Winter Play, Why Aren't You Open?

After the horrible fall weather pattern we have enjoyed a stretch of sunny and mild days with temperatures 40 to 45 degrees here in mid December. We would have enjoyed this sun in September and October.

We did receive a few phone calls from golfers asking if we were open to play, and although we would like to be, we were not this time. I also have a couple comments from members who said they would be happy to play here rather than take their money to Camelot if we could be open. Nobody complained but they did ask why we were not open.

We appreciate that and I will admit Camelot does a good job being open in the winter and I play there in the spring and rarely see any effect of winter play or cart traffic. I am glad those that want to to play in the winter have a regular place to go.

So why isn't Rolling Meadows open when Camelot is? The courses are only 12 miles apart as the crow flies, the weather should be pretty much the same... My response is varied depending on the situation and the weather we have had but the answer normally it is:

• Our property tilts South to North limiting the melting effect of the sun this time of year when the sun is low to begin with. For instance most lawns in Fond du Lac had no snow this past week. The clubhouse lawn had no snow the past week. However on the course travel from hole 2 to 3 was solid snow or worse ice. Same thing from 6 to 7, 7 to 8, 10 to 11, 12 to 13 etc. Until Thursdays rain, all these areas were near impassible with a cart, much less walking with plastic spikes. 15 green is our biggest challenge due to the woods to the south. The course can have 2 inches of snow and 15 green will drift in with 6" of snow. 

  

  15 green in spring of 2016. The rest of the course was dry and playable,
  but this snow persisted for days. Every year is different. 

• Agronomists and Turf Scientists have shown that in the winter the greens, tees and fairways are most vulnerable to traffic when the ground is froze, but the top 1/4 to 1/2 inch is thawed which is what happens on a 45 degree sunny day. A twisting foot can easily tear the gushy grass plant  away from the root system, leaving a plant that will die the first dry day of spring. Unfortunately the best days for winter play, are the best days for this condition. 
• Our property has clay soils that have limited drainage when they are not frozen, much less when there is frost in the ground. We are often left with puddles or ice rinks that are slow to melt. When the frost is coming out of the top 6" of ground our gravel paths turn to mush and are difficult to drive or walk on without sinking 3 inches. 
• We do not have staff on in the winter doing other things, at the ready to check in golfers on that first 35 degree sunny day. To bring in staff costs money, to turn on the heat and lights cost money. We don't mind investing the time and money when we are going to see regular play but winter play is fickle and hard to forecast. 

We have opened in the winter in the past, and will again in the future but it will require some warmer weather to thaw the top few inches of the soil for us to do so. Area players are lucky we have a property nearby that is able to be open through most of the winter. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and maybe we will be open in January this year... every year is different. 

The season of 2018

Writing this blog can be interesting because it is written for our golf customers but primarily read by others in the golf industry. Oddly our stats show more page views from France than the United States in the past month and I have a few regular readers from Ukraine. Jacobsen G10 is one of the top search terms used to find our blog so that can explain the overseas views. Google analytics is amazing and scary. No matter where you are from I hope you enjoy the blog and I am sure golfers John and Steve will be the first to comment!

2018 was a year of mixed weather with a horrible snowy spring a great summer and a horrible cold wet fall. Overall it is best to save the good weather for the summer months when the daylight is long and most of our customers play but the wet periods were frustrating. I have been on the property 22 years and have never seen water oozing out of hills and tee banks as we have had this year.   

2018 was a year of highs and lows. The high point of the year was hosting the Wisconsin State Golf Association Boys Junior Championship. 17 year old Piercen Hunt of Hartland won with an amazing 12 under for the 54 holes to win by 7 shots. Hunt is the 2 time state boys high school champion and all eyes will be watching to see if he can pull off the 3-peat.

Hosting a statewide tournament is exciting for the staff and
members who volunteered their time. 

Prepping for a big tournament is exciting for our staff inside and out. Agronomic practices for the year are set in spring with a goal to peak for these 3 days of competitive golf. Extra shifts before and during the event ensure the course is playing at its best and the players and spectators enjoy the event.

The other highs were from our many successful outings and events that go off without a hitch in thanks to our hard working staff.

The lows were mainly weather related as we saw multiple April snows just when golfers are trying to get out to play. Then after a pretty good summer flooding rains in late August closed the course for days and left some damage to fairway turf in its wake. Grass can sit under cold water without much issue but when it is warm and the turf is trying to grow it can “suffocate” fairly quickly. All the bad areas have been seeded, underwater again and seeded again. Fortunately the damage was not widespread and only effected 1% of our 40 acres of fairway turf. 

The floods from late August had most of 1 fairway along with parts of 9 and 18 under water for days.
This water comes from off the property and has a lot of silt in it causing it to look like chocolate milk.
The water in our other 9 ponds is a nice blue color. 

The other low of the year was it was the first time we had a difficult time finding staff in both departments. We are fortunate to have a great core group of long time employees but both the clubhouse and grounds departments had a challenge finding employees to replace our students who moved on to internships or their careers.  It was almost comical as we are used to new employees working for years and instead we had a steady stream of employees quit before their first day or last only a few days. If you know of a local student or retiree looking to join our team in 2019 have them give us a call. Most of our staff is part time and we have a great group of people working for us. 

Despite the rain we were lucky to finish a few projects in late October. Over 1,000 feet of 4" drainage tile was added on holes 1, 4, 5, 20 and 21 to fix areas found to be problematic during this wet season.  Along with drain tile on hole 5 the berm on the left front of the green was extended to divert water away from the approach and to fill in a perennial low area that held water and was prone to damage from cart and foot traffic.

The bunker reduction on hole 14 was finished to switch from a difficult to play and maintain 3,000 square feet bunker to a grass area with 800 square foot bunker that will not wash out. 

A reduction was started in November on hole 6’s 5,500 square foot prone to wash out bunker. The portion closest to the tee will be grass and 3 small bunkers that will not wash out will replace the upper potion of the bunker. Fill material for the project was given to us by the city of Fond du Lac from a nearby project. It saved them a lot of time hauling and saved us from buying material. This project will continue into 2019.  

14 Bunker was prone to washout from water off the green.

The new bunker will not wash out and save a lot of time in labor.
With woods left and marsh right and the pond protecting the green the hole is still difficult. 

It sounds like an easy thing to fill in a bunker and grow grass but there is a lot to it as sand in and around the bunker has to be moved or it will cause turf issues for years. Drainage often runs through the bunker and has to be protected and saved or replaced. The benefit of the bunker reduction is reduced maintenance costs and in hole 14 and 6 I believe a better golf hole for the average golfer. 

The new silver tee on hole 14 to give a yardage separation between the red and silver placements is nearing completion. Top mix has been graded and allowed to settle and we need to give a final hand grading and then sod the bank and seed the top. It is planned to complete this yet this year with a dormant seeding on the tee surface so the grass emerges in early spring.

That is the highlights, hopefully I will see you on the fairways on a warm sunny November or December day!

Sometimes even frost is beautiful.

A Snowy Spring

As I write this the bountiful amounts of snow we have received in April are starting to melt and there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel as we near opening day take 3. One would think with the late opening and the many days of inside work I would have had time to update my blog weekly. Sometimes life does not work out that way. So what did we do all winter?

Our main project was a complete update in the men's bathroom. Not a sexy project by any means but one necessitated by aging cast iron pipes in the floor and some ugly tile and features from 1985 the last time the room was worked on. We did most of the work in house including digging up the concrete floors and removing the old pipes. Hundreds of labor hours were put into the project that has been well received. Special thanks to Jeremy and James on our staff. Jeremy provides the construction expertise while James is our designer and we all dig, pound and paint.

The old floor and features

The new floor and features

The new sink area

Many customers have noticed the crane near our pump-house behind 11 green as it stands out with no leaves on the trees. Our high capacity well is being re-rehabilitated. The well was drilled to 850' and the pump is set to 600' to fill our irrigation pond. After 24 years our pump was still working but our 600' of 6" drop pipe  had developed holes causing a loss of water being pumped. Naturally occurring bio-film forms on the pipe and actually feeds on the carbon in the pipe causing corrosion and holes.
The pump and pipe were pulled, the well inspected with a camera and it was decided the well would be blasted with 15 one pound charges of dynamite to remove bio-film, mineral incrustation and small particles in the well and allow water to flow fully. After blasting the the particles are allowed to settle to the bottom and then pumped out to return the well to 850'
Our well has a 16" well casing to 400' that not only prevents sand and ground from collapsing into the well but it also prevents water in aquifers above 400' from entering our well. This is important for the area homeowners who have wells in the upper aquifers.
When the pump is reinstalled  the first 200' of pipe will be steel but the next 400' will be a new style of PVC that can withstand the weight and torque of the well pump and water. The PVC will reduce the chance of future holes in the pipe from bio-film.

The well pipes on the left are rusty but in good condition, the center a little bio-film
but the black ones on the right are fully corroded from the bio-film. As a note, the bio-film
stinks and does not come off your hands despite multiple hand washings!

Winter is a time of education and I was able to attend a few educational events put on by the Wisconsin Golf Course Superintendents Association, The Northern Great Lakes Golf Course Superintendents Association, The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and The Wisconsin Turfgrass Association in conjunction with UW-Madison and our great UW Turf Team of professors and staff.
The continued theme in many of the talks is how to maintain quality turfgrass with less inputs of fertilizer, chemicals and water. Less inputs reduce costs and labor. The goal is healthy grass that tolerates traffic and damage from divots and ball marks but yet does not grow too fast requiring extra mowing. 
Honey bee hives are becoming popular on golf courses although I am not sure our team has time to develop the hives I know many residents around Fond du Lac have. Honey bees are crucial for crop and food production through pollination. 1/3 of our food production depends on pollinators. Bee's have been in the news as their numbers have reduced due to mites, bacteria and misapplied insecticides.
Our conference topics range from bees to fertilizer to social media to irrigation technology and employee management to what color flowers work best in different situations. Feel free to track me down and ask me what I have learned!

Our projects from last fall (and my last post) are still in progress. The grass around hole 14 bunker should be germinating soon and we will get the drainage and sand in the new bunker as soon as we are able to drive in the area. The freeze thaw periods and plenty of snow and rain should have helped the new silver tee on hole 14 settle so we can start shaping it in early May.

Hopefully in two weeks snow will be a fleeting memory it will be time for a spring update and what we are doing on the golf course this year. Until then, keep I look forward to seeing you on the links!