Recent storm

3.1" of much needed rain fell at the course Wednesday night. We had numerous tree limbs and branches that came along with it. A special thanks to our grounds crew for the cleanup work and fixing the sand trap washouts. They put in many hard hours the past 2 days, but we got it all cleaned up and everything mowed also. Here is a picture of marsh 6 green where lightning struck. It's a good reminder why we all head indoors during these situations.

We got some rain

A total of .9" of rain fell during 3 different storms over the last few days. We desperately needed the moisture and our lake levels could also use a fill. Here is a cool shot of the storm that came through Friday afternoon. Also, it's the same one that ended up in D.C. That night that did some powerful damage if you happened to catch the PGA event at congressional

Wetting agent application

We treated fairways with wetting agent and fertilizer on Thursday and Friday. I will follow up with a better explanation later, but here's the cliffs notes: our fairways are heavy clay and need help accepting the water we give them. One product helps with this and the other we put down helps to hold some of that water in rootzone. After it is sprayed, we wash it off the grass blade to get the process started.

Hot and dry

Today will be the 13th day of 90+ temps at Sand Creek for 2012. We had a issue with our irrigation pumps late last week that led to some very dry conditions. Some fairways had tire "burn" marks during that period. We have roped off those spots on Creek 9, Lake 1,7,9 to deter traffic so they can recover. Please help your course by avoiding these areas when possible. Overall the course is holding up very well. Our rough could use some rain and the lakes wouldn't mind a refill also

Verticutting Fairways

I've had alot of questions about what we have done to make the ball sit better on our fairways. We used vertical knives attached to a fairway mower and ripped out long, runner grass plants and stand remaining grass up to get a cleaner cut. We had to abandon this due to early season heat but will resume in the fall.

2012 Golf Season has officially started!

We have been able to do some small projects and cleanup despite the grass growing quicker than we can cut it.  Normally we would be on our 1st or 2nd fairway mowing.  In 2012 we have cut them 10 times already.  It has been a challenge keeping up with that and the rough without our full staff back yet.

Andrew repaired the walking bridge on Creek 3 last week.  The pillars rose pushing a few planks up.  He pulled back the walking mat, removed the planks and leveled off the pillars to allow a even finish.

Half of the seasonal crew returned on April 2nd.  They have been hard at work getting the bunkers in shape for our golf season.  This process consists of: pulling weeds, pushing sand to proper depths throughout the bunker, weedeating/edge the perimeter, blowing out debris and finish with a raking.  These 4 gentlemen have worked through hot/cold/35mph winds/blazing sun and cool mornings to prepare the sand traps and have done an amazing job.  They have 7 holes left on the Lake 9 which will be done before the weekend.

The Clock Garden Project is concluding and it looks amazing.  I'll update with pictures soon.  Please come out and see for yourself the finished product.  Its is a wonderful improvement to that area.  Cara and the crew did a great job with contributions from the entire club staff.

Work has started on the Clock Garden Renovation.  The equipment was staged yesterday and excavation has commenced this morning.  I will post updated pictures as we progress.
Here is the first few swipes

Roberto started painting the Tee Markers last week.  This is a tedious process using a fine artist-type brush so he can get the paint where it is intended.

The blue and white have been finished and are stacked on the shelf waiting for spring.

We are refurbishing the Teak wood benches.  They get a good cleaning and then they are lightly sanded.  After the dust is cleaned off we put 2 coats of Teak wood oil to coat the surfaces.  Here are some before and after pictures.

We were able to bring in all of the yardage markers from the Creek 9 before the snow arrived.  There is a thick layer of oxidation that we will blast off to restore them.  Here is a before and after look at one that we completed today.

With the recent snow(finally) we have put a hold on the irrigation conversion project and will begin inside work.    Sanding and painting of tee and green accessories has begun.  We are also cleaning and staining the benches. The grinder shown here will get many hours of use as the cutting units get sharpened for the start of the season.