#5 Creek Project Update 1-22-2015

Well like they always say battling "Mother Nature" is not a lot of fun. We have been battling her a lot over the past four days on getting the creek area in front of #5 green free and clear of the water. Hopefully by the end of today we should have a pretty good area exposed with no water. We are getting some more pumps put into place and are building some more temporary damns to keep the water from sitting in the area we need to work. The lowest part of the creek just so happens to be right where we need to do our work. I have been asked about why we didn't dig a trench around the low water damn on #7 and let the creek drain out this area completely. One we didn't want to cause a fish kill with any fish in the creek from #7 all the way to #1 and we are afraid that once we dig up the ground around the low water damn on #7 that it will be extremely hard for the ground to stay solid after we are done and not erode back out causing the damn not to work. Also we happen to have a 6" main irrigation line running through our creek very close to the damn and we didn't want to cause a lot more issues. Once we get the water out things will hopefully move rather quickly. I appreciate everyone's patience with the closing of the holes on the golf course. We weren't expecting to have to do that, but with all the equipment, pumps, hoses, etc. we needed to complete the job this was the best option for safety and liability reasons for the workers and equipment. I have attached a few photos below of where we sit today. You will see all the ice and water we are battling. Also this week we have a tree crew in here doing some much needed pruning in some of our trees between #17, 18, and by #4 tees. I put a picture of them as well and all the limbs that they are removing giving our trees some much needed relief and giving our turf underneath some much needed sunlight.

#5 Creek Project Update

Well it has been some time since I have put a blog post up. It has been pretty cold over the past couple of weeks and things had slowed down a bit due to the weather pattern we were in. The weather is starting to change a little now and things are ramping back up. Since my last blog post we did get the permit to start the work on the #5 creek project. Jack Stockdale and his crew have started moving some equipment into the golf course. We hauled some rock in that we are going to use on the base of the slop to prevent the water from undercutting the new bank. Also we are starting to drain down the creek to allow Jack's guys to get in and build a temporary damn so that we can keep the water of out the work area in front of #5 green to allow them to work in the creek. The frozen creek has presented a bit of a challenge, but with the warmer weather coming this weekend our hope is that it will thaw out and allow us access. Once work really gets going we will be closing down hole #5 to allow the crew to get their work completed without interruption. I appreciate everyone's help and patience. Also we have started a big drainage project on #16 fairway. This is going to be a huge improvement over how this area has drained in the past. We hope to have one of the drain complexes completed today and will continue to work on the next one next week. I have attached a few pictures below of the progress on #5. In the first picture it is showing a snow fence that is going to be the new creek bank once all the dirt is excavated. So all the areas from the creek to the snow fence will be water once we are done. The second is showing the ramps that have been built to get the heavy equipment into the work area to try and not damage our irrigation pipes and cartpaths. The third is showing the pump pumping the creek down. I hope to update everyone using this blog on the throughout the construction process. Have a great week and hope you can get out and enjoy the warmer weather!

New Year and Project Updates

Well I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas with your family and friends like I did with my mine. Things have been a little slower around here this past week with the holiday and vacation time, but we are back at it today working outside enjoying some sunshine. We have been continuing our work on the bunkers on #5 green and hope to have the grading work completed today before the next round of below freezing temperatures arrives. Also we are starting to do some logistics work for the #5 creek project (hauling dirt for temporary damns, clearing native areas for equipment access, installing barrier fence, etc.) getting the final details taken care of, so that once we get the final go ahead to start from the State we are ready to go. The permitting process has been a long process, but hopefully we are getting down to the end and will hear something shortly. Another project we are going to try to start work on is the drainage installation on #16 fairway. If the weather holds and conditions stay like they are we hope to possibly start sometime this week or early next. During this last batch of wet weather it looks like our new drain lines in #14 fairway have been working like we hoped. This area has been noticeably drier and there hasn't been any standing water on the grass like there has been in the past so this should really help our turf conditions in this area. Lastly I just want to thank all of you for your support of our maintenance team in 2014 and helping to make it one of the best yet! As the New Year arrives this week we are excited for 2015 and are eagerly looking forward to making it even better than last year here at Wolf Creek! I hope everyone has a safe and awesome New Year and I look forward to seeing all of you in 2015!

Good Moisture Going Into Christmas Time

Our weather pattern over the last couple of weeks has shifted pretty significantly and we have been getting some much needed moisture that will really help us as we move into the colder months of our winter. Last year at this time we didn't receive very much moisture at all and then the harsh cold temperatures hit and caused us problems due to the dry soil conditions. Looking ahead it looks like temperatures are going to start dropping and winter weather is suppose to move into the area over the next week with single digit temperatures and some snow and ice. Due to all the recent moisture we are going to start finally draining our irrigation system to try and prevent any freezing issues in the coming weeks. Also today we are going to be finishing up picking up debris where we cut down a few trees, changing the cups on the greens, and continue to work on the bunkers on #5. We hope to get a few of these projects completed before the temperatures drop. I hope each and every one of you have a very Merry Christmas with your family and friends! Thank you all for your support in 2014 and we are very excited for what's in store for 2015. Merry Christmas!!

Snow and Winter Weather

Finally we got our first measurable snowfall of the winter of 2014 overnight dropping 2"-3" in our area. I attached a picture of the golf course this morning showing the snow accumulation. The roads were a little slick this morning coming into work but have since cleared off nicely as the snow was more of a wet slushy snow than a real dry fluffy snow that tends to be around longer. It doesn't look to hang around long as temperatures are forecast to be in the 40's and 50's by early week next week before our next cold front hits during the middle of the week. On Monday when the temperatures were warm we were able to get out and mow the greens cleaning up the putting surfaces and rolling out the footprints that were present from all of the freeze thaw that we have been having. Also we were able to get out and get the bunkers all raked after last weekends rain and continue blowing the leaves. This week, as the weather has allowed, we have continued to work on the bunkers on #5 green complex installing the new liner and putting in new sand. Over time the old sand has built up around the edges of the bunkers from all the sand that is splashed out from golfers, blown around from the wind, and moved around from raking causing us to have to do some regrading of the bunker edges and faces to bring them back down to the original grade. I attached a picture below showing the white sand build up on top of the original soil grade. We hope to get the bunkers finished as soon as the weather cooperates and gets warm enough to allow the glue to dry. Have a great weekend!

Project Work

The weather continues to take us on a roller coaster ride. High temperatures were in the 50's to 60's over the weekend and the first of the week and then we are now experiencing temperatures in the 30's with the forecast later in the week for temps to once again warm up into the upper 50's to 60's. Also over the last weekend we received some much needed rainfall. All sites around the golf course showed we got about 1" of rain which was very well received by the turf and trees. On Monday we were able to get out in the morning and mow the greens. We actually removed quite a bit of leaf tissue which really helped clean them up and make them play a little better. If the weather pattern holds true our plan is to try and put the small roller on them on Friday to try and get the footprints rolled out after they have softened up from all the freeze/thaw cycles we have been having. Also on Monday we started our bunker renovation work on #5. We are going to be installing the same liner and sand in the bunkers that we used on #12,13,and 18 a year and half ago. This will help these bunkers play more consistently in the future and will keep the white sand nice and clean and not allow it to get contaminated with the silt and debris that our old bunkers do. I have attached a picture below of one of the bunkers after we have pulled all the old sand out and we are getting ready to start installing the new liner. We are still waiting final approval from the State of Kansas to begin our project on #5. I will continue to keep everyone updated as I hear any new information. We are also continuing to work on the removal of the dead trees in various spots around the golf course that we identified at the end of the season. Getting these trees removed has really helped clean up some of these areas making them more appealing to the eye and helping us with getting some more air and sunlight down to the turf. I hope everyone has a great week and I hope to see all of you soon!

Burning Brush

We finally got the clearance from the local fire department to allow us to start burning some of our accumulated brush piles around the golf course from the removal of dead trees. As you can see from the picture below we had a pretty good looking fire going this morning. Also this morning we are out putting down our last green spray application of the year. We are applying our last pre-emergent product to help with poa annua germination and are applying a product that will help keep our greens hydrated during the cold windy winter weather. It looks like we are going to get some much needed rainfall over the the next day or two, which will really help out the dry conditions that we are dealing with right now. #14 fairway drainage project was finally completed this week. Just in time before a big rain storm. Like I have been saying this should really help this area to drain and be a more consistent playing surface. During this upcoming stretch of warmer weather we are going to start redoing the bunkers on #5 green. We are going to install the new bunker liner that we used last year along with new sand. This will help us on our plan of getting our bunkers more consistent and create better playing surfaces. It will also help us during big rain events as the liner helps hold the sand in place and doesn't allow it to do a lot of washing out. This eliminates a lot of time for my staff when we are repairing them after the storms. Have a great week!