News

Good Morning,

 

The warm weather and lack of precipitation has started to really dry things out at the golf course. The non irrigated areas are starting to turn dormant at a rapid rate. The warmer temperatures have started to cause a lot of stress to the turfgrass and also shows where we have irrigation issues pretty quickly. 

This past week we spent quite a bit of time working on the irrigation system. There have been irrigation heads replaced on fairway stations that were not functioning properly as well as repairs done to valves. The valves get debris in the diaphragm which causes the irrigation heads to leak and form puddles. There are still a few of these areas that I will be working on this morning.

 

Valve boxes are generally smaller irrigation issues that make a mess in that particular area. When a pipe breaks it creates a much bigger mess that spreads across an entire hole or further. This morning we arrived to find a broken irrigation line on hole #10. This has created quite a wet mess on #9 and #10. We are currently working on getting this repaired as well as a few other areas we did not finish on Friday.

 

Our irrigation renovation on the golf greens has been a huge success. Individual head control is such a great asset when it comes to better water management on the greens. It allows me to apply water to each section of the green and better control isolated dry areas. Hand watering has also been a regular maintenance practice during the past few weeks. We still have a couple of greens with isolated dry areas but everything has been minimalized with the new system on the greens.

Our pumphouse experienced some issues due to the flooding which created a few problems inside the building. The pumps were submerged in water which caused some damage to the bearings and seals. I am currently working with Pixler Electric to get some estimates. These repairs will be completed later in the year when Pixler's can fit us in their schedule. In the meantime the pumps should continue to function and are being monitored daily for functionality. 

 

Most of 2024 has been filled with lots of rainfall and the irrigation system was used at a minimum up until the past couple of weeks. Currently I am irrigating at a maximum rate each night. The pond level has dropped by a few feet simply because the well pump operates at a total of 360,000 gallons in a 24 hour period. The irrigation system is distributing 475,000 gallons of water onto the course each night. 

We are just trying to maintain the existing pond level and will need to monitor water totals according to the pond level. Fairways may be reduced for irrigation time this coming week. I didn't think I would be looking for rain to appear in the forecast in 2024.

 

Our daily maintenance practices have been keeping us busy on the grounds each day. Mowing practices have not changed on the irrigated areas but the mowing of non irrigated areas is starting to decrease some as the grass becomes dormant. Everything on the course is in very nice shape as we finish out the weekend.

Several of our scheduled events have been canceled for the month of August. The ServPro event scheduled for August 23 is a very large event held each year to support first responders. Sadly this event will not be held this year due to flood related issues. The remainder of August will still be busy with quite a few events on the calendar. It's hard to believe we are already heading into the month of August.

 

Enjoy the remainder of the weekend. I hope everyone is moving forward in a positive direction each and every day. Please reach out if you have questions or would like additional information.