Here is a peak at an upcoming Highlands CC Piper edition...
Grass Clippings
2021 has been a busy year! What a change from 2020, when COVID put a hold on guest play, member events, and all the things that motivate us through the season. A return to normal club functions has been welcome by all in 2021.
The Green Committee, along with the
Golf Architectural Committee, has been busy with an important project. Working with Golf Course Architect, Ron
Forse, we’ve embarked on a Master Planning program. The point of a Master Plan is to guide the
club for the next 15-20 years when it comes to changes or improvements on the
golf course. At Highlands CC, you all
take pride in your Donald Ross designed golf course, and we need to do all we
can to protect the integrity of it. The
master plan eliminates the chance of future committees making changes to the
golf course or completing pet projects that aren’t in the best interest of the
golf course, nor membership as a whole.
Contrary to what some believe, the master plan is not always a precursor
to an expensive renovation project.
Since 1996, we’ve been working off a master plan completed by golf
course architect, Ron Prichard. All the
projects and improvements he suggested have been completed. After 25 years, it’s time for an updated plan
that will carry us into the future. Ron
Forse is a talented architect with 30 plus years’ experience which includes 55
Ross designed golf course in the United States.
I hope you are able to see Ron Forse speak at the September 2nd
HCC Enrichment Event. In addition to the
committees I mentioned above, I would also like to recognize and thank the
following members who were asked to serve on our Master Planning Committee. Dr. Jimmy Davis, Glen Davis, Teeter Smith,
Clay Jackson, Anne Bailey, Cindy Mills, Bob McEver, Debby Jacobson, and Scott
Manning met several times to vet the plan and share their perspective with the
architect. Without this group, the
success of this planning process would have been compromised.
On July 27th, I arrived at
the club that morning with the goal of fertilizing all roughs on the golf
course. I selected that day because
there was a 90% chance of rain late in the afternoon. After all, fertilizers need to be
“watered-in” to work the fertilizer prills into the soil, release the nutrients
and most importantly, eliminate burn potential that most fertilizers have if
the prills aren’t washed off the leaf blades.
My objective was successfully completed but guess what? In never rained and it proceeded to be dry
for a straight week, with temperatures in the mid to upper 80’s! I share this recent scenario to illustrate
one of several requirements for an updated irrigation system. For the next 4 nights, the golf course was
watered heavily to work the fertilizer into the soil. That’s a challenge with our single row
system. In order to get water to the
outskirts of the rough, requires overwatering the fairway. Fortunately, we escaped without any harm other
than daily wet fairways and a slow golf course that week. That said, I am excited this fall, we will be
replacing the current irrigation system, on the back nine, with a new Rainbird
irrigation system that offers wall to wall coverage. In 2022, we’ll complete the front nine holes. There will be no disruption to golf with the
project starting in late November and wrapping up in March. A lot of work has been accomplished from
working with our irrigation consultant to securing NCDOT encroachment permits
(where irrigation crosses Dillard Road) to putting the design out to bid and
negotiating the best price and service to fit our needs. For comparison, our existing system is
comprised of many Toro 690 sprinkler heads that put out up to 80 gallons per
minute of water. In the new system, each
one of those 690 sprinkler heads, will be replaced with 3 new sprinkler heads,
each distributing 25 gallons per minute, or a total of 75 GPM. That means we’ll be able to apply water with
precision, exactly where it is needed, all the while conserving water at the
same time. This means the playability of
the golf course will dramatically improve during times when we irrigate. We will be using less water to irrigate the
golf course. If you think irrigation
isn’t a requirement in this climate, year to date (Early August) we’ve relied
on the system 48 times this year for supplemental irrigation. That doesn’t include the times we’ve
irrigated fertilizers and wetting agents into the greens after spray
applications.
As you can see, there is a lot
happening in the Golf Course Maintenance Department and that’s what keeps it
fun! If there is anything we can do to
enhance the member or guest experience at Highlands CC, please call me! This is valuable information we can use to
meet our goals.
