Finally, some weather to get excited about! We had about as good of a winter as we could’ve asked for.
We had enough water to fill our irrigation reservoir and will get back to normal
watering schedules for 2022. The greens look like they had a good winter as well, although it is still very
early, and a lot can change with unpredictable spring weather. As of right now, we haven’t discussed any
opening date as the weather still looks cold and wet for the foreseeable future.
For anyone who was around last season, they were able to witness the (much anticipated) automatic
irrigation installation around the front 9 greens. This will go an extremely long way with being able to
restore our greens to be firm, fast, and consistent, that will align more with the greens we were able to
experience last fall. As for 2022, our goals remain simple, bringing back fairway and rough conditions
from pre-drought years (cross your fingers that it is over) and reclaiming areas of barren soil with turf.
Larger projects in 2022 that we will be picking away at are continuing to add automatic irrigation
throughout the front 9. We ask that you please continue to be patient as this is a huge undertaking. We
will also be finishing up our new wedding ceremony area that we began late fall of 2021, which we are
very excited about. We also cleared some brush along #6 on the creek side to open a visual toward the
green and prevent blind shots at the group ahead, so we will be growing this in to be playable turf. As is
the case from the last few years we will continue with the addition of cart paths to eventually create one
continuous cart path throughout the entire course. Lastly, yes, we are aware of #12, and yes, it is at the
top of our priority list however it is something that needs to be done correctly to mitigate risk of erosion
again. As for the tee boxes on #12 we did start with some tree trimming and removal of trees to create
more usable tee space, but also, more importantly, allow more sunlight for growth. This will also be a
very high priority throughout 2022.
As for a couple things members can do that will go a long way for the grounds crew are as follows: we
will have a larger than wanted amount of ground under repair this year. A lot of spots need an overseed
from drought and/or cart traffic. We hope to be able to clearly mark every single one of these areas and
we would greatly appreciate your help with staying out of these areas to allow for regrowth. I will do my
best to spread these areas over multiple holes, and not do too much at once. This is a multiyear process.
We also hope to have our sand and seed boxes ready for opening day to be placed on the par 3 tees, it
would be great for our members to lead the way on utilizing these boxes and always filling 2 or 3 extra
divots on the tees when they are finished. And finally, always remember to rake the bunkers and fix
your ball marks on the greens! These simple acts go a long, long way in helping all grounds crews at any
course.
Here’s to hoping we see each other soon.