The latest on #7

What you are looking at here is a view from the newly proposed tee box on #7. This will help with our safety issues regarding the failing retaining walls currently near this location. This tee box will quickly become a favorite for golfers.
Obviously this is not an areas where we can just sod and let you play, there is much to do. For the past year, I have been working with architect Kevin Atkinson to develop this concept. We have been in very close contact with the TOV and AMEC environmental engineers of Boulder to develop this teeing ground. Don't expect to be playing from this location until 2011. Mostly black and blue tees will be in this location. What if you don't play those tees? No worries, the tee box on the hill as well as the front tee box will be renovated. Much like the third hole, there is a strong need to increase the size of the teeing grounds. The variety of tee boxes will continue to provide the golfer with a new experience.

An Open Mind

This week we welcomed Bill Yates of Grey Town Golf, LLC to the golf course. He studies pace management on golf courses and has worked with over 100 golf courses around the country. I had the opportunity to spend most of Friday afternoon with him and we discussed many topics under the wide world of golf. My favorite discussion was the "lost game" of match play. Of course the game of golf was intended to be played against one another, not the golf course.
Pace of play is a wide spread problem in golf and the staff here is keeping an open mind on how to improve the experience for the golfer.
Initially I thought I would be given a long list of areas to cut, mow and trim. Making the course easier, it should play faster, right? Not so much, the goal is not to dummy down the course, there still needs to be some skill to play the game. I really had to open my mind in speaking with him about various management techniques, but it was worth it. He talked about not tricking the golfer, but creating challenges. There have been many ideas that were expressed for Alice and I to better manage the golf course. A few have them are being implemented now and we have already seen some positive results.
Sure there is work to be done, but that is always the case. Vail Golf Club is in a great spot right now. In the coming seasons working with a master plan, we can address many design and playability issues to make this golf course a fun challenge for guests to return to year after year.

It's Just Grass

You may have noticed some different mow lines around the course. Many of the lines on the course were determined by the irrigation system. Some areas due to lack of coverage would suffer at fairway height so they were turned into rough areas to have a better chance of surviving. Now that our coverage is at its best and stress periods are starting to subside, we are exploring different mow patterns around the course. Some may stay, some may go.

Kevin Atkinson will visit next week and we will go through many of these areas. There are many factors that need to be looked at when changing mow patterns throughout the course. Plant health and playability are the most important, followed by labor and equipment needs.

Final Walkthrough

I know this picture is not the clearest, but here is Larry's iphone with an application to ensure this irrigation head is level. The red dot indicates that digging this head up again is unnecessary. Larry and I will finish the day checking the system and making sure everything is working properly for the substantial completion tomorrow.
We will be meeting with Gregg and members of Grand Junction pipe to go over all warranty items.

Pace of Play

This issue might be bigger than you think. Two of the driving forces in the game of golf today are price and pace of play. Price is a good indication on why Vail Golf Club has been busy with golfers this year, we have the best price around. Pace of play, in my mind, we are still one of the quicker golf courses to play in the valley, due to the flat terrain, open tee shots and shorter distance. When you consider the amount of play and the caliber of players that visit the course, anything is possible. Vail Golf Club is a public facility and we are open to all golfers of any skill level.
With that said, there are still areas for improvement. It certainly does not help when Tiger Woods complains to PGA officials about how is rushed around the course. Examples such as this does not help the average golfer when they venture out to their public golf course. Also, the golf course struggles when compared to newer public facilities such as an Eagle Ranch or the new Commonground in Denver. Design features in Vail, such as small greens, tight fairways, many water hazards and poor cart path layout all relate to slow play for the new guest or high handicapper. As teachers of the game, we look to continually educate not only ourselves, but our guests as well for a more enjoyable experience.
This week the staff at Vail Golf Club is taking another look at how to make this golf course player-friendly, by focusing on pace of play.
There have been many suggestions and ideas in the past, some great and some not. Many of them have been implemented already, such as rope and signage steering golfers around the course, alternative mowing heights in areas and having a well-rounded staff that educates each golfer prior and during their round.
Can these ways be improved? Of course they can, we continue to look for ways to improve all areas of this golf course, some take a little more research than others.

Frost

It is that time of year again. Days are getting shorter and nights are getting colder. Once those afternoon clouds move out for the night, temperatures in the valley dip down. For almost two weeks now we have seen temperatures in the mid-30's can equates to a nice frost delay.

It is not guaranteed that everyday brings frost. Some mornings with cloud cover will keep the atmosphere warmer and prevent the plant from freezing.

The coldest part of the day is when the sun rises. The sun pushes the cold air down to the earth and that is when we see the most amount of frost on the golf course. In time, the temperature soon rises and the frost melts off the plant.

Some golf courses can run irrigation to "wash-off" the frost, but our water source is so cold, it only makes matters worse and sometimes creates more ice.

Frost damage can be very harmful especially this time of year. Damage occurs when the crown and leaf blades of the plant are frozen and exposed to stress by foot or cart traffic. The water inside the plant freezes and the plant becomes very delicate and shatter upon impact. Damaged areas will turn to purple or even black and then turn brown and die off. As I mentioned, the fall is the worst time of year to experience frost damage because there is little to no growing time left in the year to rebound from this damage.

Moving Out

Landscapes Unlimited has loaded up their equipment and have for the most part left the golf course. Over the next two weeks a small crew of employees will be putting finishing touches on the system. Each sprinkler head and valve has been re-visited to ensure they are working properly and each head is level.

1 Year Later

So I played Pole Creek Golf Club in Fraser on Tuesday and had a great time. Former VGC Superintendent, Ben Krueger and I took to the course with 90 other RMGCSA members. The weather was great and the course was better. I even beat Ben!
Craig Cahalane is the Superintendent and he and his staff do a wonderful job with the course. Last year, Landscapes Unlimited installed a new irrigation system on 18 of the 27 holes. The course is playing great and the greens were in fantastic shape. Every area of the course was consistent from greens to roughs. Now that Craig has better control and can really focus on growing grass instead of fixing pipe, he has been able to provide a better golf course for the guests of Winter Park.
Sure there are a few wet spots here and there, but that is only because he is just learning to use the system. Landscapes finished in September last year and by the time they were complete it was time to shut down the system for the winter. Well they too had a wet spring and early summer, which means Craig has been using his system almost as long as I have in Vail.
So Craig and his staff are beginning to work out the details by changing nozzles, adjusting heads and run times. When soils are not used to absorbing moisture and providing a medium for growth they tend to bind up and become hard. Over time, through adjustments to the land, proper drainage or just providing enough moisture these areas will develop into better growing environments.
After one year at Pole Creek, most golfers would never have known such an extensive project occurred on the property last year. Here in Vail I believe we are headed down that same path.

I'm still here

Don't worry all you blog fans, even though the irrigation project is mostly complete I'm still blogging. I have been out of the office for the past few days.
We've got a lot to look forward to such as the use of the new system, prepping for tournament month(September) and fall/winter preparation. Plus there is lots more maintenance for the season.
I am off to Pole Creek near Winter Park for a Superintendents meeting on Tuesday. I can't wait to play that course again. Landscapes Unlimited installed a new irrigation system there last season.

Finishing Details

18 holes are complete with the irrigation renovation. All that remains are punch list items that will be addressed over the next two weeks. Closures for golf are over and 18 will be available for play as of today. You will notice irrigation being installed at the island area behind the 17th green. This area has a greater potential for more outings and events. Irrigation will provide us to maintain the plants to their fullest and incorporate a better stand of grass.

During the next two weeks, Landscapes Unlimited will be checking all of the heads and valves throughout the course to make sure everything is working properly. They will finish removing old heads and satellite boxes. Once the remaining distance markers for the new heads arrive, they will be placed as well.

The Range

The driving range has been neglected over the years due to the lack of irrigation control. The biggest difference that you will notice with the range and the other areas of the course are the dry soil conditions. It's amazing that anything could grow at all out there. It is so clear in this picture how dry it really is.

I welcome the challenge to increase the aesthetic and agronomic value of the driving range.

Re-Visit the Bubble

For those of you new to the Vail Golf Club you may know nothing about the "bubble". This former winter landmark on the driving range was erected each year to house another sheet of ice during the winter months. The remains of the "bubble" exist underground in the middle of the driving range floor. Pictured here is the concrete foundation and an asphalt apron. Most of these areas are covered with a few inches of soil and very weak turf. In order for Landscapes to properly install the piping to the range floor they must hammer through the concrete to the appropriate depth.

To remove these permanent features will be extremely expensive. So as we move forward, we battle with a "feast or famine scenario". Poor drainage in the spring which results in stagnant, anaerobic conditions, followed by dry conditions in the summer due to the previous lack of irrigation and shallow root systems. With the lack of soil we will continue to fight this battle. In the years ahead we look to incorporate some sort of topdressing to alleviate these stresses.