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.
Monday, April 25, 2016
Thursday, April 14, 2016
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.
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.
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