Clubhouse Construction Has Begun

 Excavation for the New Clubhouse has begun this week. The contractor hopes to have the footing and foundation poured sometime next week. There is a substantial amount of fill to move around and the site is quite tight.  I will keep you posted as the project progresses.
Until next time...
David

Dormant Fertilizer

Late fall fertilizer or dormant fertilizer is being applied this week at both Victoria Park Valley and East. Usually around the last week of October or first week of November. Some of you have asked me if we are doing it earlier this year. The answer is yes by about a week. I have taken advantage of the cold weather. The fertilizer we use is agricultural grade and can be "hot" if the temperature is above 10 Celsius, which means it can burn the turf.  The theory is to apply the fertilizer when the turf slows down or stops growing. The nitrogen (which is the main element for turfgrass growth) is absorbed by the plant. The plant does not use the nitrogen for leaf growth or shoot growth as it does in the summer. Instead it uses it for root growth and as stored carbohydrates. This makes the plant hardy for winter dormancy and allows the plant to green up in the spring. By doing this we can avoid an early spring fertilization which can result in too lush surge of growth. This practice is good for all cool season turf home lawns. There have been some environmental concerns regarding the possibility of leaching and run off. Always apply fertilizer with this in mind. Be careful of getting close to waterways and hard surfaces (asphalt) which will travel off site into storm sewers. You should also not apply more nitrogen than the plant can absorb. We never apply more than 1lb of actual nitrogen per 1000 square feet.
Until next time... David

Valley Clubhouse is Gone!

The Valley clubhouse was taken down last week to make way for the new club house which should start in a couple of weeks. It did not take long. They say Rome was not built in a day but it can be taken down in one! 
The new club house will be a smaller clubhouse than the old West course club house or the existing East course club house. It will have one main golfers lounge/banquet area that can accommodate approx. 140 inside with over flow or other groups on the patio. We are in the process of discussing options to cover a portion of the patio. At the present time the banquet room will be primarily used for golf tournaments and will be seasonal. We have no plans to use the facility for weddings etc. The club house will have a panoramic view of the golf course.
I will update you on the new club house construction with pictures as the project progresses.
Until next time... David

Aeration Time

Aerating Greens

 

Aerating Fairways

 
 
Victoria Park East aerated greens and fairways last week.
We aerated the front nine on Tuesday. The process takes the whole day. The actual aeration is done in the morning and the clean up process starts when the cores are dry. The clean up was halted by rain and thunderstorms late in the afternoon. We were not able to finish the clean up until Wednesday afternoon. The weather was much drier on Thursday and we were able to finish the back nine greens and fairways. Greens will take about one week to heal. Today has been six days since we did the front nine greens and they are filling in nicely.

Aeration is necessary practice for the overall health of the turf. I want to thank all the members and guests for being so understanding throughout this process.

Until Next Time....   David



Clean up process

Clean up Begins

Willow tree on Hole #2 at East

Clean up has been going on since the violent wind storm Friday afternoon. Many trees were damaged or blown down. The East course received much more damage than the Valley. The power however was out at the Valley until Sunday morning. The it seems the golf course was just put back together again since the last storms. The main thing was no damage to any buildings and nobody was hurt. Until next time...David



Cedar Tree on Yellow deck on Hole #5
 

Equipment problems at the Valley!

Jason and David hooking up the chain for the tow truck

 It was an exciting day at the Valley yesterday. One of our tractors ended up in the pond on Lakes # 8. Thankfully no one was hurt! The tractor will have to into the shop and shall we say dry out!
The water was nice and warm.
We don't need anymore excitement like this for the rest of the summer.
Until next time... David

 

Tow Truck pulling tractor and mower out

Recent Storms Wreak Havoc at Victoria Park

Lakes # 9 at Valley
 

Cart Path # 5 East
 






The recent thunderstorms have caused a lot of issues here at Victoria park. The already saturated ground could not absorb any more water. The amount of rain and how fast it came down on Sunday night then again on Monday evening caused major washouts to cart paths and sand traps. The east course was hit hard twice all the repair work done during the day on Monday had to be done again on Tuesday. The Valley however received only half the rain on Monday as the East course and did not experience the washouts. We are only 4 km apart. That is the thing with thunderstorms, they are vary hit and miss.  We dodged a bullet on Wednesday afternoon as more thunderstorms raged through Guelph. Both golf courses only received some rain. If any of you have been out this week you can see what we are dealing with. We hope get all the washouts fixed today (Friday) and catch up on the grass. With all the rain we are extremely behind in mowing grass and there are may areas we just cannot mow because the areas are too wet. At the East course we have not been able to mow the fairway or rough since last Friday. The hole has been playing as a par 3 instead of a par 4. We are attempting to mow it today. You may have also noticed the greens are slower than normal. When they are so wet we are unable to do many of the cultural practises like roll, verticut, topdress etc. with out causing serious damage.
I would like to thank you for all your patience during this time. Until next time..
David