LREP Update And Course Condition News

LREP Update

• CTC is close to finishing their required work around the lake and in front of the retaining wall on #18.
• The Royal Mayfair staff has reconnected the irrigation line behind the wall and will now be installing root zone mix and sodding the area between the wall and the green.
• Sodding of the lake surround on #18 is scheduled for next week.
• When the green site is completed we should be able to reopen the hole and CTC will then concentrate their efforts on the green site at #11.
• Alpine Irrigation has completed the irrigation work on the new tees, the range tee and the short game practice area.
• We are waiting for a quote from Alpine to replace the irrigation lines on the range itself as many of the laterals were damaged during construction. We cannot tell what is damaged until the water system is pressurized so it may be easier just to replace all the lines with HDPE. If that is the case then all of #10, the practice area and the range could then be directly connected to any new future irrigation system work elsewhere on the course.
• Capping soil, root zone mix work and sodding for the entire area at 10 tee and the range will be ongoing beginning next week.
• A communication from the Capital Strategies Committee will be issued shortly. Part of it will consist of "Question and Answer" section to hopefully address some concerns that may arise when the back 9 is finally opened.

Course Conditions Update

The May newsletter will have a more detailed account of what has occurred with the greens coming out of winter. I'm fairly certain that most of the membership have not experienced these conditions in recent memory. When Poa annua has encroached upon greens to the state we are in now the risk of damage increases dramatically. If it isn't ice problems, it could be disease pressure. If not that it could be low temperature kill or early spring crown hydration followed by below zero temperatures. Aside from stripping all the greens and resodding with creeping bentgrass different overwinter management techniques will need to be considered. Food for thought. In the meantime:

• We will let the greens continue to grow and greenup before we make any sodding decisions. After touring the course today I would prefer to allow an "assisted" recovery in order to maintain consistent putting greens after they fill in. Sodding large areas will result in a variable surface for several years to come. I realize this may not be a popular plan of action but I believe it will yield the best results.
• Bunker board removal and edging is ongoing as conditions permit. The waste bunker on #5 will not have any rakes present. A true waste bunker is rake free.
• We are still in the process of leaf and debris cleanup on the front 9. Some tee and greens surrounds will be worked on in over the course of the next few days.
• The irrigation system will be pressurized beginning Monday.
• The course washrooms and water fountains will be turned on in a week to 10 days. In the meantime 2 portable washrooms and a wash station will be positioned behind the 6th green. 

All for now,

Wade 780-203-4211 (cell)