A Lot to Be Thankful For

Weather conditions over the past week or so have been a lot warmer then we had at the beginning of the month. Highs have been quite a bit warmer which has actually allowed us to get some much needed things done on the golf course this week. Since we have had warmer temperatures the ground finally thawed this week which allowed us to mow our greens on Monday and clean them up. Also we were finally able to change the hole locations, which this time a year becomes a challenge with the hard freezes as the greens are usually the first things to freeze. I had some questions from last weekend as some of you saw my staff out hand watering the greens and you are wondering why that was occurring? It has been a while since we have received any significant rain and the winds have been blowing rather steady over the last month or so drying out the surface. Under these conditions greens tend to dry out considerably due to the lack of moisture and windy conditions. Also this time of year the greens get very soft due to the freeze thaw cycle that they go through. Even if they are soft in areas, there are areas that are hydrophobic and are extremely dry. If we don't water these areas when we get the opportunity these areas are extremely susceptible to winter dessication as they will just die a slow death and will not green up in the spring. We had a little bit of this on #9 green last winter so we are trying to be proactive this year and stay in front of it to try and prevent any damage from occurring. This is why we try and leave our irrigation system charged as long as possible. Also this week we finished the cleanup on the hill between #1 and #18. Juan and the guys did an outstanding job and it looks really good. I have attached a picture below. We will hopefully start burning the brush piles as soon as we get a burn permit from the fire department next week. Speaking of permits we are still waiting to receive final approval from the State of Kansas to start the project on #5. We got word this week that a few more agencies need to look at our proposed work and give us their stamp of approval. We will get started once we get the word from the State. Yesterday we had the fun job of installing a plaque on #11 tee recognizing the tremendous generosity and dedication to Wolf Creek of Mr. Jack Stockdale for the great work he did on #11 creek last winter. I have attached a picture of the plaque below and hope that if you see him around that you will thank him again for his work! Well I hope each of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. I am very thankful this holiday season that I get to work at such a great place for such great members as yourselves. Thank you again for your support and for being the membership that you are! Wolf Creek is truly a special place! Have a great weekend!