Shutting down for 2013

At the end of each season we sit down and assess the pros and cons of the year.  This year had it's fair portions of downs, mostly weather related, that prevented us from finishing projects or presenting the best playing conditions that we could.  Being the one thing that we can't control, poor weather is often easily blamed for a lot of issues and for some becomes a "go to" excuse.  While a factor in all that we do, we feel that even in this year of extremes we have achieved, in the very least, above average playing conditions. This is mainly due to the perseverance of the staff during times when it was generally unpleasant to even be outside.
While this year actually had 200mms less than the 1452mms  of an average year, the number of days in which the precipitation was present was higher than normal.  Taking May and June as examples, there were 21 and 14 days of precipitation respectively.  While the amounts aren't unusual the frequency is.  In terms of plant health the constant inputs of moisture are definitely beneficial, however in terms of maintaining a playing surface this situation can be disastrous.  The constant saturation soften the surfaces and makes any kind of machine work more likely to cause harm rather than good.  This means days of not being able to follow pre-set schedules. Schedules of mowing, fertilizing other applications that are set up to provide the best playing conditions are abandoned or put off.  Things get done on "physically able" basis rather then a desired time table. For the staff that can mean extra long days of grueling sand trap work, extra weekend shifts to tame the rough, or sitting on a mower for twelve hours at time.   We are proud of the efforts that the staff put forth this year, especially to achieve such results in such poor conditions.

October turned out to be a beautiful month for both golf and work.  The few frosts and shorter days slowed the growth of the turf to where we could turn our attention to drainage work.  There were several projects in mind this year and we can happily say that all were completed.  Number Ten fairway received the largest amount of work, where over 600 feet of drainage was installed.  The following pictures are of the first part of that project. 

The topsoil on ten fairway is very shallow and below that is the native clay. The surface of the fairway after a rain is practically un-walkable while just inches beneath the ground in bone dry.

Our first step was to locate the existing drainage and the determine where it ended. From there we cut a new trench across the length of the fairway.

From there we added feeder lines to capture as much of the surface water from low locations on the fairway.

The freshly installed trenches two day later.  We returned later to sod the trenches that run perpendicular to the fairway. This will help to prevent the fairway mowers from pulling gravel out of the trench as they pass over.

 

We returned to the tenth fairway later to drain the area in front of the green and about 150 feet along the edge of the cart path.  The results will be most evident next year when the ground is less saturated from surface water.
Other areas we added drainage were the left side of number four near the tee, the right side of 17 fairway near the hazard, number 11 to the left side of the fairway and some smaller trenches around the driving range mats. 

As some of you may have seen we rented a 12 ton excavator to finish the ground work on number 8 tee.   Below is a picture of the staff in the midst of installing the grass on reshaped area where the gold and res tees were originally located.  All said and done the staff pulled together and laid 21 palettes of sod during the course of one day. 

Having gone better than expected the project was completed in a shorter time frame which left us with some extra time on the rental of the machine.  We took advantage of the extra time and completed some much need work around the ponds. 

Tidying up the bulrushes on Number 13 tee.

Dredging out the pond edges on number one.

As of Monday this week the course is closed and we are beginning the week long process of winterization.  The list of preparations necessary includes winterization of most of the water sources on the course, bringing and storing all signs, garbage can, benches, tees blocks, etc.  Also included are the final topdressings of the playing surfaces and the fairway aeration.

The fairway aeration unit. 

The aeration unit for the fairways does not pull plugs as we would on the greens and the tees. This is due to the shallowness of the topsoil and the potential contamination by incorporating clay into the soil.

Most of this has been accomplished, all that remains as far as larger projects go, is to tarps the greens and complete our dormant fungicide application.  The greens were sprayed on Tues to protect them from the snow mould and the fairways will be completed this week.

I would also like to thank all the members who have contributed to the betterment of the golf club, whether it has been physically or conversationally.  Often we are stopped and given suggestions or asked questions about the happenings on the course.  This is one of my favourite parts of being on the maintenance team at Oakfield and I encourage members to please continue to do so.

This year was the first year for the Seed and Sand Day.  Some of our members braved the cold and filled divots on the fairways.  All together the members distributed over 2460 pounds of sand and seed! An excellent and much appreciated effort on their parts!

We will periodically be making post through out the winter and into the spring so feel free to comment or ask any questions.  Enjoy you winter and see you when the ice melts!