Drainage Work on #10 Fairway

Our recent attempt to drain the terribly wet landing area on the 10th fairway.  We rented an 8' auger attachment for our skid steer.  We then installed a vertical riser pipe which will have a metal grate on top to collect surface water.  We will then be trenching in pipe to divert water into the sump.  We did run into some clay at a depth of 6', which would explain why the area does not drain very well.  The hope is that the sump will collect the water and slowly drain through to the bedrock beneath.

Mike O'Neill, GCS

New Driving Range Target Flags And Pins

Above is the new look of what we will be installing on the driving range as target flags this spring.  The post is a 4x4 that we will concrete in the ground at every given yardage to create a much neater and more visible target for golfers to aim at while practicing on the driving range.  We feel these pins will be a big improvement for golfers looking to have something a little bigger to aim at as opposed to the skinny, barely visible flags we have had in the past.

Mike O'Neill, GCS

Improving The Weakest links On The Golf Course

Well here we are just about into March as I write this, with snow on the ground we look ahead to the warmer days of spring.  While looking ahead, we as a maintenance staff plan how we can improve the golf course every year while mainly targeting the weakest parts of the course.  This spring we are planning a few projects that will drastically improve weak areas of the course.  The first project we will address with regards to the master plan will be re-doing the 11 men's tee.  The tee is very uneven and thinned turf exists there as a result of a wear and shade issues from the trees to the east and west effecting morning and late afternoon sunlight to the tee.  Bottom line is...Trees and quality turf do not coexist.  We will level, re-position and sod the tee to drastically improve the area. The tee will remain the same size but the fact that it will be level, aim in a direction towards the landing area,  will allow us now to be able to use the entire teeing area.

Mike O'Neill, GCS

Re-doing Oak Benches For The Golf Course

Every winter we go through and refurbish numerous course accessories and the oak benches on the course are a part of that process.  As you can see from the pictures above, the benches are first broken down.  We then proceed to use a planer to remove the old cracked stain.  We will then sand them and re-stain with a high quality, marine grade stain.

Mike O'Neill,  GCS

Building Trailers For Our New Greens Mowers.

Even though it is cold and snowy outside does not mean the grounds staff has it easy in the winter.  We are currently right in the middle of fabricating trailers for our new John Deere greens mowers.   These trailers will allow us to trailer the mowers around the golf course to efficiently and effectively get the greens mowed in a very timely manner.  We have some very talented staff members that have the ability to weld and fabricate these materials and save the club thousands of dollars in the process.  The completed trailer pictured above cost $1800 to purchase a few years ago.  We are completing the new trailers in-house for  less than 1/4 of that price.  

Mike O'Neill, GCS

Ground Water Flowing Again Into Ponds On Course

As suspected, once the water table rose back up to a "Normal" level the groundwater started flowing down the creek and into the ponds on the golf course.  Currently both the pond on hole number 9 and the pond on hole number 8 are full.  The extremely dry summer last season clearly had the water table down to a level below any normal reading.  It remains to be seen if the water will continue to flow through the season this year, but we know it is going to be precipitation dependent.

Mike O'Neill, GCS

Tree Work Targets Safety Concerns

Many members and golfers ask the question " Why are you taking that tree down"?  Well, sometimes the answer is a master plan removal, while other times the answer is a safety concern.  As the picture above shows, this is the tree left of 8 green that sits very tall and limits access to the back left of the 8th green.  As you can visibly see from the picture, this tree was a major safety concern as it was totally rotted and in a severe state of decline.  Often times this type of deterioration goes unseen by golfers but we carefully monitor every tree on this property as any diligent golf course operation should.  If this tree ever fell while golfers were around it, the results would be catastrophic.  So rest assure, as you are playing your next round, we have examined every tree you may happen to land your golf ball under.

Mike O'Neill, GCS