Course Update 2/28/20

This week was a combination of edging bunkers and tree work.  The staff spent three more days to complete Orchard fairway bunkers and I'm happy to announce that all the bunkers on the three courses have been edged.  Depending on the weather, we'll resume checking sand depths and moving/adding sand around the middle of March in preparation for April 1st.  The two bunkers at the chipping green and the bunker on the Lakes side driving range tee still require edging and will most likely be completed next week.

As for tree work, we spent two more days on Grove 8 removing vegetation in the left wood line along the tees.  Similar to other areas, the trees and brush were encroaching into the line of play and prevented us from using several teeing locations.  Ultimately it caused excessive wear in the areas that were being used due to the lack of recovery time we'd normally have by moving the tee markers around the entire tee.

These two Silver Maples near the lower blue tee on Grove 8 were removed due to their proximity to the tee.  Every time the tee was aerified we would find pieces of wood in the aerification plugs from the tree roots that were growing into the tee.

Here's a view from the gold tee.  Only the right half of the tee could be used because of the trees blocking the left side.

Same view from the gold tee on Grove 8 with the trees and brush removed.

Grove 8 from the blue tee.

Most of the forward white tee on Grove 8 was unusable due to a large Poplar that was growing in the left hazard.  That tree has been removed so more of the tee can now be used.

Course Update 2/24/20

We had a full week of tree work last week and made good progress in two key areas on Grove 8 and 9.  On Grove 8 we removed a large Elm and a handful of Black Cherries and Locust left of the cart path near the landing zone.  The trees, especially the Elm, had grown out over the edge of the fairway and were limiting play down the left side.  The trees were also obstructing full view of the fairway and left rough from most of the tees, along with heavily shading those parts of the rough and fairway.

On Grove 9 we cleared a significant amount of trees and brush on both sides of the red hazard on the left near the old drop area.  The vegetation had become so overgrown it was nearly impossible to see if a ball hit into this area stayed in bounds, thus slowing down play.

We first had to clear brush and small trees to gain access to the large Elm on Grove 8.

The Elm tree split while cutting due to old age and decaying wood, but luckily no one was hurt.

Here's a view from the blue tee on Grove 8.  A portion of the Elm tree had to fall across the cart path due to the amount of wood in the canopy and the way it was leaning.

Here's our work area down in the left hazard on Grove 8.

Grove 9 viewed from the blue tee.  You really can't see much of the old drop area left of the blue tractor with the red trailer due to dense vegetation.

Bryan Morgan, Assistant Superintendent, leading the charge to clear the unwanted vegetation.

Here you can see a lot more of the old drop area on Grove 9 after we finished clearing the far side of the red hazard.  The trees on the left side of the picture are also being removed to further improve the view from the tees.

Here's the finished product on Grove 9 after the dead trees and brush were removed on the tee side of the hazard.

Course Update 2/13/20

We received 1.75" of liquid precipitation over the past 7 days from both rainfall and snow melt, which brings us to 2.70" so far this month.  Saturated course conditions kept tree work on hold, but the staff figured out how to access the bunkers to continue edging.  All greenside bunkers are complete, along with Grove fairway bunkers.  Most of Lakes fairway bunkers have been edged but the ground was just too wet to finish.  Instead, the staff started edging fairway bunkers on Orchard 2 since they are more accessible from the cart path.  I anticipate only needing a few more days to finish edging the fairway bunkers and have this process behind us for the upcoming season.

Course Update 2/6/20

We spent last Friday removing additional trees and brush left of Lakes 8 green to increase the amount of sunlight on the left side of the putting surface and rough around the bunkers.  We removed several trees left of the green three years ago for the same reason, but realized we needed to continue our work to improve turf density and quality.  We'll keep a watchful eye on this area throughout the upcoming season to see if any more vegetation needs to come out in the future.

Tree work has been on hold this week due to the soft conditions created by the recent snow and rain, but the staff has been able to continue edging bunkers.  Greenside bunkers on Lakes and Orchard are finished and we're halfway thru Grove.  The bunkers drain fairly well so we're fortunate to work in them when the rest of the property is soaking wet.

This large Oak tree was too close to Lakes 8 green and was removed to improve turf quality on the green and around the bunkers.  The tree kept these areas shaded most of the day during late summer and fall, but wasn't strategic to the hole.

More trees & brush needed to be removed left of Lakes 8 green for agronomic reasons.

The growing environment and playability of this hole is much improved over the past two years since clearing the vegetation in front of and left of the green.