Late June Course Update

The hot extremely dry weather persists although we are receiving some light showers today. A welcome relief for those Turf Care staff that have been hand watering over the last week. The golf course is showing the effects of an old irrigation system, some areas of poor soil and a turf type (Poa annua) that doesn't like temperatures at +30 C. It's difficult to resist the urge to overwater but we are doing our best to keep conditions from getting too wet. In some spots it is unavoidable and in many areas it will get dry, firm and brown (I feel there is nothing wrong with that). I actually like the look and it always greens up eventually. That being said we are using roller base sprinklers in areas that are really suffering. This is a last resort practice that has been used infrequently over the past 5 seasons.


An example is this high traffic area to the right of 3 green. Even though it has irrigation coverage it requires supplemental water from roller base sprinklers in periods of drought.

The project work on the front nine is coming to a close. The last paving stone "side out" will be installed at 2 tee. Steps will also be added leading to the back tees as the slope can get slippery and damaged during rainy periods. A pin oak has been planted in this area as well. A burr oak has also been planted to the back right of 9 green. Next season we plan on installing paving stone around the washroom at 17 and on the walking path from 8 green to the asphalt cartpath. The following pictures are a few examples of Dave Quinn's fine work:

 

 

 

 

This obviously is not paving stone but a mule deer doe that walked past myself and staff member Neal Roberts (he took the great photo). She then proceeded through the bunker and over to the flower bed at 5 tee and we encouraged her to move on before Val saw her munching on the greenery.

 

 

 

June Update

We are well into June and still in need of a good soaking rain. Although we have had a few showers last week the very dry weather is exposing the flaws in our 25 year old irrigation system that is tasked with watering the tees, fairways and rough. The greens sprinklers were upgraded a few years ago and  are performing fine. Any issues with dry surrounds has more to do with the quality of soil on the side banks. The lack of pin point control when applying water is obvious as is the failure of the sprinklers due in large part to decades old technology and changing demands put on short mowed grass that will meet today's standards in turf care. You may have noticed areas of stress around many of the older fairway sprinklers. The picture below shows how the distribution of water is affecting turf quality. We can no longer obtain replacement parts for these sprinklers. Installing new sprinklers is one of our solutions but it too is creating uniformity problems as this new sprinkler may be paired with an old one. We are applying wetting agents and will be spot aerating over the next few weeks to help the turf in these areas.

Worn out unavailable replacement parts and old technology cannot keep up with the type of turf we maintain at The Royal Mayfair

The first fairway has been widened on the left and right sides to increase the width of the fairway before the fairway bunkers by approximately 12 to 15 feet depending on your landing area. We will wait for feedback before any more increases in this area.

The teaching area is almost ready for daily use. The artificial mats are in place. There is electrical power for the computers and the canopy will be rolled into position on Wednesday morning. The natural turf in front of the mats will not be ready for a few more weeks.



The new turf at the driving range is not ready for use yet. We are hoping to have it open by the 20th of June. It still needs an aeration and more topdressing as well as more uninterrupted growing time as it is being mowed just above our fairway height. Continued mowing will tighten up the turf canopy over the next 10 days.

Other Course Notes:

• Greens will be verticut, topdressed, vented and rolled today and tomorrow. Back 9 this morning and front 9 early Wednesday.
• Fairways will be lightly topdressed next week. It should only take a day or two depending on the weather.
• More rainbow trout will be stocked in the 10th pond on Thursday morning.
• As the cleanup from the paving project comes to a close we can redirect out Turf Care staff to some areas in the rough that need attention. Tree line weed control, tree line trimming and new wood chip areas all need work to bring them up to standards that I feel are not where they should be. 
• Dave Quinn is back full time next week and the paving stone "side outs" will be completed soon. He has been picking away on a part time basis and the work he has done so far looks good.