On The Course This Week

The  showers we keep receiving every 2 or 3 days is making it difficult to keep the golf course firm. That being said I remind EVERYONE to please repair your ballmarks. They aren't hard to see when the greens are soft so please help out and do your part.

The membership is doing a good job of fixing divots by replacing the turf or using the sand seed containers. My preference is to always put back the turf if it is in one piece. Thanks for your help.

The tree on 18 was cleaned up last Friday after a few days of chainsaw work. The large stump and protruding root mass will be ground down by Carrington & Company when he passes through Edmonton again.

On The Course:

• Spraying control product on clover and any other broadleaf weeds
• Light sanding of fairways Tuesday and Wednesday
• Spraying fertilizer and growth regulator on fairways after topdressing is completed
• Granular fertilizer in select areas of rough
• Completion of  fairway bunker sand adjustment (#3 and #5 waste bunker)
• Continued minor greens repair
• Renovation of the walk off area behind 17 green

We will be removing the worn out turf behind 17 green and replacing it with a section of artificial grass that will be topdressed with sand. The sand will work down into the fibers and give it a better feel when you are walking on it. The section will extend from the top of the mound down to the cartpath. I have seen this used with good success (and a decent appearance) at The Calgary Golf & Country Club. It is just too difficult to grow turf on that narrow exit point.

Bunkers, Trees and Greens

I started blogging at Highlands GC about 10 years ago and continued it consistently here at The Royal Mayfair. This season I have not communicated through this medium in a timely manner. I have used twitter more often but still not often enough. Instead the Turf Care Department has notified the Golf Shop about daily activities so that they could talk to the members as they greeted them at the first tee. This technique is not 100% foolproof and doesn't allow for detailed messages to be conveyed. Without a monthly newsletter I find myself in a quandary. How do we get our messages out to you the members? The answer is back to more blogging, twitter posts and email blasts. I am also out on the course throughout the day so please feel free to flag me down to answer any questions you may have.

Let me explain why the bunkers have seen a delay in edging and sand adjustment. The construction at our front entrance resulted in a delay for sand delivery from Idaho. They only deliver sand with long belly dump trailer trucks . There was no way those trucks could enter until the curbing was finished. The first load arrived 12 days ago and the second arrived last Wednesday. There was enough sand in our inventory to complete the green side bunkers a few weeks ago, had some sand left over to start fairway bunkers and  were finally able to order more sand. Unfortunately with the wind storm the fairway bunkers had to wait while we tasked labor to course cleanup for a week. We have many large fairway bunkers and there are only so many hours in a workday. However we are almost finished, with bunkers on 6,7,10 and 12 to be adjusted.

Many of you have seen that huge poplar that fell Saturday evening on hole 18. When they are on the ground it is easier to appreciate how big they are and how extensive  the cleanup is. By my estimate it will be 8 hours of chainsaw work and 16 hours of labor (4 staff x 4 hours) just to remove the debris and stumps. On top of that will be disposal of the branches and wood. We will chip what branches we can but there is no room in our area for any debris. It will need to be put into 35 cubic yard roll off bins and hauled away. The stump area will need to be ground down and then sodded. Right now I would make a rough estimate of $2500 to $3000 for cleanup. That's just one large polar. Daunting to say the least.

The greens are almost healed with the 14th green being the last to come around. The bentgrass that filled most of the damaged areas will eventually become fine bladed and shorter as we lower the mowing heights and continue with verticutting, brushing and topdressing. We've also had to fertilize each green depending on its health. Some have received more nitrogen than others (to speed recovery) which has made it difficult to maintain consistency across the golf course. Sodded areas have been cut higher but we are slowly bringing those areas down to the same mowing height of cut as all other greens. The sod on 15 is looking great and we will continue to cautiously bring it "up to speed". It is slow but still a very smooth putting surface.

To say it has been a challenge so far would be an understatement. Thankfully our fairways, tees and approaches are in great condition. Lets hope for continued warm sunny weather.