Well, the heat has arrived here in the valley. So far the
course is holding up well, with transition in full effect. Overall, we
are around 75% bermuda in the short grass (fairways, approaches and tees) while
the green mounds, as expected, are further behind. Over the next month or
so we can expect the course to continue to thin, and will maintain our
fertilization of these areas to encourage bermuda recovery.
Our in-house tree trimming was
completed this week, and Andy's Tree Service will begin their portion of the
larger trees June 26th and continue through August. Andy’s completed the removal of three
diseased or damaged trees on Monday, which were the cracked mesquite behind one
green, the cracked tree on the driving range and diseased eucalyptus on 18. FNV Landscapes has completed the spring
trimming of all oleanders on property and began construction of the retaining
wall on 10 tee this week. Until complete, the black tee for 10 will be
moved forward to the blue tee box.
Raising and cleaning all drainage boxes on the course is
progressing nicely, and should be wrapped up this week or early next week.
From there, we will transition into installing needed drainage in some of
our low-lying areas. This will continue as time allows throughout the
summer. Installation of the underground piping from the retention basin on 10 to the lake has been completed. This will be a big help moving water following rain events.
This Monday we began the
aerification process of the roughs, completing holes 10-16. This will continue on Mondays for the next
several weeks which should have minimal impact on play. Then the following week, starting June 19th,
we will be aerifying and topdressing our aprons and areas close to greens
surfaces. The topdressing should help smooth and firm these areas moving
forward. Once complete, we will look toward doing the same process on tee
and fairway surfaces beginning in late June and July.
Work on well 2 continues.
Following the brushing and chemical treatment to clean the well shaft,
it was determined that the chemical treatment was not successful. As a result, a secondary cleaning involving a
stronger acid will be required to open up the perforations along the well
wall. While unfortunate, this second
treatment is required to ensure the newly reconditioned well works at optimum
capacity. This new, stronger acid is
being delivered to the course via semi-trucks over the next couple days, and
throughout the next week or so Layne will be re-treating and brushing the
column shaft and discarding into a large holding tank on property. Once complete, this acidic water will be
treated until neutral and slowly pumped back into our irrigation ponds.
Greens recovery following last month’s aerification is complete
and we are pleased with the density of both the canopy and the root system. We can expect green speeds to remain similar
to where they are currently throughout the summer, with the potential to slow
slightly as the heat and humidity of the summer carry on. Current root
depth extends 10-12 inches down with a fibrous root system currently 6-8
inches deep.
With the increased temperatures of summer upon us, you can
anticipate seeing us out on the greens hand watering in the mornings and
throughout the afternoons. This is a
required practice for the health and survival of our greens. We would like to
remind the membership that during the summer months, it is the player’s
responsibility to yield to the maintenance employee watering greens. We make every effort to avoid golfers and can
usually be on and off the green in under a few minutes, but on occasion getting
in between players is unavoidable. Please
see the video below which helps explain what we’re doing and why it’s so
important.
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Before and after raising and leveling a fairway drainage box. |
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Installing the drainage pipe under the cart path from 18 to 10 tee. |
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Acid delivery to the pump house and well #2. |
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Removed tree from 18 |
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Removed tree behind #1 green. |
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Removed tree from driving range. |