Spring does not officially arrive until Saturday, but you would not know it by looking outside. The weather has been unseasonably warm over the past two weeks, and a lot of people are ready to get out and play some golf. Slowly but surely the golf course is getting ready too, and we have decided to open most of the greens for play. The 3rd green will remain closed until it dries out and we are sure all the frost has left the ground. The 7th green will be closed to protect the sod that was laid last fall.
A number of courses opened as soon as the weather turned to take advantage of the opportunity to generate some early season revenue. While they may have realized a gain in the short term, there are significant costs associated with opening greens too early. Foot traffic and ball marks on greens that are soft and not yet growing cause damage that will take months to heal. We choose to wait a bit longer until we are confident that the greens are able to receive approach shots in order to preserve the condition of the greens for the remainder of the season. The course tends to be very wet this time of year and the greens are far from their mid season condition so we have been fairly conservative about opening them. I checked my notes from the past few years, and our opening dates have been April 9th in 2007, March 29th in 2008, and March 20th last year. We will open on the 18th this year, which I feel is quite reasonable.
We have rolled the greens once with our mowers to help firm the surface and will do so again tomorrow. The greens are still very soft and it is imperative that you fix all ball marks on every green. If this request is ignored we will have to be more conservative in the future when considering opening the golf course. Areas of the golf course are still very wet from the heavy rain last weekend so I would wear an old pair of DryJoys or other waterproof shoes. There are also remnants of various projects so please be careful when you are walking around the golf course. The area surrounding the 7th green is completely closed and you should make every effort to remain outside the ropes until the frost heaves have settled and the sod has become established.
Depending on when you last played, you may find a number of changes when you first tour the golf course. The most prominent is the work completed around the 7th green. The bunker bash funded the project that removed the bunkers from in front of the green and restored mounding that we believe was part of the original design. We have installed and upgraded the drainage in this area, and will be adding more across the approach and into the fairway in the coming weeks. The green will remain closed until the sod is established enough to walk on, and we hope to have the entire area in play in early May.
The tree on the 8th hole is finally down. I am eager to hear people’s opinion of how the hole plays now relative to past years. The health of the green will certainly improve and I am confident that people will spend a little more time thinking about how they approach the tee shot. We also removed some sick trees and brush from the area. The hollow is noticeably more attractive now, and the features across the creek are much more prominent. It is our intention to continue to reveal the character that lies hidden throughout this portion of the property, and make Clay Creek the key feature of the golf course.
Other winter projects include clearing the brush from the property line starting at the top of the hill on 3, all the way down to the field on the right side of the 4th fairway. This has enhanced the character of this area as well, and will improve your chances of finding a stray tee shot that may have wandered a bit into the woods. The view of the 4th hole has been dramatically improved and you can actually see where Clay Creek enters the property. We hope that the drainage swale that runs along the cart path can be cleaned out and serve as an outlet for future drainage projects on this hole.
A number of courses opened as soon as the weather turned to take advantage of the opportunity to generate some early season revenue. While they may have realized a gain in the short term, there are significant costs associated with opening greens too early. Foot traffic and ball marks on greens that are soft and not yet growing cause damage that will take months to heal. We choose to wait a bit longer until we are confident that the greens are able to receive approach shots in order to preserve the condition of the greens for the remainder of the season. The course tends to be very wet this time of year and the greens are far from their mid season condition so we have been fairly conservative about opening them. I checked my notes from the past few years, and our opening dates have been April 9th in 2007, March 29th in 2008, and March 20th last year. We will open on the 18th this year, which I feel is quite reasonable.
We have rolled the greens once with our mowers to help firm the surface and will do so again tomorrow. The greens are still very soft and it is imperative that you fix all ball marks on every green. If this request is ignored we will have to be more conservative in the future when considering opening the golf course. Areas of the golf course are still very wet from the heavy rain last weekend so I would wear an old pair of DryJoys or other waterproof shoes. There are also remnants of various projects so please be careful when you are walking around the golf course. The area surrounding the 7th green is completely closed and you should make every effort to remain outside the ropes until the frost heaves have settled and the sod has become established.
Depending on when you last played, you may find a number of changes when you first tour the golf course. The most prominent is the work completed around the 7th green. The bunker bash funded the project that removed the bunkers from in front of the green and restored mounding that we believe was part of the original design. We have installed and upgraded the drainage in this area, and will be adding more across the approach and into the fairway in the coming weeks. The green will remain closed until the sod is established enough to walk on, and we hope to have the entire area in play in early May.
The tree on the 8th hole is finally down. I am eager to hear people’s opinion of how the hole plays now relative to past years. The health of the green will certainly improve and I am confident that people will spend a little more time thinking about how they approach the tee shot. We also removed some sick trees and brush from the area. The hollow is noticeably more attractive now, and the features across the creek are much more prominent. It is our intention to continue to reveal the character that lies hidden throughout this portion of the property, and make Clay Creek the key feature of the golf course.
Other winter projects include clearing the brush from the property line starting at the top of the hill on 3, all the way down to the field on the right side of the 4th fairway. This has enhanced the character of this area as well, and will improve your chances of finding a stray tee shot that may have wandered a bit into the woods. The view of the 4th hole has been dramatically improved and you can actually see where Clay Creek enters the property. We hope that the drainage swale that runs along the cart path can be cleaned out and serve as an outlet for future drainage projects on this hole.
We are very excited about the work completed at the club over the past six months and are looking forward to a great season. We hope to see you on the course in the coming weeks and encourage you to bring a friend and spread the word about the continued progress at Suffield Country Club.
Pete/
ReplyDeleteI was chipping around 6th today... looks like you cut today/Thursday? Any news on the rough mower? What about a time frame on chipper/cleaning the debris on 5th from the tree work and stump grinding?
I verticut the greens at the top of the hill on Friday. I want to redistribute any sand that is left over and encourage any new growth as we get ready to start mowing the greens.
ReplyDeleteThe financing is being worked on for the rough mower and I hope to take delivery early next month.
We are waiting for the ground to dry out as much as possible before we tow the 4600lb chipper around the golf course. I hope to get it done late next week. There is only one stump that might come into play so that project falls lower on the priority list. We have to finish cleanup, get everything mowed, and resume drainage on 7.
I am interviewing on Monday and hope to have our fourth worker in place for April 1 which will be a big help.
I played yesterday with Rob and he commented he had never seen standing water in front of the 3erd green before. I said it may be the trees having been cut down...their roots are now not accessing the water table pulling up gallons/day. Is this a valid thought? Will the 3erd now require drainage work? Tom W.
ReplyDeleteThe swale in front of the third green is wet due to a failed drain that collects water coming out of the woods. In recent years one of our neighbors has been doing some work to their property that has increased the runoff through the woods.
ReplyDeleteWe attempted to correct the issue two years ago but our solution was inadequate and the existing drain is now clogged. We will try to restore the function of the existing drain long enough for us to install a new pipe that is twice the size and has three times the capacity to carry water. This is high on our priority list, second only to finishing the drain on 7.
I hope this clears up the problem, and we appreciate your patience as we try to get this and countless other issues resolved this spring.