Getting the course ready

Getting Sand Traps Playable

 It has been quite a week with snow actually staying on the greens Thursday. The grounds crew has been busy trying to get the course ready. We did not have any prep time before the course opened to clean up debris and get the bunkers ready for play before the course opened. The East course has over 70 bunkers! It takes time to edge the bunker, clean out any debris, move around any sand and add new sand if needed. It takes about two weeks to complete all the bunkers. As you can see in the picture below, the grass has not really started to grow. We have not mowed any rough yet. There will be some rough mowed next week. The greens are filling in nicely. There are a few spots that have to be plugged. This will start next week. The forecast for next week is sunny and seasonal. See you on the course! Until next time.... David

 Valley Practice Green  Thursday April 23, 2015

Course Update April 3, 2015

Installing Turf cover on Practise Green - April 3,201

 The snow, ice and frost have finally left the greens. This morning Jason and his crew put some turf covers on some weak or stressed out areas. The turf covers act as a green house and will actually warm up the soil which will help the turf to start growing and green up quicker. The good news is the visual damage is mostly aesthetic. There is a lot of live turf where areas appear yellow or brown. I would say the damage is minor and certainly nothing like last year. When we open the golf we will be playing on ALL the greens. We are planning on opening the golf course next weekend weather permitting. We are constantly looking at the long range weather forecast (like yourselves) and hoping for the

Practise green showing some minor winter damage

best. Unfortunately it does not look great. Ideally the grounds crew would like a week to clean up the golf course and get it ready for play. To do this we need somewhat decent weather and the course conditions have to allow the crew to move around without damage. With the long range forecast not that great we will not have much time for clean up. I thank you for your patience and understanding. I look forward to seeing you all of you soon.
Until next time...
David