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| Winter kill 5 green (2014) |
Typically in November and December we are putting our golf clubs on the shelve and breaking out the warm weather gear. That was not the case this year! Most of the days ended up being above average temperature wise with not a flake of snow to be found. That allowed many of you to enjoy an abnormally long golf season. This weather not only benefited you the golfer, but it allowed some much needed projects to be completed. Usually in December the ground is frozen and our focus is on tree removals and pruning. Since the ground did not freeze until recently we were able to tackle some much needed project work.
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| Installing drainage into 5 green |
5 green is always an issue after heavy rains or melting snow during the winter. There is a natural depression that collects surface water runoff from the green. This depression fills with water and a sizeable puddle forms. This is especially problematic in the winter months. If this water is allowed to freezes it can cause massive damage like we experienced in 2014. So to remedy the issue we installed a drain line into the middle of this depression. When the puddle of water forms the new drain will allow the water to escape the surface. On the end of the drain line we installed a what I call a seasonal riser. This riser comes to the surface of the green and allows the water to drain quicker. This riser is only exposed in the off season and is marked and buried during the golf season. This project is a huge improvement for the green and will help to prevent winter kill in the future.
The rough on the left side of 16 near the creek and cart path was in dire need of drainage. The area is consistently roped off after every rain storm. We installed just over 400 linear feet of perforated drain pipe and regraded the area as needed. During the installation we found multiple old broken drain lines, which was the main reason why the area was so wet. We will be seeding the area in the spring. We also did some similar drainage and regrade work to the rough on the right of 11 fairway to alevate similar issues.
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| Plywood wall on 1 bunker |
We also began to do some work on the bunker at 1 green. The high face on that bunker made it difficult for sand to stay in place and there was large tree root growing in it. Also the edge of the bunker on both the left and right side was starting to collapse. To fix the problem we decided to backfill the high face of the bunker with soil and install sod. In order to form the new face we installed a temporary plywood wall to retain the new soil and form the face. Currently the plywood wall is still in place and will remain there until spring. This will allow the new soil to properly settle prior to installing the new sod. We will remove the plywood first thing in the spring, do some finish work and install the sod. This will make the bunker easier to maintain and improve its look.
The past few weeks has been a return to typical Western New York winter weather. The ground has begun to freeze making for ideal conditions to remove some trees. For the rest of the winter we are focusing on removing many of the dead evergreen trees around the course, Many of these trees are diseased and reaching the end of their life cycle.
I also wanted to include a USGA article on why we closed off the greens for the winter. I always get questions on this and it does a great job explaining why we do.
http://www.usga.org/course-care/our-experts-explain0/managing-winter-play---why-can-t-we-tee-off-now-.html
Stay warm and we will see you in the spring!
