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.
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| 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.
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| A solid layer of ice has formed on many of the covers. |
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| 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. |
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| Scrape the crusty layer away and healthy turf is exposed on 16 green. |
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| 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.
