So I've been here at QGolf Club now for just over 2 years and I must say, the biggest adjustment between life in Ontario and B.C. is the HUGE difference in weather over the winter months. I always wondered what it would be like to maintain and prep a golf course 12 months a year. In Ontario most courses are blanketed in snow for most of the winter so as long as you applied your winter protection (fungicides) you could sleep easy while you wait for things to thaw. That is unless things thawed and then froze before draining away. Ice and turf DO NOT get along well! Prolonged ice cover on turf leads to crown hyrdation. Crown hyrdation kills, it's that simple (as seen below)...
That being said, the wet west coast winters really limit what we can and cannot do on the golf course. When we do get a "break" in the weather we are often just trying to catch up on routine work that was delayed due to wet conditions. Our main goal during the winter is to keep the course as playable as possible while completing a few small projects (i.e. - drainage, tree removals/plantings).
So when people ask me, "Don't you get tired of the rainy west coast winters?" my response is simple, "Nope, you don't have to shovel the rain!"
Gotta run, I'm on the tee!!!
Hi, J
ReplyDeleteI heard the other day that the ditch on the north side of #1 wasn't draining. Is there a problem with the pipe at the dyke? It doesn't make sense that it's not draining 'cos there's virtually no water in the ditch running north/south along 4 and 16. BT said you were checking into it. Find anything?
B
Hi Brian,
ReplyDeleteIt is draining, just very slowly. That ditch is in desperate need of a dredging and grade correction. Doing so would be very difficult due to the trees alongside it that limit the access to it. That being said, we don't heavily rely on that ditch for drainage as we do our ponds as it is really only taking on drainage outlets from #1, 2 and part of #3 tees.
We have found drainage issues at #3 tees. Tree roots from the willow directly behind the tees have invaded the collector lines that run along the backside of the mounds on left side of #1. Drains from the right side of #3 are tied into these collector lines and are backed up accordingly. I will be posting an update on this issue today along with some pics.
Cheers!