Irrigation Project And Course Update

The irrigation project is moving along but will be held up for a day or two by the heavy rains. Alpine Irrigation will trench in a run of mainline alongside the north treeline on 15 and then cross over in front of the 15th tees and connect to the section of mainline that was installed across the 14th fairway earlier in May. By Friday they will also begin working on the lateral pipe lines and sprinkler placement on the 15th hole. As per usual the hole will play as a par 3. It had been suggested that there might be some temporary hole closures during the remainder of the project but I don't believe this will be necessary based on the procedure we have followed so far. After 15 is completed the next hole to be worked on will be #14 with mainline work continuing across the 13th hole and down the north side of #12. This pipe will  connect to the pipe that is presently supported out of the ground in front of the 12th tee. We will update the final phases as Alpine finishes the major work on #14.

To reiterate previous discussions please realize that this work is akin to major surgery. It is invasive and time is required for the golf course to recover. By time I don't mean a few weeks. It will take months. In fact we will likely be mending certain areas for the remainder of the season. Trench lines might settle, some sprinklers will need more leveling, sod that doesn't survive will need to be replaced and seeded areas take time to grow in. Good weather will help as will the efforts of the Turf Care staff. Alpine will need to finish up certain areas in addition to their install work but we want them to get the system in the ground, get out of the way of the membership, do their final touchups and leave. The new Toro system is active on the entire front 9 and on holes 16 and 17 to date.

The work is not pretty and is difficult to accept for some. The alternative was to keep irrigating with an outdated antiquated irrigation system that was limiting the future of the property. We have taken a step backwards in 2017 but have set ourselves up to take big steps forward beyond this season. At present the fit and finish of The Royal Mayfair are not what we are accustomed to but we are now at the forefront of irrigation management. 

Golf Course Update

• The heavy rain and strong winds have left the course wet and in need of a major cleanup. At least 6 large trees have come down and there are a few hanging branches. A tree company will need to assist with some of the work.
• The sodded greens are progressing well considering how quickly we put them back in play. They will be slower than the others but will get progressively smoother over the coming weeks.
• Recovery on damaged fairways is slow. The type of turf on our fairways (predominately Poa annua) needs time and warm weather. That warm weather has finally arrived and as night time temperatures stay above 10C the Poa will finally begin to respond.
• With the Turf Care team having to embark on extensive irrigation repairs something has to give. We are stretched to the limit having to look after the usual tasks in addition to the extra work. As a result we are behind on trim work, tree line rough mowing and bunker improvements such as edging and sand adjustment.
• We are also behind on our topdressing of greens and aprons (not for long though). Mowing heights will be lowered next week on the greens and fairways. 

All for now