of sand will be laid down.

In addition to the LREP it will be a busy week at the Royal Mayfair and your patience will be much appreciated.

Coures Notes:

• The washroom on #3/6 was closed Sunday because the water ran all night and filled the septic tank and we could not get anyone to come down and pump it out. I'll be inquiring as to an emergency phone number for the future.
• We probably only have about another week before the leaves begin to fall in earnest and we will do our best to clean the course. It is a daunting task with frost delays and windy conditions but it is a little easier to concentrate on the front 9 and get to the back when time permits.
• CTC and Alpine Irrigation have made good progress with the dry weather. Alpine has 6 more greens to work on and CTC is close to installing sand on some of the bunkers. I will keep you updated as the weeks roll on.

Wade

Sod Repairs On The Front 9

• With the LREP work resulting in most of the 10th fairway being resodded we have decided to use some of the existing turf to repair some failed sod areas on the front 9 fairways. The turf is a perfect match for the sod patches on the 1st, 5th and 7th fairways as well as the haul road that did not do well on the 6th fairway.The small areas on #1 and #5 are repaired and we will be working on #6 tomorrow. I realize this is short notice but it isn't busy and the end result will have a much better finish look in the long term.We will also be regrading and levelling the haul road on #6 before we lay the new turf down. Cart traffic will be re-routed around into the rough for the remainder of the year.

• LREP is progressing well with the dry weather. Bunkers on holes 15 thru 18 are being worked on at present and the pond liners should be installed within the next 2 weeks.

Updates And Progress

Course Updates (front 9)

• Greens mowing height has not changed but with the end of the afternoon cut and rolling reduced, speeds have dropped. However they look great and are still rolling very true. They are not as firm as I would like but the hot weather and the start of the LREP has changed our irrigation practices slightly.
• We have had a couple of sprinklers stick on for an hour or so in the last week. One on the 3rd fairway and one today near the end of the 7th fairway. Thus the temporary water features you may have noticed in the morning.
• Greens will be brushed and lightly topdressed next week and core aeration will take place September 20th weather permitting.
• Fairways will be fertilized next week.

LREP Update

• Railroad ties have been removed from the pond on 10. Preparations for the new liner installation are well underway. The smaller pond on 18 is actually scheduled for liner installation first and work there will begin early next week after Ted Locke reviews the site on Monday morning.
• The bunker work is progressing well and the subgrade is actually better than we encountered on the front 9 (so far!). This has the potential to speed up the renovation in those bunkers that aren't full of rock and other debris.
• Alpine Irrigation is making a concerted effort to reduce or even eliminate the large tie in zones that ocurred on the front nine. The patches in front of #1 and #7 greens on the edge of the fairways are examples of what we are hoping to not have to deal with.
• The grounds crew has cut the new cartpath behind the 12th green through the trees. A good start that will free up more room for errant golf shots to the right of the green.

All for now,
Wade

LREP Update

I have posted a few pictures from work begun today on the back 9. The liner has been cut on the pond on #10 and the remaining water is draining into the ground. We made an attempt to capture the ducks today. It failed. We have a better plan for tomorrow morning. Stay tuned.

LREP NOTES and COURSE UPDATE

LREP

• The water in the pond on #10 is approximately half a meter from the bottom. We are going to cut the liner to allow the remaining water to drain down into the ground. The ducks are next on the agenda. Hopefully they walk up the ramp themselves.
• The pump will move to #18 very shortly.
• In addition to the back 9 the entire driving range and chipping green area will also close on September 6th.
• CTC will be utilizing the haul road that crosses #9 and then in front of #1 tee to enable them to access the back 9 from another direction in addition to the service road south of the clubhouse. This was planned even though we repaired the road on 9.

COURSE UPDATE

• Conditions are not ideal this weekend. We are very short staffed due to a variety of circumstances so our mowing routines have had to be altered. We did manage to cut the back 9 rough today (Sunday) but in my review of the course I noticed one of the bunker rake machines was leaving a groove behind. Apparently my operator was only looking forward this morning. My apologies.
• There is still some minor weed control left for the front 9 and the fairways will be fertilized mid week.
• The weather is forecast to be very mild this week so we will not be raising the greens height until the temperatures cool off. I'll keep you posted.
• Fairway aeration will be dictated by the availability of the aeration company. Specialty Turf is behind in their work due to golf courses cancelling spring work (rain related) and rescheduling for the fall. Green and tee aeration is still planned for late September on the front 9.