March Madness!

Well, just when we thought winter was over for 2012/2013, we get hit with another 4 inches of snow, 4 days after the official start of SPRING!

As annoying as this snowfall can be when we are all busy with preparations for spring, it is difficult to deny the beauty in a picture like this one!

 

The plow was mounted one more time, hopefully, to help with the clearing of the clubhouse grounds.   

 

 



Drainage Installation Continues...

#2 fairway at Greystone is the perfect example of what we refer to as an area having "micro-climates."  On one area of the fairway closest to the approach to the green, we have one of the driest areas on the golf course.  Several factors contribute to this dry micro-climate such as the slope of the fairway, soil type, wind flow and absence of trees.  This area of the fairway is managed as a dry micro-climate.  Some of the strategies we employ in this dry area are deep watering using wetting agents, constant aerification to create channels in the soils for water penetration, and frequent syringing of the turf during periods of heat stress.



 

Conversely, the tee-side portion of #2 fairway experiences a wetter micro climate.  The first 75 yards of this fairway are flat, tree-lined, shaded and sitting on a heavier, clay soil.  In order to manage this type of micro-climate, we employ management conducive to providing a healthy growing environment, with consideration to this climate. 

 One of the long-term strategies that we are beginning to employ in some of our wetter micro-climates is the installation of internal drain systems.

 

By removing the heavy, clay soils and installing gravel, perforated pipe and a sandy growing medium over trenches, we can begin to remove excess water from these areas.

Some of our goals are to provide playability, healthy turf, an aesthetically-pleasing vistas and access to the golf course.  Installation of drain systems like this one on #2 fairway will help us to achieve those goals for our customers. 

 

 

 

We are working to complete this system as I am writing this blog and are expecting to be complete by the end of the day on Friday.  Next week we will be moving the operation to #6 fairway.



Drainage Installation

Even though we are starring in the face of a snow storm that could bring 6"-10" inches of accumulating snowfall to our golf course tomorrow, we are still trying to take advantage of the warmest weather of the season.  We are fortunate to have a mini-excavator on rent and we have plans to install over 1,000 feet of drainage in the next four weeks.   We began with a small area behind the chipping green that was not draining properly. 

 

Last winter we installed drainage around the back side of the driving range tee and underneath the newly installed ornamental beds.  The outlet from that drainage system was left at the slope behind the chipping green, and this area became a problem during the golfing season.

We used 3" diameter perforated drain pipe layed on top of 3" of gravel and topped with 6"-8" of additional gravel and about 6" of and 80/20 mix containing sand and peat moss.

 Surprise!  We found and 8" drain line that runs from the upper practice putting green into a larger drain system that eventually finds its way to the upper pond on #9.  We ran our drain right into the larger 8" drain and started backfilling.

 The sod we removed on Monday was returned and placed over the drain.  We work off of plywood to protect the existing turf.

 

 

 

The sod is tamped with a plate tamper and touched up by hand. Hopefully, you cannot even tell that we were here.  Depending on weather, we plan to begin installing drainage on the right side of #2 fairway this week.

Golf Course Closed - Will Open on Friday

 Wednesday morning we arrived at the golf course to find a nice frost. 

Thursday, we arrived to a blanket of wet snow.  We had about two inches of snow on the ground. 

Much of our winter projects thus far have been completed inside the maintenance facility.  Looks like our staff is just happy to be outside!

Strange Weather

We could all agree that the weather patterns we are experiencing this winter of 2013 are a bit out of the ordinary.  We have seen temperature 24 hour temperature fluctuations of as much as  45 degrees and now we have seen a storm dump nearly 4 inches of warm rainfall and rip 50mph winds through our golf course in the middle of winter.  I even heard some rumbles of thunder at my house last night.  It is shocking to think that with colder temperatures, this storm could have produced over 3 1/2 fet of snow in our area! 

One casualty caused by the combination of high winds and soft ground was this 40 foot red oak tree along the right side of #15.

Our staff was able to make fairly quick work of this fallen tree. 

When you are trying to dry soil in a pond, even small rain events can be frustrating.   It may take more than eight hours to pump the pond down this time. 

 We are able to capture this rainfall and transfer it into our main irrigation pond on #9.   This will be enough to fill this pond completely and will be a welcome sight in the spring when we are looking to start irrigating the golf course.

Course Open - All 18 Holes!

The golf course is open again.  We opened this morning with a few holes remaining closed.   With the temps in the 50's, all of the snow/slush has melted off and we have now opened all 18 holes.

Golf Course Closed Again

Greystone is closed again with about 2" of fresh, powdery snow.