Monday, July 26th, 2010

Conditions

This is the time of year where conditions remain pretty similar from day to day. I feel like I am repeating myself but I cannot say enough about the work Mike and my entire staff has been doing this year. There doesn't seem to be a day where I don't hear a complement on the course and how pleased a player is about the conditions.

As noted in my previous post we bayoneted the greens last week. There was no significant change in the smoothness of the greens but they are a bit softer. Once they settle out they will become more firm.Now would be a good time to hit the ball at the hole, the green should hold pretty well.

I am anticipating turning the creek pumps off any day now. I am still amazed at the flow going by the diversion. As long as the creek holds up we will continue to keep the ponds topped off. The good thing is that the overflow goes right back to the creek so we are only loosing what we put on the course and are allowing the downstream users to get plenty of water.

Alisma plantago-aquatica

Lake A, which is only a lake in the wet months, has finally dried up. This gave me an opportunity to walk through the lake bottom and evaluate our wetland plantings. I am pleased to report that the water plantain is doing very well. I first noted it starting to proliferate three years ago and now it seems to be spreading like wildfire. Considering when we build this course there wasn't a plant to be seen in this entire lake bed and now it is a flourishing ecosystem which functions as storm water containment and wildlife habitat.



Bocce and BBQ

Friday was our annual crew barbecue and this year we added a bocce ball tournament. We found our nursery green to be a perfect place to set up a court. We made two man teams and Mike and I decided to let everyone else win. (You know, as the boss it is good to let everyone beat you, right?) Steve and Jorge were amazing, almost like they have been playing for years. When they were putting the bocce ball within a foot of the pallino I knew we couldn't compete with that. The new barbecue worked great and the rib eye's were fantastic. a good time was had by all.