Rain on the Way

It appears we are in for a change in the weather which should bring in some more unneeded rain over the next 2 days. There is an approaching front that looks like it could possibly bring some frozen precipitation with it as well. The past couple of days have been quite nice in helping to dry out the overly saturated golf course, and let's hope we can dodge this next bullet.

Yesterday we were able to get out and finally mow the tee boxes for the first time in about 10 days. Luckily with the temperatures we have been experiencing, the grass has not been growing at all. Along with this little bit of mowing, we were able to get a rough mower out to mulch up leaves around the practice areas. The rest of the course is still a little too wet to put any mowers out, however we will attempt to get some blowers out to clean up the fairways.

Looking forward to the rest of the week, it looks like today will be our only day to get out and clean up some of the leaves and debris that have accumulated over the past couple of weeks.

Good luck with staying warm and dry today, it is shaping up to be a nasty one later this afternoon. From all of us here in the maintenance shop, Happy New Year!!

Wet & Windy

Mother Nature is really making her presence known today. Overnight a strong cold front moved through the area bringing in some pretty stout winds. It looks like these winds will stick around for most of the day, which should make for an interesting round of golf. Unfortunately, along with this front came another 1/2 inch of rain. Hopefully the forecast is correct and the next couple of days will not bring us anymore rain.

Reminder the golf course will be closed Friday, December 25th, but will reopen with normal operating hours on Saturday.

Merry Christmas to everyone.

Another Rainy Day

As we begin the work day, it seems that Mother Nature has once again rolled out of bed with what seems to be either a bad hangover from last night's Christmas party or a serious head cold from the terrible weather we have been experiencing. Unfortunately we were sprinkled on last night to a tune of almost two-tenths of an inch of rain, resaturating the already overly saturated golf course. After checking the weather records for this month, we have received nearly 4 inches of rain, along with nearly 2 inches of snow. After doing some research to determine just how much rainfall is equivalent to 2 inches of snow, I came up with a very easy solution. Always remember that 10 inches of snow equals 1 inch of rainfall. Using this equation, if you divide 2 by 10, you get .2" of rainfall. This is a rough estimation, however when I compared this number with the recorded amount of precipitation from our weather station, it was exactly .2 inches during the two day period that we witnessed the snowfall and melt.

Looking forward to the rest of the week, we are getting ever so close to the Christmas holiday, in which I might add, the golf course is closed. However, remember walkers are always welcome, just don't forget your rubber boots. Due to the wet conditions, our work load has been greatly reduced down to small projects such as repairing the tee box yardage plats. We have noticed that over time the concrete blocks that the yardage plates were placed in, were beginning to crack. We removed the blocks and have now set the yardage plates into a stronger concrete mix.

In closing, I would like to again wish everyone a safe and Merry Christmas along with a Happy New year.

Looking Back & Peeking Forward

WOW!! Where did this year go? It seems like we were just beginning 2009 and now we are looking forward to 2010. Looking back on 2009 we have had our fair share of challenges. Whether it was the summer drought, the December snow, or the extended period of wet weather we have been stuck in for the past 2 months; we have managed to come out of it all with our heads held high and looking forward to the future.

Reflecting back on this past year we witnessed some great improvements in many areas of the golf course, beginning with consistent playing conditions. We were able to tackle some necessary capital projects last year including renovation work done on the fairway bunkers and repair and replacement of the main irrigation source, our water well. One major improvement we made this past year was our preventative applications put forth to decrease the effects of pest outbreaks, such as those pesky mole crickets.

Looking forward to 2010, many of the objectives we had in place last year are again evident. One major change will be the implementation of aggressive cultural practices to the fairways and tees to help eliminate prolonged wet, sloppy conditions. Incorporating several aerifications into our maintenance schedule will aid in keeping our fairways and tees playing more consistent.

In closing, I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. As always feel free to send any questions, comments, suggestions, or funny jokes along to myself at steven.chernosky@ourclub.com.