So Much For The Fast Start

We were off to a fast start as previously reported.  Since January 24th we have been basically iced in.  Thanks so much to Mike, Ginny, Alan, and Ryan who helped me get the parking lot and walkways at the clubhouse cleared on Monday the 25th.  It was a massive undertaking given how iced over everything was.  Neither the plow nor the snowblower were useful, so we used two tractors with front end loaders and a bunch of elbow grease to get things cleared.  Tuesday and Wednesday involved more work by the same group plus most of the others to help get the piles of Snow/Ice and patches of ice cleaned up from our shop parking lot and the clubhouse.  James and Connor have been busy on the inside with equipment work which never stops.  As for the golf course....I have a feeling it could be another couple of weeks before we get much done.  If the ice softens up we should be able to get around for more dead tree removal, but that would be about it.  

CONCERNS:

I am concerned about the wellbeing of our tees on hole 8 as the temperatures and ice cover are not at all conducive for bermuda grass.  We talk about needing to convert more of our tees to bermuda, but then winters like the past two happen and I'm not so sure.  There is no silver bullet obviously.  Bentgrass tees are a drain on resources every summer and bermuda might suffer from winterkill in severe conditions.  Last year many courses in our area lost acres of bermuda grass.  Our tees on 8 had just been planted on Labor Day of 2024 and managed to survive their first winter with flying colors.  If we make it through this winter the same way, I'll be convinced that Tahoma 31 is the right variety for future improvements on tee boxes.  

IMPROVEMENTS:

I'm really excited about the changes coming to the practice tee.  When the ice finally goes away and ground conditions allow us to get started, we will be doing some concrete and sod work to add more mats and realign them.  There will be more hitting stations available when mats are in use and they will more effectively direct shots towards the center of the range.  We are also hoping, if budget allows, that we can expand the number of cart parking spaces by removing the existing hedge near the putting green and adding concrete.  Later this season or next year, pending approval, Chase and I would like to make slight adjustments to the target greens and remove the target bunkers.  This would serve to make the practice experience safer and better by moving targets away from the outer edges and making them more visible from the teeing area.  

COMMENT:

Lastly, I'm a big supporter of the recent move of practice balls to the golf shop.  The "all you can eat buffet" of balls was a magnet for non-member use, encouraged a "machine gun" approach to practicing, took a lot of labor to set up and break down each day, encouraged golfers to bypass the golf shop before playing, restricted the useable hitting area between the ropes causing excess wear and tear to the tee, etc....  This topic falls more in the golf operations lane than the course maintenance lane, but I've advocated for this move before and believe it is the right thing to do.  Once we get into the heat of the season, I'm hopeful that everyone will see an improved experience from this change.  If not, we can always go back to the old way or some hybrid approach.  

Plows didn't work.  Had to resort to two front end loaders

Bean and Lucy would rather run on grass