Tree Planting

We have started planting the first few of a total 30 trees that will be planted over the next couple weeks.  These 30 Abies grandis (Grand Firs) will be planted in select locations on #1, 9, 10 and 18.  They are large evergreen coniferous trees that grow up to 40-70 metres and do very well in our weather and soil conditions.  The ones we are planting are 3.5 metres tall now, but grow up to 1.5 metres per year. 

Here is a photo from us planting some today, as well as a photo of a mature Abies grandis :

planting along right side of #18

mature Abies grandis

Bunker Edging

If you played golf here yesterday, you very likely noticed that we have begun edging the bunkers.  This aggressive bunker edging is long overdue and really improves the aesthetics and playability of them.  This is typically a once a year spring maintenance practice.  It will require a few weeks to get through all the bunkers on the course, but it is well worth it. 

We use a line trimmer style machine with a reciprocating blade attachment to establish the new bunker edge.  Once completed, the hard edges are maintained throughout the season with line trimmers. 

Here is a pic of the reciprocator and a couple before and after pics to see the improvements the edging makes:

reciprocator

#10 left side green bunker BEFORE edging

#10 left side green bunker AFTER edging

Sunday Morning Chuckle

Who says Tiger Woods doesn't have a sense of humour???

Beautiful day at QGolf Club!

Slicing Greens

Yesterday's scheduled Maintenance Morning was hampered by the rainfall, but today's firmer conditions have allowed us to complete one of the cultural practices we had anticipated doing.  We are slicing greens today with a machine called Planet Air.  This machine has a series of rotating knives that vertically slice between 3" to 4" down into the turf relieving compaction and allowing for better oxygen exchange on the soil.  The resulting surface disruption is very minimal and most golfers will not even notice that we've done anything.  We will be slicing the greens regularly this season and will quite often lightly topdress the greens immediately following it.

Here are some pics of the Planet Air in action from this morning:

Gazebo Renovation

Head Horticulturist, Brock Tingey, has been very busy with the gazebo area renovation.  As many of you know, the hedge surrounding this area suffered a fire last season which greatly affected not only the hedge, but other nearby plant material as well.  Much of this plant material was in need of replacement and we are doing so now.  We also removed the maple trees outside the women's lounge and library last season and will be adding pavers to that area to allow for more seating for weddings and other outdoor functions.  

Here is a pic of the paver installation prep work being done today:

Sunday Morning Chuckle

This one's a classic...

Tournament Play Preparation

Here is a short video clip that shows a fraction of what's involved in prepping the course for tournament play:

Sunday Morning Chuckle...

I will be posting a humorous golf-related joke, article or story on Sunday mornings from now on to help kick-off the week right! 

Here is the inaugural "Sunday Morning Chuckle":

A guy left home about 8:30 a.m. to play golf with his friends.  On the way out the door he answered his wife’s “what time will you be home?” question with “probably about 1:30, I’ll have lunch at the club.”

1:30 came & went, 3:00 passed, 6:15, still not home, finally at about 11:45 PM he rolls in the driveway, leaves his clubs in the garage, and presents his wife with a pizza, and begins the apologetic story.

“We finished our game about 11:30, had lunch, and I started home, when alongside the road I saw this attractive girl with a flat tire on her car.  I stopped to help, got the tire changed, and looked around for a place to wash my hands.  She offered money, but I refused, so she suggested that I at least allow her to buy me a beer.  She said there’s a tavern just up the road, and they have a restroom, you can clean up a bit.  I agreed to stop.  We had a beer, then another beer, then a couple more, and I realized that this girl was not only pretty, she was very friendly, and a good companion to spend time with.  Before I knew it, we were in the motel next door.  And that is why I am so late getting home.”

His wife looked him in the eye and said “Don’t bullshit me; you played 36 holes, didn’t you?”

Willows Wreaking More Havoc

Over the past few months we've noticed a decline in the drainage along the roadway between #10 and  #18.  Jason and myself started to look at this issue and quickly discovered the culprits.  The roots of the willows and silver maple on the right hand side of # 10 about 100 yards out from the green are starting to clog up the drainage tile.  In the coming weeks we will be removing these trees and then strategically replanting some evergreens in their place.  I have attached a photo of the trees that are to be removed.

#18 Green Slit Drainage is Tested

#18 green faced it's first true challenge today since the slit drainage was installed last week.  How did it hold up?  Well, there's good news and bad news.  The good news is that the green was open less than 40 minutes after an 8+ hour rainfall, in which we received over 1/2" of rain in the last couple hours.  Prior to installing the slit drainage, a rainfall like that would have forced us to close the green for days.

The bad news is that the collector drain responsible for the back left portion of that green needs to be fixed as  that part of the green still had standing water on it after the rain stopped.  We have learned that the new collector was tied into an old drainage line instead of being independently run directly to the pond behind the green as designed.  Needless to say, we are not too pleased with this and it will be corrected ASAP.

Are you doing YOUR part?

If two of the all-time greats like Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus always repair their ballmarks, surely you can...

Please PROPERLY REPAIR AT LEAST ONE BALLMARK PER GREEN to help us provide the best possible putting surfaces!  This video demonstrates how to do so:

#18 Green Slit Drainage Completed!

The drainage installation continued yesterday and went very well.  So well in fact that the green reopened for play yesterday afternoon!  I'm confident you'll be amazed at how well the green will roll considering the complete drainage overhaul it just endured.  That being said, it will only get better as we continue to topdress and roll it to smooth the putting surface.

Here are some pics of the finished product:

finished slits

rolling to smooth the putting surface

finished product

#18 Green Slit Drainage (update #2)

The slit drainage installation on #18 is going smoothly, but the 4+ of hours of work lost from yesterday's rain and this morning's frost have us slightly behind schedule.  We now expect the project to be completed on Sunday with the green reopening sometime on Monday.

Here are some more pics of the install from today:

completed slits

completed slits

back right slits ready to be trenched

progressing along nicely

previous aerification holes exposed when sod is removed

#18 Green Slit Drainage

The slit drainage installation on #18 green is now underway.  The cancelled ferries on Wednesday forced us to start a day later as the TDS labour crew was stuck on the island.  This morning's frost has delayed us again, but we still anticipate the project to be completed on Saturday with the green reopening on Sunday.

Here are some pics of the installation:

irrigation marked and plywood used to minimize surface disruption

collector line installation underway

collector line installation

sod carefully removed for slits and set aside

sod removal

sod removal

aerification evidence in the sod

Thankfully, the snow didn't last...

On Sunday, the course was covered in a blanket of snow.  It melted away quickly and we reopened for play on Monday.

Today we were able to capture a pic of this rainbow that just might be a sign that spring is coming!