Opening April 1st

Aerification is going smoothly and the weather is improving, the golf course will be open for play starting April 1st.  We will be opening 4 days sooner than we did last year, just in time for Easter weekend. 

Please take note - we are aerifying greens and fairways today, those projects will be completed by Wednesday, but the scars will remain for a couple weeks.  As the weather continues to improve, the grass will soon fill in, and be back to normal very soon.  With this minor inconvenience out of the way, the membership will have uninterrupted golf until we aerify again, which will be October.

 

We accomplished a lot today, and will continue until dark.  The clean-up will start back up again tomorrow morning. 

We started off early this morning, mowing greens and fairways for the first time of the season.

Taking the winter brown off, revealing the green underneath.

After a layer of topdressing, we punched 3/4" holes down to 4"

We hire out the fairway portion of the aerification, they use 4 machines to accomplish the job in one day.

After we drag the fairways, the contractor will pulverize the cores to break them apart into small pieces.  We then come in behind, dragging the fairway one more time, blowing it off, verticutting it, blowing it off again, then vacuuming up the debris.  After that we focus on cleaning off the irrigation heads and cleaning up any remaining mud in the rough and on the paths.

 

We couldn't have asked for a better day to aerify - sunny and windy.

 

Some of the best views in 2014

No introduction needed here, enjoy the video:

 

Best Views of 2014

 

This upcoming season we will be using our new tool to complete a flyby of each hole to post on the website along with attempting to capture photos to be hung in the clubhouse.

 

March sunrise

This morning we were treated to a purple, orange and red sky as the sun came up.  As it peeked above the horizon, we caught a glimpse of the orange ball before it rose above the clouds.  Here's a link to a short video of the course from this morning:

Sunrise Video

One of the many perks of this job is seeing the sunrise.  Because of the open expanse of the property, we are witness to some wonderful sunrises that others may not usually notice due to buildings being in the way.  This morning's sunrise was a gift, especially after a long cold winter.

A little extra help today

As I stated yesterday in my post, we have a fair amount of sticks to pick up every spring.  Today we got an extra little boost, our great friends from Blanchard Valley Center came over to lend us a hand.

Molly and Nichole were the ones that didn't mind getting out in the cold and getting some fresh air.

Ron helped the ladies, giving them great tips on how to properly hold a shovel.  We appreciate their happy spirits and great attitude, they truly are hard workers.  We hope to see them again next week.

On another note, 50 tons of sand was delivered today in preparation for our upcoming greens aerification on March 30.  As I look at the forecast today my hope is to mow fairways next Monday / Tuesday, mow greens for the first time next Tuesday, aerify fairways next Wednesday before the rain hits, then aerify greens the following Monday.

Opening? Eventually!

The question we hear the most this time of year, and rightfully so, is: "When do you anticipate opening?"  This is when I keep an eye on the long range forecast, course conditions and the timing of our maintenance activities such as aerification.  First, forecast - looks like the next 7 days will be highs in the 40's and lows in the 20's, while the sun may be out, it isn't exactly grass growing or golfing weather.  Second, course conditions - the greens have not started to grow yet, therefore we have not mowed them and they would be unable to recover from any traffic during the next week.  Third, aerification - we are scheduled to aerify greens on Monday, March 30 if the weather permits.  We might also aerify fairways next week if we stay dry.  If these activities happen, it will be more efficient for us to leave the course closed for a few more days, get the work done, then open the course and be ready for the season. Right now, I would say we will open in early April.

 

With that being said, I know there is an itch to get out there, if the weather turns warmer and the greens start growing, we may open sooner.

 

To be honest, a few of our greens look like junk - they really took a beating this winter due to some ice cover, cold temps in high winds.  Here is what 12 currently looks like.  The great news is that there is plenty of green grass underneath and they will all be green and healthy in a few weeks as they start growing.  On typical winter damage - if it's brown it comes back, if it's white it's gone.

Our major task this week and into next is cleaning the course from the winter winds.  We rake up any debris and pick up any stick that is pencil size or larger.  With 150 acres and thousand of trees, this is a big task.

One of the last small projects that Wayne has been working on is a shelving unit for our reels.  He did a great job putting this together last week, helping maintain a clean and organized shop.

View from the tee

There are only a handful of golfers at FCC that play from the back tees, not too many people notice the view or obstructions from back there.  I make it a point during the season to assess the view and openings from the tee boxes, this has led to certain tree removals and recently some tree pruning.

The opening between the two Maples on 11 tee was narrowing.  From the back tee, the window was becoming unplayable.

After 15 minutes of trimming, we now have 2 decent trees that frame the hole.  I get a kick out of pruning - making good trees into great trees.

 

Another view from the tee that wasn't improving on its own was on 12.  From the tee boxes, the two Spruce on the right blocked the entire path to the back bunker and was also impeding the view of the magnificent Oak.

 

We've removed the two Spruce, your ball can now travel on a path and land in a place intended and designed for that tee shot and green - a bunker or the green bank vs. knocked down by a tree a few yards from a bunker.