Friday, August 22, 2014

The "A" word and River Update #2

The first three weeks in August were somewhat boring since two tournaments will occur two weeks apart so all we have really been trying to do is keep the grass mowed....not an easy task this year (which I guess is way better than the alternative, i.e. not having any grass to mow!).

And now for something completely different.  If I had my way I would love to aerate the greens just after the August long weekend since recovery would be quick and by the time the turf began to grow new roots we would be very close to raising the HOC which would mean even more opportunity to grow roots (generally, the more roots the better turf can handle stress).  The reason I bring this up relates to the condition of the fairways this year during the long heat spell we experienced.  I have spent most of the summer amazed and confused at how well the fairways have looked.  When you do the same thing from year to year you expect similar results so when you get those years where things are different from normal (good or bad) you sorta want to know why... at least I do!

I don't compare conditions between courses since there are so many different variables but I do ask in general what other golf courses are experiencing turf growth/health wise.  If it's similar to what is happening at KGC I credit/blame the weather.  If conditions are different than what KGC is experiencing I look at what I am doing different and try to come up with answers as to why things differ.  To be honest,  growing turf is as much an art as it is a science so many of my conclusion are complete guesses.  So this year my guess as to why we had good fairways is three fold. (Oops!  After re-reading that last paragraph I seem to be implying that KGC fwys are better than other golf course.....not what I mean.  What I meant was the fwys at KGC are better this year than they have been other years; no arguing that point!)

  1. We are mowing fairways way less than in the past.  Perhaps less traffic and less mechanical stress associated with cutting the fairway is allowing the turf to direct its energies into increasing stand density versus expending energy to repair damaged tissues and recuperate from mowing stress. 
  2.  The last couple years, due to staffing, we aerated our fairways very early compared to waiting until late fall.   I suspect by aerating early the turf has had time to recover and establish new roots which allow it to better handle stress.  
  3. Our continued effort in late spring/early summer to aerate, over-seed and top dress areas I know are prone to showing heat/moisture stress during the growing season.
We will aerate early again this year so I'll be interested to see if the fairways grow the same in 2015.  I guess, being a grass farmer, I can't completely ignore the weather conditions over the past 2 years as well.  Both 2013 and 2014 springs and winters were good for grass (not overly hot and plenty of moisture in the spring and good snow cover with no real ice during the winter months) and I know that helps. 

River Watch

We've been able to keep one pump running by putting in about 10 to 12 man hours moving rocks.  In preparation for the vacuum truck next week I had a back hoe come down and clean out directly in front of our intake. Obviously, the rain at the end of the week brought up the river and allowed me to shut off the irrigation and catch up on filling the reservoir so we are sitting pretty good for the next little bit.  There is possibly some things in the works to help us with our water woes at the river but I'll keep it vague until I can give you more information.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Golden Trees at Kimberly and River Update #1

Unlike the Sitka spruce that grew on Haida Gwaii (go HERE), golden conifers on the golf course mean trouble.
Picea not-lookin-so-goodica
One of the group of pines planted between 6 tee and 9 green finally went funky.  Those trees were sort of seconds from a local nursery and the middle one has always been a funny tree that finally had enough.  I don't believe the trees demise was beetle related but most likely something specific to that particular tree (there is a thing called pine wilt caused by a nematode but you need to send sample to lab for conformation.  If it is pine wilt you basically remove the wood, chip it, and burn or bury it.  We're going to do that anyways so paying for a diagnosis is somewhat mute.)  I'll replace it but not until the weather is better (i.e. not as hot and dry)

We wrapped a pink ribbon around a Ponderosa pine on the left of #14 down by the fairway bunker on the right side.

Beetle Kill Ponderosa, Right #14 Fwy
That is pine beetle and we missed it last fall.  Truthfully, we never really had the time to scout let alone remove any pine beetle trees since all staff but myself and the mechanic were pretty much laid off once play was finished.  A short term gain budget wise but the long term cost will be more trees lost to pine beetle and, unfortunately for us, the trees are what makes KGC a golf course.

River Watch

I started doing this couple years ago and in a year with all the heat we've had and so little rain we are really depending on the river to supply us with water until the cooler weather comes.

Flow at River Intake, July 28
At the time of the July 28th picture the pumps were still supplying about 325 GPM to the reservoir (versus around 425 GPM previously throughout the season).  As it stands now this is what we got:

Flow at River Intake, August 5th
 What makes this an auspicious day is the drop in flow at the river now means we can only pump around 210 GPM which means over a 24 hour period the most we can pump is 302400 gallons.  Up to this point in time the golf course sees about 450 000 to 480 000 gallons of water a night.  Obviously, each time we irrigate we will unable to replace over 150 000 gallons in the reservoir so based on the reservoir capacity we will run out of water in 28 days, i.e. September 2.  Again, obviously, I will stop irrigating areas and we should start to use less water but even with those measures I don't see us getting much past the middle of the month.  A Couple years ago the City allowed us to use the fire hydrant to supply us with water but a letter from the Operations Department this spring said that was a "one time deal".  Our quickest option it to tie into the Mathew Creek line that runs through the golf course via a new connection installed by the city.  We would then have to connect to our system.  Both options cost $$$ and we would have to pay the city up front and pay for a contractor to connect to our system.

This whole situation is getting old and is giving me grey hair and wrinkles. (Go HERE to review 2012's river problems.).  We really need to be responsible and look at viable alternatives and commit to addressing the low river/dirty river situations before our luck runs out.

Friday, August 1, 2014

That Was a Quick 31 Days

Over a month since a post.  July flew by and already I have to drive to work with the truck headlights on.

So whats been happening on the course?  Mostly good stuff with only a few typical "situations".  It's seems like old news but I'll comment on some small projects completed over the past couple months.  The new sponsor sign has been erected next to #1 tee and is filling up with the three levels of sponsors.  The construction side of the project was completed with volunteer member labour with the only costs being the materials for the structure and the printing of the signs.

Completed Sign With Sponsors
Another completed projected was the flowerbed redo at 4T that I mentioned in the last post.  By far the coolest thing about that project was the donations received from the members.  Alison W. got the ball rolling by donating her 50/50 prize from a Friday night social.  Soon the players from the Rose Bowl tournament voted to donate all unclaimed deuce pot money from their tournament.  A couple more 50/50's and from Ethel J. and Sue O. and all of a sudden it began to look like the "crowdfunding" idea had struck a cord with a certain group of people.  To date there has been over $400 contributed.  I basically used a portion of that money to plant the 4T flowerbed and buy the extra concrete caps needed to "finish" the project (finish is in quotes since I was unable to get the same colour and style cap to match the old style we salvaged so it looks a bit awkward)

Adding and Amending Root Zone
Mixing It Up

Finished Flower Bed
I was very excited and happy to see the response from my desperate plea at the AGM.  People either appreciate our situation or took pity on me.  Whatever the case may have been I was happy to have the cash to do a little something extra and I believe people are pleased with the result.  Is it too bold to ask for more?  Imagine, redoing a weak tee or adding extra tees to make the course more player friendly?  Maybe keep updating/renovating the existing flower beds?  If you've got a bee in your bonnet share it with me and maybe we can find proponents and who knows what can happen!