Why is that ........?

It is past time for a spring update and I will write while answering common questions I have been asked this spring. Spring.... is this spring? Our memories of weather are short as we remember the best and worst of the weather patterns and forget the many average days in the middle. Having said that I believe this has been one of the worst springs for cold and wet we have seen in many years despite seeing on the Milwaukee news we just finished the 3rd warmest April on record.
It may have been warm in Milwaukee but it was far from warm in Fond du Lac and we had plenty of moisture to keep golfers off the links. The good news is sunshine and golf are in the forecast for the next several days so we hope to see you playing. Now on to the common questions:

Why is that pond so high? Why is that pond so low? With 12 ponds that answer depends on which pond you are looking at. The 4 ponds across the lower part of the course (Holes 1,9,10,18 and 27) are kept low so we can accept water from the industrial park without flooding. The ground is saturated so every drop of water is run-off coming our way. The golf course ponds take the water and slowly disperse it down stream so the house do not flood across the street.
The pond on 5 was very high due to a collapsed drain line and then we pumped it low to allow us to work on it without drowning. The line was original (1971) corrugated tile and you may remember we patched a section last spring. The replaced section was good but a different section collapsed so we waited for a dry spell, pumped the pond down and replaced 150 feet of corrugated tile with solid PVC to fix the problem permanently.
The pond between 7 and 13 is a little low on purpose to allow it to take water without flooding. That pond overflows above ground so we keep it low during wet periods so the cart path is not washed out.

How long is that dead willow tree going to lie on hole 27, it looks like heck from the highway? In a normal year we would have taken care of this big willow right away however it has been too wet to 1 drag it out of the marsh and 2 haul it away. We were able to drag the tree to dry land and cut some of it up last week and should get the job finished soon. We have planted 3 new trees in the area to replace the one that fell.

Speaking of trees... what is going on with the trees? Are you going to replace all those you cut down? As a reminder due to the Emerald Ash Borer and the advanced age of our ash trees we removed 120 ash over the past 2 years. We also removed 2 misplaced pine trees on hole 2 because they were too large to move and in the wrong place for the design of that hole.
So far this spring we have planted 40 new trees with 10 more on the way. 20 of the 50 have been donated by golfers with the course purchasing the rest. For agronomic reasons the new trees are not as close to greens and fairways but will still provide beautiful scenery and a challenge for players for generations.

This birch on hole 17 is one of 40 new bare root trees planted in April

The ladies bathroom looks nice so when are you going to redo the men's bathroom? Thank you, we did a lot of the work in house and are pleased that the women's bathroom has been well received. Our plans will be to work on the men's room for the 2018 golf season.

I thought you were getting new carts? The new cart fleet is scheduled to arrive 3 weeks ago... and now we expect them soon. Fortunately we still have the old fleet to serve our needs until the new ones arrive. Our cart vendor has been very apologetic but has to wait for the supplier to deliver the carts.

How is the course? The course came through winter good although the cold wet spring has things slow to green up. We have a couple patches on fairways to sod but overall things are growing and we are mowing as much as possible with the weather. The ice cover in winter and up and down temperatures had us worried but overall the course did well.

I heard you bought a new greens roller, are the greens going to be lightning fast every day? We did purchase a new style of roller to provide a more consistent speed. Smooth greens that putt similar day in and day out should serve our varied clientele well. Not the fastest, but a good speed every day is the goal. University research has shown daily rolling and every other day mowing provides the most consistent putting surfaces. Green speed is a combination of many factors and although rolling will smooth greens, rolling is a small part of the entire green speed equation. I will address green speed in depth in my next entry.

The Smithco XL roller is a change for our staff to learn to drive
sideways but will help us provide consistent putting surfaces.

In closing the staff, golfers and grass are ready for sunshine and fun on the links. The weather averages out so we should see some improvement soon and will see you out on the course.