Course Update 5/18/12

Good Afternoon,

What a difference the rain makes! Since my last post (2 weeks ago) we have received right at 7" of rain. While the drought continues - the rain is much needed and appreciated by all. It looks like the next two weeks should remain dry, but we will keep our hopes up for a wet June.

#12 Fairway South

It has been a very busy couple of weeks on both courses. I would like to use today's post to sum up a few of the things that have been going on.
GREENS
We completed our first aeration of the year on both North and South greens. The process went smooth and will definitely help improve and maintain overall turf health as we enter the summer. In addition, the aeration combined with the rain has made the North greens more receptive. This coming week we have plans to lightly top dress and vertical mow (verticut) both courses' greens. The vertical mowing will help reduce grain and improve density. In addition we will be slightly lowering the mowing heights. On the South we will continue to patch the weak areas on the PG, 6, and 7. Overall, the greens are very healthy and we look forward to a great summer.
TEES
The tees on both courses have definitely benefited from the rain and warm weather. Many of the South tees have shown significant improvement, but are far from being back to normal. We have a plan in place consisting of aeration, vertical mowing, and fertilization that should help them continue to improve. In addition, we are planning to re-sod 9 and 15 in the next month.

FAIRWAYS


Birdie and Socks playing in #1 Fairway after the rain.

The fairways on both courses are doing well. We recently aerated the North in order to help relieve compaction and improve water retention. This coming Monday we will aerate and vertical mow the South fairways.
ROUGHS
All roughs are being mowed at 2". The rain is certainly helping to establish definition and help us reach this mowing height. We will aerate the roughs and high traffic areas in the coming weeks.

BUNKERS
All bunkers were edged this week. In addition we have been modifying our raking procedures in attempt to help eliminate fried egg lies in the faces. The faces will be soft this week as most of the sand was recently repaired due to the rain.

PROJECTS

• CPS Power line project - all major work is complete. As soon as we receive written approval we will add topsoil and grass to the disturbed area between 4 and 13
• North Pump Station - We have received approval to start work on the North Course pump station. The process will begin on June 14 and hopefully be completed by the 25th. This much needed improvement will cost more than 100K and allow us to irrigate more efficiently. I will be posting a detailed outline of this process next week.
• North Irrigation - Currently we are working to repair the mainline on #12 N. This major repair will take place on Monday of next week. We are also changing out many of the green side heads on the North from full circle to part circle in order to help eliminate the wet areas around the greens. Finally, we are working on a contract with a professional irrigation designer to GPS map and re-program the irrigation system. I will post more on this later
• #9 South - In addition to sodding the tee we are planning to sod the thin areas around the green. This should take place in the next month.

On a final note, the puppies are doing great. We found out through one of their sibling's owners that they are combination of German Shepard, Chow Chow, Jindo, and Mixed bread - AKA "Sonterra Mutt".