Changes Over Time

In my tenure here at CCCP over the last 15 years I have seen a lot of change for the good and some not so good. The golf course has matured nicely over time with the growth of the Ponderosa Pines and Scrub Oak. The real estate component of the development has also moved along nicely until the last few years. It has always been known that the construction of home sites adjacent to the golf course was the plan all along, but some of these sites will have a lasting effect on both the aesthetics and agronomic health of the golf course.

As the trees have grown over the years they have helped with screening some of the homes that are adjacent to the golf course property. This is good, but a problem that is beginning to show up now is the fact that some of these trees are now causing shade issues on the course. This effects us in two different ways, the first being additional frost delays in the fall and secondly shadows causing prolonged snow cover to areas on the golf course.

In years past prior to home development we were able to trim and even remove some of the trees the were causing problems on the golf course. This is no longer the case and we have begun making changes to our winter snow removal based on this developing problem.

Previously we would routinely remove snow from five of our green complexes and now we will be adding at least one more to the mix. After all is said and done we could be removing snow from as many as half of our greens throughout the winter. This is a lot of effort to go to, but it is well worth it come spring time when the greens come out in better condition than if nothing was done at all.

It's Not Going To Happen

I have been holding out hope throughout most of the fall and early winter that we would complete our renovation work on the driving range, but it is not going to happen.

The weather has been our biggest obstacle from the beginning of this project so it's only fitting that the lack of completion of work is tied directly to it. In the last three weeks there have been several small windows of opportunity but they also did not come to pass. The biggest problem we are facing is that the ground is frozen and cannot get a final grade on several areas. The other equally large issue is the fact that sod can no longer be cut because of the frozen ground.

With normal winter weather patterns we should be able to resume work on the driving range some time in March. At that time final grading will be done and the sod farms should once again be able to harvest fresh sod.

Winter Protection

The newly installed target green sod was prepared for the upcoming harsh winter conditions. The fact that the sod is new and has not rooted will make keeping it alive over the winter more challenging, but by taking proper preventative measures now will help with our future success.

First and foremost adequate moisture levels will be maintained throughout with the use of frost free hydrants, secondly preventive fungicide applications were applied and lastly a protective cover of sand was applied.

The sand will help protect and insulate the crown of the plant so that the survivability is dramatically improved. The material was applied evenly to a depth of slightly less than 1/4". This depth allows the leaf tips to be still slightly exposed to sunlight and therefore eliminating the possibility of smothering the new sod.

Sand Covering The Green Surface

Freezing Bunker Faces

The forecast over the next several day is calling for snow and freezing temperatures so we decided to help chances of maintaining turf on some of our exposed bunker faces. Up until now the temperatures have been seasonal and without any hard freezes occurring.

Recently we went out and saturated the more exposed bunker faces in efforts to help them freeze solid and better retain moisture levels. The water was applied using the strategically placed frost free hydrants that were installed with the new irrigation system.