Summary of Stuff....

Quick follow up for those of you wondering what going on.  First, after 4 somewhat nerve wracking days with no water the power issue was resolved.  The power company came and opened up the transformer and discovered that the problem was either within the transformer of somewhere along the length of one of the power cables 

The Guts of a Transformer

It turns out one of the cut outs on the last power pole before the line goes underground was only partially disengaged which is why we had funky readings on the power line.  When they replaced the fuse and re-connected there was a little explosion on that line they had just repaired.  More investigating and they discovered that the termination point on that particular line was faulty.  Once that was repaired we had power, thankfully.

The Power Pole Causing the Problem

While all the problems with the power was going on the city began installing our back-up/emergency connection to the Matthew Creek line.  Luckily, they are completely in charge of this stage and we are just watching

Exposing the Pipe

Ready for "Hot Tap" of 4 inch Connection

 Lastly, we are removing the berm installed a few years back to prevent people from parking on the side of the driveway.  It's already a narrow road and when people would park on the side the roadway was made so narrow vehicles coming down would have to cross over onto the other side of the road.  We had signs but cars would still park there so we built the berm to remove that option.  It worked but it was also "uglyish".  My hope is the habit of parking there has been broken and I can seed the area and make a nice boulevard for guests to admire as they drive up.  The front entrance is somewhat trashy, IMO, and needs a little smartening up but with cash being tight and so much needing to be done elsewhere it doesn't make much sense to spend money on such an area.

Removing the "Neevey Berm"

There you have it.  Lots going on and mostly all good.  FYI,  #7 probably back in play this Saturday not because it's better but because its time.  Hopefully, the extra TLC over the past couple week will translate into a quicker rebound.

The Little Dutch Boy.....

I am running out of fingers to plug the all the holes that seem to be popping up all over the place!   There's been lots of good things (weather, successful volunteer work bee, staffing) I could comment on but its the problems that are keeping me busy and distracted.  Here's a brief summary of the what is happening out on the course:

• Winter Clean-up:  We are slowly getting all the tree litter cleaned and with the help from volunteers last Tuesday a majority of the front nine holes were raked.  The biggest problem for completing the clean-up has been breakdowns.  Aside from the tractors front wheel falling off (bearings and planetary gear issues and now, as of Friday, a starter problem) both of our large capacity sweepers have been experiencing issues (broken sweeper shaft on the old Jac and list of costly engine problems on the vacuum sweeper) and both have spent most of the time sitting waiting to be repaired or being repaired.  The nice weather has the rough growing and needing to be mowed but with all the debris still to be swept up we're only able to mow those areas with the least amount of tree litter scattered on the ground.
• Winter Damage and Temporary Greens:  We've had no time to address the winter damage on any of the greens.  Some only require a few hours of plugging to be 100% but others require substantially more work.  Plugging is time consuming and my staff has been spread thin attempting to keep up with the maintenance and routine preparation required once the course opened for play.  As a general rule, players have been very understanding but I still need people to be patient regarding #7 green.  This green is a temp not because I'm worried about how it putts but because I'm worried about how play will affect its recovery.  I've heard the comment "Oh 7 looks fine.  We've played on way worse!" but again its the growth not the play that's my concern (at least at this point in time).
• Staffing:  The early opening has forced my hand and I've had to start some staff sooner than normal but I am also attempting to stick as close as possible to the budget and have adjusted the level of maintenance down to match the staffing numbers.  I am regretting that choice already but we are having to spend more money on equipment repairs early this year and I attempting to be prudent in other expense areas where I feel I have some control.
• Out of Left Field Stuff:  Up until this week most of the surprises have been equipment related but if you've been following the saga at KGC breakdowns have been a typical occurrence over the last couple years.  The seriously major issue that is now on our plate happen just yesterday (Why does sh*t always seem to hit the fan on Friday?).  At one point Friday morning something occurred which tripped a fuse on our 3 phase power line that feeds the river pump house as well as the irrigation pump house at the pond on 16 tee.  Usually, its just a twig that has landed on the power line and crossed phases but this time after the overhead power company repaired the fuse we only had power restored to the river pump house and partial power to the irrigation pump house (FYI, KGC owns the above ground power lines that feed the irrigation system and when we have a problem BC Hydro will not fix it.  We have to call a private company to repair it and we pay through the nose!)  Initially, I thought the problem was a 3 phase monitor inside the irrigation pump house but an electrician was unable to pin point the problem and suspects there may be a transformer issue.  That's a $15 000  to $20 000 replacement, I think.  So again we needed to call the private power company but by this time it was Friday afternoon and no one was answering their phone.  We'll have to wait until Monday.  Until then we have no irrigation but luckily it is only April and a few days without water is feasible but if problem isn't easily solved we may be "in dutch" (full circle, I love doing that!)

One for the Record Books

A rambling justification (?) for conditions this spring.  You'll need oodles of time to read all of this one.  Skip to the last paragraph for the "Coles Notes" version if you're pressed for time.

April 4th is one of the earliest opening we've had in a while.  Believe it or not but one of my many fantasies is to have the golf course and ski hill open at the same time: golf in the a.m. ski slush in the p.m.  I secretly strive towards this every year but seldom does it work (I make it work by hiking the hill but riding the chair is always a better option!).  Despite the fact that all irrigation is working, there's no snow, and its mostly dry out there we've only been able to get 10 holes ready for play.  Without more staff and time there was no way I was going to get more holes ready for play.

Working out on the course by myself last week gave me lots of opportunity to think.  I've been attempting to diagnose the damage on the greens and have come up with a number of reasons why, I feel, the disease was so extensive this year:

1. The day I sprayed I choose not to bring in any staff to help out.  That day I had to remove all the tarps (only 6 tarps), take down the fences to give me access (only 7 fences), blow all the debris (leaves, needles, poop) off the green surfaces, spray all 20 greens, and clean up and put it all away.  At that time of year there is 9.5 hours of daylight.  The low was -4 and there was frost so I had to wait to get going but the point is there wasn't much time to do it all.  Furthermore, the later in the day the spray was applied the longer it took to dry, especially that time of year.  The following day, November 6th, I recorded showers throughout the day. 
2. I've always called that November spray my "panic spray" since I always felt that I had enough chemical to carry me through the winter and all the last spray did was make me feel less panicky.  I've always left areas on certain greens and sometimes entire greens prone to disease as benchmarks to see if I really needed to apply the "panic spray" and it always appeared to be unwarranted since disease was never a problem on those benchmark areas.  That attitude clouded my decision process when it came to choosing what rate (i.e. amount) of chemical to use.
3. Part of applying products with a sprayer involves not only calculating the amount of product required based on the area being sprayed and disease your attempting to control (the rate, again) but it is also necessary to apply the spray using the correct volume of water.  Water volume is dictated by the size of the spray nozzles.  For most fungicides sprayed at KGC the suggested water volume is anywhere from 8 to 40 L per 100 square meter.  With the minimum 8L volume I would need around 825 L to spray all the greens.  The tank on our sprayer is only 660 L so it takes one full tank plus a partial second tank.  As a result of reasons 1 and 2 (too little time, too little appreciation for importance of the "panic spray") I used a nozzle size that would ensure only one spray tank was needed to spray all 20 greens.
4. Poor machine maintenance.  Last year at KGC was a harried year mechanic wise; we went through two.  By the time September rolled around we only had a part time mechanic who was only available to work when he had time after his regular full time day job.  At one point during my last spray (of course) a suction line that had obviously being wearing for awhile developed a small puncture.  A hole in the suction line introduces air into the system and the spray volume is affected.  A low spray volume because of small nozzles was made even less/worse because of the hole.
5. Tarps and Enkamat 

Tying all these point together requires a long winded theory.  I've sprayed greens enough times with my regular nozzles (11003's for fertilizer and 11008's for pesticides) that I know where I should be based on any water volume appearing in the spray tank.  That knowledge makes it easy for me to catch any problems with the output at any point during the spray.  The nozzles I chose to use on my last tank were 11006's (I use these during fungicide applications on fairways).  I filled the tank with the required volume based on the area I was to spray.  I then decided to spray the surface of the greens in a circular fashion versus up and down to limit overlap into the apron and collar and possibly "waste" spray and risk running out before all the greens were treated.   After spraying the greens there was still a volume of solution left in the tank and because I used a different nozzle and sprayed the greens in a different direction I wasn't overly concerned.  I assumed I was able to stretch out the tank like I hoped I would.  After completing the spray I cleaned out the tank and the next day began taking it apart for storage.  Flash forward to last week.  With all the disease popping up I was worried and felt it would be prudent to do a spray in an attempt to lessen the disease impact.  Normally, before each spray I calibrate the sprayer to set the correct pressure (psi) to provide the necessary output but this spring I couldn't get the correct volume no matter what I tried.  Following the basic trouble shooting guidelines I discovered the problem with the suction line.  I confirmed it by borrowing a suction hose from another golf course and was able to achieve correct operating psi.  With regards to my last spray in November, I calibrated the sprayer before adding chemical so I know I didn't have a problem when I set out to spray.  At one point the suction line wore through and impacted the output volume (you'd think it would be obvious to see a hole in the suction line but it is a large rubber, braided line and even after confirming the suction line was the problem I couldn't see a hole.  I assume the hole was somewhere within the section of hose that had wear marks).  It took until the next time I calibrated the spray tank, i.e. this spring, to see the problem.  My record keeping is O.K. but what I didn't do, and I have done it in the past, was write down the order in which I sprayed greens.  During the regular season I spray in numerical order only to stay ahead of play.  That is not the most efficient way spray since more time is spent traveling versus spraying a green when you come to it regardless of the order.  I need bread crumbs to find my way home everyday so there is no way I remember what order I sprayed the greens last November.  I have a hunch though.  Knowing myself I know I would have started on #3, then gone to #1, #2, #4, #5 but after that who knows.  I probably would have gone to the back and try to finish somewhere on the front close to the shop in case I ran out.  I did record the observation that there was active Fusarium on certain greens (particularly 6 and 14) but nothing regarding the order of greens sprayed.  The reason I'm hung up the spray order is the level of disease appearing on those greens that were tarped.  By far those were the worse greens.  More than a few times during the late winter there was free water; not ice, not frost but actual water saturating the surfaces.  In most cases the surfaces thawed just enough to soak the top inch.  Had things not thawed a bit there would have been ice as seen in this picture:

Ice from Water under Tarp on 7G, Back Left Corner

Back to the order.  If the leaky suction line dramatically affected the sprayer output there should be an obvious point at which the output was reduce there by impacting the spray.  Had I recorded the spray order it would have helped.  The problem is the tarped greens really mess things up.  Greens that I know were sprayed early (such as #1 Green) had far more disease than is normally the case after a typical winter.  Obviously, this year the tarps created an environment that was conducive for disease development.  Truthfully, I've always been concerned of such an eventuality but in the past the sprays helped the situation.

Basically, you can sum up our problems by suggesting that limited staffing, lack of appreciation for the importance of the "panic" spray, poor equipment maintenance, and creating conditions that encourage the occurrence of disease all played a part in this springs conditions.  Like I said in the last post, there won't be a single cause explaining the problems this winter but more likely a combination.  I haven't even touched on a couple other thoughts banging around inside my head that relate to plant nutrition (I used 4.4 Kg/100 sqm less potassium in 2014 versus other years) as well as certain cultural practices (we've completely fell off the verti-cut routine plus we are using smaller tines during aeration and aerating less; both of those practices remove thatch which is were snow mould spores hide until conditions are right for germination).  The one common factor regarding the level of damage from disease is all the greens showing winter disease damage are the ones most prone to severe Fusarium during the spring and fall.  Greens such as 1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 12, 14, and 15 typically show more disease activity sooner than the other greens.  Again, this is probably the result of an interaction of number of circumstances and bit by bit I may figure it out but until that time the greens that were hit hard with disease this past winter will need lots of TLC.