Irrigation Project and Cross Country Skiing

I have two topics to discuss and you may be surprised that one starting depends on the other finishing. In a nutshell the entire golf course property will be closed to skiing until Alpine Irrigation is completely finished their work for November and any open excavations are fenced off by the Turf Care Department. Even if it snows enough to establish tracks, as long as Alpine is working and to ensure your safety we cannot allow anyone on the course. Signs will be posted early next week and notification from the Club will go out to all members. This won't be long term but likely until the end of the month.

Even though 90% of the mainline work is finished on the front 9 and lateral line/sprinkler installation is completed on 7 holes (1,2,5,6,7,8,9) there are still some open excavations in isolation valve areas. There is mainline installation ongoing across the 18th fairway, behind the 13th green and out onto the 12th hole in front of the tees. As of Friday Alpine is also installing mainline alongside the south tree line on hole 5. The lateral line/sprinkler installation on hole 5 is finished as noted above. Now that the ground is beginning to freeze the lateral line/sprinkler phase will cease and trenching of larger lines will continue for another week or 2. As long as the excavated soil can be backfilled into trench lines and packed work will be ongoing.

Considering that Alpine Irrigation began work about 2 weeks late, Jeff Monkman became seriously ill and it snowed several times in October the project is almost on schedule. The wet weather throughout the last several weeks has left some areas of the front 9 in rough condition especially where Alpine had to travel with equipment and larger holes were dug for cross connection of  larger pipes and valve installation. Fortunately most of these areas are in the rough and in or next to tree lines. Keep in mind that resodding in wet conditions and the fact that there is zero growth at this time of year will mean a lot of attention from Turf Care will be required next spring to improve the repair work. We have a large task ahead of us but it will get done and the scars of today will disappear over the summer.

The golf course has been "winterized" and now we leave matters to nature aside from the Turf Care staff monitoring oxygen and carbon dioxide levels under the tarps covering the greens and blowing fresh air underneath when required. The "final" fungicide applications on greens, tees, approaches and fairways went well but the continuous precipitation (especially the heavy rainfall on November 6th) that followed and very warm weather necessitated another application (last week) across the golf course. We have left small areas that didn't receive this last application to test results of not being treated one last time. We should now have better data to monitor the effectiveness of the fungicide that was applied in late October. This may save money if these same weather conditions present themselves in the future.



10 inch mainline up the side of #2 and then heading out across the 18th hole.

Lateral line and sprinkler installation on #5 earlier this week.

#14 green covered and getting a shot of fresh air blown underneath.

Closed For The Season But The Irrigation Project Is Ongoing

The golf course is now closed for the season after a difficult October. There wasn't a lot of golf due to the snow that fell and stayed around for a few weeks. The irrigation project was delayed by the weather and serious heath issues that affected Jeff Monkman, the hands on owner of Alpine Irrigation. I'm happy to say that Jeff is recovering but it will be a long and slow one. They are back on track and making good progress. The forecast for the next 5 to 7 days looks great and Alpine should have 5 holes completed by the end of next week. At the same time mainline installation is progressing as well. When the weather turns too cold to install laterals and sprinklers all efforts will be made to get more mainline pipe in the ground. Fortunately this work will be in the rough only on holes 3, 5 and 2.

So as of November 1st:

•  Holes 9, 1, 2, 8, are finished and 7 should be done in 5 days.
• There is a large mainline to run up the side of 2 and across 18 later this month.
•  Mainlines are crossing holes 6 and 7.
• Lateral and sprinkler install on 6 is next after 7 is finished.
• If the weather cooperates  some lateral work may begin on 3 and 5 if the mainlines get installed.
• We will be very lucky to get any work done down on the 4th hole. Fingers crossed.

Turf Care is tackling a job that I'm sure not many would think of when renovating an irrigation system. We are removing the old sprinklers as Alpine finishes each hole. Most of these obsolete sprinklers will be sold at a later date to those courses that need parts for their systems. Its been cold, muddy work but anything we can do now reduces the load for next season.



A 6 inch mainline crossing the rough on #6. Another 10 inch line will cross the fairway closer to the green.



Earlier this week a mainline crosses #7 before lateral work can begin.

Lateral work and sprinkler installation underway on #7.

Now What?

This was the scene on the golf course late Saturday. Since then it has melted a certain amount but not enough to consider opening for a few more days. When play does resume power carts will likely be held off for a day or two. The drying index is very low and there is sure to be standing water to deal with. As soon as we can get on the golf course the Turf Care staff will be busy removing water, setting up the course and removing the many leaves that have fallen over the last week. I know many of you want to get a few more rounds in before the end of the month so hopefully the weather cooperates over the next few weeks. Fungicide application on greens, tees and fairways will commence as soon as these areas clear off and will continue at various times until the end of October.


IRRIGATION UPDATE:

If you look closely you can see the line designating the 2 inch lateral HDPE pipe that was plowed in on the 9th fairway and then closed over with a large rolling packer. The open holes are sprinkler locations. The 9th hole is finally finished and Alpine Irrigation is now working on the first and second holes although the poor weather has also delayed them for a few days.

This is what it looked like before the rolling. Hopefully all lateral work looks this good moving forward.

On the other hand this is mainline installation work. It is very disruptive and causes delays and interruption to the golf course. The main lines that will be installed in a "loop" around the property will cross 7 fairways and run down the side of several holes. The main lines carry large volumes of water that feed all the lateral lines on every hole. The new mains are much larger than the old system allowing more sprinklers to be used at any moment in time and thus creating a narrower "water window". This is especially important during our short nights of mid summer when we only have approximately 6 hours to irrigate the entire course. We are hoping that mainline work can continue into November if the weather doesn't get too cold.


4th Tee/10th Hole Update:

The area around the 4th tee has been cleared for tee expansion, all construction materials are on site and Ted Locke has revisited the course so that we could review the design of the tee decks enabling us to get maximum use of the new surfaces. This may sound difficult to believe but the front of the blue tee deck was only 3 inches higher than the back of the gold tee. The eye can be easily deceived. What this means is that the two tee decks were sloped upwards, an uncommon situation when hitting from an elevated tee. Instead of a tiered separation of the blue and gold tee decks there will now be one tee surface built with a slight downward slope: a slope you will not notice. Unfortunately the golf course construction company (CTC) hired to complete the work is delayed while they finish work in B.C. Hopefully they arrive before too long. If not the tee will be completed next season.

The bunker on #10 was also part of CTC's project work. The Royal Mayfair Turf Care staff will take on this minor project if necessary. I have gone over the work with Ted Locke and we are confident it can be completed as Ted would like it done. Assuming the weather cooperates. What a difference one year makes! Last season daytime highs were in the low 20's (Celsius) with nighttime lows around 9C.

Irrigation Project and Fairway Aeration Update

The fairway aeration continues at a slow and steady pace. Cloudy weather, frost and shorter days at this time of year only allow us to do 1 or 2 fairways each day. We could move faster but the cleanup would not be satisfactory. The cores need to dry for a few hours so that the pickup and blowing off of each fairway is thorough. Topdressing will commence early next week on those fairways that have been aerated. You have been very accommodating by not driving on the cores. Any traffic will flatten the plugs (cores) and make them more difficult to remove. Warm weather will definitely help with the process.

Cleanup takes time on cloudy cool days. We don't have the luxury of waiting for ideal weather at this time of year.

The Irrigation Project has progressed onto the golf course with extensive work occurring on the 9th hole. Mainlines are being trenched in from the pumphouse across the beginning of the hole and also up the west side of the rough. The tee now has 8 individually controlled sprinklers all of the same type and size. In the past we had 5 sprinklers of varying sizes that were controlled in 2 blocks. This led to both over and under watering. The 2 fairway laterals (and sprinklers) that come off the line in the rough will be installed later next week. Work will progress westward from there onto holes 1, 2 and 8. Weekly and daily emails will keep you notified of the work plan and any course modifications. If you have been down to the Royal Mayfair you already know that #9 is playing as a Par3 and will continue as such for the next few days.

A mainline trench for 6 inch pipe down the side of #9. The existing 8 inch pipe is in the bottom of the picture. It is still pressurized.

A 3 inch line is feeding the new 2 inch lines for the 9th tee. Those lines are being installed with the directional drilling machine on the right so that the cartpath is not damaged.

Various sizes of fused HDPE await installation.

This machine is used to plow in and pull the miles of wire needed for the irrigation system.

Irrigation Project Begins

The irrigation system replacement project begins on Wednesday. All the components are on site, more pipe is arriving daily and Alpine Irrigation will begin fusing the 14 inch section of mainline that will be installed from the pumphouse out to the southern edge of 9 fairway. Once that is in the ground you will see the work move onto the golf course itself.

Keep in mind that all the green sites were completed in 2011. Alpine only needs to link that HDPE pipe to the new installation in front of the greens as they complete each hole. The work this fall will go as long as weather permits. We want to get as much done in 2016 to minimize the work required in 2017. As I've stated many times in the past this project though not "glamorous" is very important to the continuous and long term goal of presenting outstanding playing conditions. The efficient delivery of irrigation water benefits turfgrass health, is environmentally responsible and makes sense financially in 2 very important ways: we use and pay for a municipal supply and the new pump station is very efficient which has reduced energy costs (approximately 30% compared to the old pump station).

I won't sugar coat the following. There will be some disruptions throughout the term of the project. Tees will need to be moved up, perhaps onto the fairways at times. There will be equipment in the way and unable to move as the contractor works. There will be damaged turf and scars that will need time to heal. No different than any other work we have completed in the six years since we began the current LREP program at the Royal Mayfair. As always the Turf Care Department will restore and repair everything back to normal. Please be patient over the next few months. My thanks to the Board of Governors, the LREP Committee, Mr. Wade Hudyma and most importantly you, the Membership, for having the foresight to embark on this project.

I will post weekly blogs and use twitter to keep you informed of the work and any changes to hole routings that will occur. Emails from the Club or the Golf Shop will be widely used so please read them if you plan on coming down to the golf course from now until the end of the season.



The temporary connection that served us all summer will be replaced by a 14 inch iron "z-pipe".

Some of the installation equipment you will see on the golf course. 

The 14 inch HDPE pipe that will be fused and installed from the pumphouse to 9 fairway.






 

Aeration Season Has Arrived

Its been 5 months since the golf course opened for play on April 12th, approximately 3 weeks sooner than usual. In between we experienced drought conditions which then led into a very wet summer that has continued to this day. The seasonal core aeration of all playing surfaces is now needed more than ever. The relief of compaction, the easier exchange of gases and water, the raising of mowing heights and the heavier applications of topdressing all result in healthier turf. Our maintenance programs are very intense and now is the time to begin preparing the golf course for next season.

Beginning tomorrow cores will be pulled on tees. They will then be heavily topdressed on Tuesday and not mowed for several days following. Approaches will be next and the long process will continue with fairways next week. Please be prepared for some interruption throughout the next few weeks and have patience with the Turf Care staff as we complete the work. The greens will be aerated in late September or early October depending on the weather so there is plenty of time left to enjoy good putting surfaces until then.

Pictures from 2015 showing fairway aeration and core cleanup and the heavy topdressing applied to tees.







 

Weather Problems and More

Since the Men's Member Guest, when it was washed out due to an early afternoon thunderstorm on July 27th, the course has been hit by heavy rains on numerous occasions. Each storm was topping up the subsurface moisture levels throughout the property. The Royal Mayfair drains very well and with the added drainage we have installed over the past few years we were doing "okay". However yesterday's early morning storm flooded the course. We did what we always do and put everything back together but the course was obviously very wet and almost unplayable. Last night around 7:00 another major storm brought more heavy rain. As is typical in our area many areas of the City didn't see a drop of rain but the river valley was hit hard.

This is the worst I have seen the course in my 6 seasons at the Royal Mayfair. All the bunkers are washed out, all the fairways have some level of standing water (or small lakes if you will) and all the turf, no matter where you are, is soggy and much of the course is unplayable. I know it is easy to stand on the patio and take a look at #1, #10 and #18 and think everything looks okay but that could be no further from the truth. A few pictures below serve as an example of what happened.

What we need now is time. Time with no rain, time with warm, windy conditions. The Turf Crew is working hard again to get the course open but without some help from above we won't be very "Royal" for a few days. When you do get out there it is imperative that you repair any and all damage from playing golf. Retrieve that monster divot, replace it properly and repeat that each and every time. You can't carry enough sand with you to repair your divots especially if you are walking.

Ballmarks will stand out on greens and approaches. Fix them as per the rules of golf. We need your help to keep the Royal Mayfair in great condition for the remainder of the season.

Topdressing Update:

• Fairways 12 to 18 need to be finished.
• Front 9 approaches need to be finished.
• Tees were completed.
• Greens will be lightly sanded on Wednesday, August 17th.
• Spiking of greens was completed.

#7 late last night

Every bunker has varying degrees of flooding/washout. Drainage lines are overwhelmed.

#14 fairway last night and not any better this morning.

Fairways and approaches will be finished when it dries out.

Irrigation System Update

The irrigation system is undergoing a major renovation this fall as I'm sure you are all aware of by this point in the season. All pipe, sprinklers and control will be replaced except for the green sites, the entire 10th hole, the short game practice area and the driving range. That work was completed in 2010 and 2011. The new Flowtronix Pump Station was installed in April and is operating as expected. What has not been discussed is a conversion from the existing manufacturer to Toro irrigation components. After careful consideration and using the latest technology from the other company around the greens we made the decision to change. We were going to leave the sprinklers around the greens even though we had considerable performance problems for several seasons after they were installed. We did overcome most of those issues but they are still, in my opinion, an inferior product.

Toro Canada offered to replace those sprinklers with their top of the line product. We were presented with this option after the project pricing had been submitted by the independent installer (Alpine Irrigation). Our only obligation was to supply the labour to install them and then Oakcreek Golf and Turf (the Western Canada Toro distributorship) would then take the old sprinklers in exchange.

Throughout the remainder of the summer Turf Care will be working around the greens to switch out those sprinklers. Simply put it was an offer we couldn't refuse and we are getting a superior product. The other manufacturer' sprinklers on hole 10 and the driving range will remain in place. They are a different model than the greens sprinklers and work fine for our needs in those areas.

The new sprinklers being installed around the greens are of the same design that will be installed on the rest of the golf course. What is unique about them is that they can be upgraded in the future as new technology hits the market in the years to come and they don't have to be dug up.

Eric and Sam are seen here at 17 green replacing the old sprinklers laying beside Tia with new Toro Infinity sprinklers.

Divot Repair and Early Morning Golfers

Divots replacement has always been an issue at golf courses and always will be. The same as ball marks. Its an inherent part of the business. Our task in Turf Care is to reduce the amount of improperly repaired divots and to educate the membership as to the best method of repair that relates to the turf conditions at the Royal Mayfair Golf Club. What other clubs do should have no relevance here. I'll repeat the message in word form and then feel free to watch the video below.

Quite simply, if you take a divot please retrieve the turf plug and put it back in the divot hole. If the turf flies apart into small pieces use the sand seed and fill the area completely level with the ground.

Early morning golfers that tee off before the first posted tee time cannot be afforded the same courtesies as those members that do. Turf Care must prepare the course for daily play without any interference. They have been instructed to keep working so that all the work can be completed without having to worry about golfers and possibly getting hit in the early morning hours. They are only looking for that first tee time group (7:00 am on weekdays for example) that approaches them and only then are they to defer all work until that group passes. If you are an early golfer you must not play golf until the Turf Care staff leave the area. You also have the option of skipping that hole but keep in mind that we have multiple groups of staff throughout the course. If you come upon another group you must again make the decision to wait or leave the area. There have been several very close calls this season and this policy is has been enacted as a result. thank you for your consideration in this matter.

On the Course This Month

June has arrived although it feels like July after opening the 2016 season much earlier than usual. The recent rains have really helped the turf as there is nothing like the complete coverage of falling rain and the benefits of soft water over hard water (our irrigation source that we had to rely so heavily on from April 9th until May 20th). Aside from our usual agronomic programs we are working on a few different areas of the course and dealing with new issues that have arisen as a result (in my belief) of the changing climate.

1.) There are more worms than I can recall coming to the surface and depositing that small mucky pile called a casting. This began last fall and has not abated. In fact the heavy rains have made matters worse. The castings are flattened down when the fairway mowers roll over them leaving small unsightly mud spots that interfere with turf health. We are trying some products to help reduce the worm numbers and keep them away from fairways. It's a double edged sword as the presence of worms signifies healthy soil but they interfere with high quality turf surfaces. They are not present on our greens. I read that they typically don't like to ingest sand particles. As we slowly build up a sand layer on our fairways maybe this will help in the future.

2.) The ants are everywhere. In the past we have only had to concern ourselves with the tiny pests that are present around the perimeter of some greens and tees. However they have shown up in large numbers on fairways and the rough. Why? I'm not sure. Possibly because the milder winters aren't keeping their numbers in check. They bring a fine loamy pile of debris to the surface of fairways and the rough. Again when Turf Care mows these areas in the early mornings we end up with mud spots. We are using a registered ant control product with some success.

3.) The fairways are scheduled for a light topdressing before the middle of the month. At the same time we will core aerate the 2nd fairway in our ongoing efforts to improve the quality of turf. It has a small landing area that sees heavy traffic both from approach shots to the green and power cart use. Those cores are full of Poa annua seed head. They will be used in conjunction with Kentucky bluegrass seed to become our fairway nursery. It is under construction in the area adjacent to the 13th green, the 12th tee and the above the right side of 18 fairway (the same location of the TV crane during the 2013 CN Ladies Open). We will soon have turf that matches our fairways when we need to do small area repairs instead of using pure Kentucky bluegrass sod.

4.) The new washroom between the 13th and 14th holes is currently being landscaped. 3 deciduous trees have been planted to break up the row of conifers in that area. Val and Laurel are adding plantings to give it a  more naturalized look and our own wood chips (as opposed to the cedar bark chips we use elsewhere) will be laid down as needed. On the 7th of June the building will have the lightning rod and grounding equipment installed. It will then be safe to use as a shelter during a thunderstorm as are the other 3 structures at 3 tee, 6 tee and 17 tee.

The Week Of April 25th to the 29th

The cooler, wetter weather that one would expect this time of year has arrived. As a result turf growth has slowed considerably. Once temperatures warm up we will return to our daily mowing routines. In the meantime greens will be rolled, course setup will be dictated by the amount of play and other tasks will have more resources committed to them.

On The Course This Week:

1. Greens will be topdressed on Wednesday morning.

2. Bunker edging, sand adjustment and addition will be ongoing.

3. The perimeter of the property and "difficult to get to" areas will be cleaned up.

4. The ponds have been treated to deal with the flush of algae growth. Results have been very good.

5. The washroom construction on #14 is almost complete. The contractor was waiting for the correct door to arrive from British Columbia. Dave Quinn, in the meantime, is working on the landscaping and will move inside to install cabinets, etc. once the door is installed.

6. The walk off areas that see so much traffic will be consistently aerated, overseeded, topdressed and fertilized throughout the summer beginning this week.

7. The warmup green will  see sod work on the southern section. The mouse damage to the winter air lines was extensive and it is obvious as to what needs replacing. This green is front and center and in view of the Golf Shop and Spike Bar so waiting for natural recovery will take too long (as we struggled with 2 seasons ago).


We have begun the process of lowering mowing heights and moving away from our riding mowers to the walkers on greens and tees (approaches are always walk mowed) as more staff arrive in Turf Care. We will have our full compliment of employees by the end of next week. Our staff shirts are blue this season and head protection will be a dark blue plastic foam lined cap (similar in shape to a golf hat). Steel toed footwear is mandatory and they are allowed to have their mobile phones with them. It is a very quick and effective means of supervisor/employee communication. However, as one would expect in this day and age, we do have to closely manage the use of them. All Turf Care staff will be wearing light brown pants or knee length shorts. They also have a warm pullover and rain gear for inclement weather. Their safety and your peace of mind as you play golf amongst the staff is paramount at The Royal Mayfair.

Early Opening And The Latest Updates

I just heard from a longtime member that our opening date of April 12th is the earliest he can recall in his 28 years here at The Royal Mayfair. I remember opening The Ranch Golf Club this early about 20 years ago. Whether this a trend or an anomaly remains to be seen. Whatever the case the Turf Care department is hard at work getting a head start on many maintenance practices that would normally begin 3 weeks from now.

The irrigation system has been up and running very smoothly since April 9th; aside from many outdated fairway and rough sprinklers that need attention over the next few days before we have "normal" operations. The new pump station has been fine tuned and is a very welcome addition.

The new 14 inch mainline section to be installed up to the eastern edge of the actual golf course (#9 to the left side of the fairway bunkers) has been delayed for a few weeks. As a result Alpine Irrigation installed a temporary connection to our existing 8 inch mainline until we are ready for a quick switch; all weather dependent of course.

Even though we are open early I would like to remind the membership to keep their expectations in line with the fact it is still only mid-April. Mowing heights will not be lowered for awhile yet and the color is slowly returning to the turf with the warmer days (but nights are still quite cold) and the beginning of our fertility programs. The greens will be sprayed again on Monday. Tees have been fertilized and the fairways and rough are up next week as well. The all important sand topdressing program is underway too. This will help top up the aeration holes and smooth out the surfaces until more growth occurs and we begin to lower mowing heights in late April.

It was a tough battle cleaning the course up this spring especially with all the very dry windy conditions. Even though it seemed like a never ending task I think the tree lines are actually cleaner because of the weather. A lot of debris was pushed out from the perimeter of each hole into the middle and it allowed Turf Care to remove a lot of leaves and branches that would typically stay in the undergrowth areas if it was wet during a normal spring melt.

The forecast looks unbelievably good for the next week so conditions will continue to improve quickly on the golf course.

The arrival of our full complement of employees will not coincide however with the nice weather. We usually don't have everyone until early May so some tasks and routines will need to be modified until then. No matter. Enjoy the great weather and welcome back.

Pump Station Replacement

The pump station that powers our irrigation system was recently replaced. The old station was 25 years old and eventually like all high use systems was due for replacement. The new pump station is technologically up to date and very energy efficient due to the fact that each of the three 50 hp motors are driven by variable frequency drive control. A simple explanation of VFD control is that when the motors turn on they "spool" up slowly and then speed up as irrigation demand increases. Old motors would turn on full power immediately as their use was required. That would then result in an energy spike and it was also at that point when there was the greatest amount of wear and tear on the motors. It also resulted in extreme hydraulic stresses that need to be addressed with control valves and in our case a large pressure tank. The new pump station does not require a pressure tank and will also provide more direct feedback to the irrigation control computer in the Turf Care facility. We have also increased our pumping capacity from 1200 gallons per minute to 1500 gpm which gives us the option of shortening the irrigation window (the length of time required for a full irrigation cycle) during the short nights of mid summer.

The old pump station with the pressure tank front and center.

The old motors and pumps are lifted out through a removable panel built into the roof of the pumphouse.

The new pump station being off loaded.

The new pump station platform and control system in place.

The new pumps and motors installed.

A future blog will detail the power connections, drive shaft install and the link up of the discharge pipe to our existing mainline leading out into the golf course irrigation system.



Late Winter Update

After several months of winter its time to begin with a new year of blog posts. As we get closer to the 2016 golf season and we all start to think of spring I'm hoping that your interest in all things related to the Turf Care Department will also begin to pick up.

On the personnel front we are pleased to welcome Ashley Davidovich as our new 2nd Assistant. She brings 14 years in the golf industry with 6 of those as an Assistant at the Fort McMurray Golf Club. Her knowledge and skill set will help Eric and I as we continue to improve the golf course. Her presence will be very important this fall as we embark upon some course renovations and the installation of a new irrigation system.

If you are not already aware of it, work on the final stages of the LREP will begin in September. The second green will be redesigned, the north tee decks on #4 will be increased in size, the bunker in front of 10 green will be removed and some tree planting will give the 17th hole a slightly different look down the right side. More communication will be forthcoming from the Committee in a few weeks so look for an information panel describing the work to be placed in the clubhouse very soon.

The final piece of the work on the course is a complete upgrade to the irrigation system aside from the green sites that were finished in 2011. I will be blogging a detailed account of the plan in a few weeks. Part of that upgrade is the installation of a new pump station which is now underway. The old pump station has been disconnected and is ready for removal. The new platform and pumps will be installed late next week and a section of mainline (old 10 inch pvc pipe being replaced with 14 inch high density polyethylene pipe) will be installed and flanged to the existing pvc pipe next to the ninth hole. Work on the new irrigation system will commence from that position in September. Water is an expensive and very valuable resource and the new system will allow precise delivery of water using state of the art sprinklers, pumps and computer control. All things being equal (weather!!) we will be able to closely monitor our water use benefitting both cost budget costs and turfgrass health.

The old platform ready for removal after a crane is brought in to pull out the intake lines that extend down into the wet well.

This winter was the first time we covered all the greens with the bubble wrap/impermeable covers. Fresh air has been blown under the covers once a week since mid November. We had started out cautiously with the implementation of this procedure. Over the last 4 years we have increased cover use from 1 green to 4 greens to all of the greens. Past success will hopefully translate into future success especially with the unpredictable winters we are now experiencing. We've inspected 2 troublesome greens and the results are encouraging. Obviously when all the covers are removed we will have a complete analysis of the results. I'm certainly glad they were covered this winter, one of the warmest in living memory.

A solid layer of ice has formed on many of the covers.

Remove the ice, cut the cover, cut the bubble wrap and underneath is a crusty layer that formed as the humidity under the covers froze in late November. All normal and expected.

Scrape the crusty layer away and healthy turf is exposed on 16 green.

Same result on the putting green.

Assuming conditions under the other greens are similar we now arrive at a time of year when the covers assist in keeping the turf dormant during big temperature swings that are common in late February and March. The covers insulate the ground by keeping the temperature more or less constant and in the -3 to 0 degrees C range. Later on when melting snow is an issue the covers keep water away from the turf greatly reducing the occurrence of freeze/thaw injury that is so prevalent in late March and early April.

For those of you wondering about an early start to the golf season keep in mind it will only take one significant snowfall or a cold snap to put us back to the usual opening period which is typically late April to the first week in May.