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Friday

Golf course labor is pulled in many directions... some projects aren't even on the golf course.  Today, three of our team members, led by Lyn, started on enlarging the croquet pavilion stone patio to allow for more table and chair seating.  The countdown is on for the opening of the golf course on April 10th and I have zero concerns- we will be ready!   

More from Thursday

We've been cleaning up a lot of areas where briars and other weeds are prevalent including this spot on #17.

Our Landscape Tech, John Branson is making some great progress on the new courtyard area at the Clubhouse entrance.  I'm proud of the job he's doing on this project.

 

Today we also started bunker prep.  It is a little early, but we want the bunkers to be raked a few times prior to opening so the sand has time to settle after it's been stirred up aggressively after winter of snow, ice and rain compaction.  Our primary goal is making sure the floor of the bunkers have an even 4" of sand across them.

Thursday

Another load of 18 pallets of sod was delivered this morning, allowing us to sod many of the areas that were disturbed over the winter.  Below, the team is working on #6.

Wednesday

 

Today we started the irrigation system for the season.  I always time the springtime priming of our pumpstation with an annual preventative maintenance service to be sure everything is in working order for the season.

Above, #11 drainage is finished, including the rough between the fairway and the cart path.  This will help getting golf carts to the fairway on days that are wet, but not wet enough for cart path only to be in effect.  

Now that the 11th hole drainage is finished, it's on to #15 approach.  Once this approach is complete, we have a few lines to run on #16 green surround and a few on #17 approach.  We'll have this finished in a week or less.

John is working hard, installing new mulch in all the landscape beds around the Clubhouse.

Here is the feel-good photo of the day!  Despite the setback in weather, I couldn't be happier with where we are!

Changes in Weather...

That escalated quickly... we went from 60*F plus temperatures to a low of 14*F this morning and a nice dusting of snow.  The forecast shows things will start improving by Thursday of this week and by the weekend, we'll be back to the temperatures we've become accustomed to over the past 2 weeks!  In the mean time, this has certainly shut down the progress we've been making.  We'll be right back at it once we get above freezing!

7-Day Forecast

It's a wet morning in Highlands with over 1" of rain falling in the early hours of the morning.  Intense winds also brought down its fair share of debris.  Cold temps to follow but warming by the end of the week!

Water Testing

 

Click the image above to enlarge!

This lab based in Palo Alto, CA uses a laser particle counter to breakdown how many solids are in the water and specifically, the size of those particles.  This is important because we work very hard through topdressing and greens aerification to create larger pore spaces by incorporating sand.   On a larger scale, think of the rootzone (the sand) of a green like a jar of marbles.  The marbles have all lots of air space between them for water to move through the system.  Now take something finer, like M&M's and dump them into the jar of marbles.  The M&M's settle out between the marbles in what once was used for grass roots and water movement.  Now take something finer than that...and hopefully you see that we can wind up real trouble if we aren't aware of what is ending up on the turf.  Eventually, all the pore spaces will be clogged and water will just sit on the surface, unable to move downward.  At this point, fungus damage is going to be an issue because of excess moisture and the greens will ultimately fail.  Not to mention, they won't be fun at all to play on because they'll become soft and slow.  As a superintendent, this is one of the most important objectives we manage.

Everything is really looking great...

ANGC #12

This photo never gets old to me. In 1952, ANGC was know as one of the premier maintained facilities and this shows how far we've come in a relatively short amount of time.

Water Testing Results

 

Click on the image to enlarge!

This is interesting... HCC1 is water that has gone through the dredging process and HCC2 are results from water entering the golf course on #10 that has not passed through the dredging area.  In short, there are no differences in water quality between either area, which is a great thing!  This means, based on these samples (and there will be many more sent off site), our irrigation water quality is unchanged between the two sites.  This has been a concern of mine before this project started and I want to be sure we won't be applying, via irrigation water, something to the greens that could be detrimental.

Wednesday

On my morning walk, I did a double take at these prints in the dew!  Those are bear prints and they are massive.  While I didn't see the bear, it has to be one of the largest black bears in the area!

You can see below, they are longer than my size 12 stompers!

What a difference one week of great weather makes!  Note the two photos: March 4th (above) vs. March 11th (below)!

 Sod has been removed to rework the creek banks on #6.  We have a load of sod scheduled to be delivered on Monday of next week.  Everyday is fun, seeing things come together on the golf course!  2026 will be a great season!

Tuesday

 

Today, greens are receiving two soil amendments, an 0-0-12 Potassium fertilizer and Calcium Sulfate, better known as gypsum.  We have rain in the forecast for Thursday, which will help irrigate these amendments into the rootzone.  Given the fact that our irrigation water and rainfall are so clean, we're constantly having to add these to nutrients to the soil, on an every 14 day interval from March-November. Right now, our goal is to build up the supply of these elements in the soil, headed into the season.  

Rainbow

 

Beautiful rainbow this morning on this rainy day!  This shot was captured by John Branson.

More from Monday...

Dredging is an ongoing process!  Sitting on the barge all day pumping sediment is a laborious process but one that allows you to solve many of the world problems.  When the dredge is operating, someone is always manning the vessel!

As you can see, the sediment pumped from the lake is costing comprised of leaf debris.

I'm proud of John Branson, Cross and Raul who are setting stepping stones in the new landscape at the entrance of the Clubhouse.  My hope is, this area blows you away come June 1st!

On #6, we are removing sod around the stream to better define the fairway!