One Down

 One of the first projects of the season is complete. The 5th tee has a new net and it looks great. The contractors finished up on Friday and now we can pay attention to turfgrass details in the area.

Often people ask me why we use some much plywood during our projects. The picture below is proof of why plywood is so important. Without it, these irrigation heads would have been destroyed. Now that the area is getting more sunlight and water, they will bounce back quickly.

Waking Up The Sleeping Giant

 Well the Boston Bruins have woken up to make it a series in the Stanley Cup. But in relation to the golf course, groundwater has also woken up and is saturating some areas of the course. The main difference between this season and last, was the amount of snow along Vail Mountain. There is a significant amount of snow up top and it is going to take some time to run off.
We are managing areas with sandbags, pumps, digging ditches, and providing temporary bridges for access.
Currently we have the front nine closed but will have 18 open shortly. Cooler weather has moved into the valley and the river has dropped a bit from the other night. The temperatures have dropped recently and it will help with high water.

The 5th tee is nearing completion with the new netting. All of the posts are in the ground and the cables are in place. Thursday we will be removing the rest of the dirt from the posts and place mulch under the netting. The net is en route to Vail and will be installed ASAP. A little more clean up is needed in the area, but we are targeting to have the tee box open Friday.

In Bloom

 Usually by this time of year, most plants are in bloom. This is a good shot of some lilacs, turf and aspen trees in the background near the pumphouse.

May was difficult, with the average high temperature at 53 with an average low at 28 degrees.

We received just over 2.5 inches of moisture with only 6 inches of snow, but the moisture was spread out over many days.

Tuesday we recorded soil temperatures and greens averaged out to 49 degrees. Rooting depth was 4-6 inches which isn't all that bad for poa coming out of dormancy. All disease activity from the winter is now inactive and plants are beginning to bloom. You can see the hillsides filling in with aspen buds. The willows around the course are showing signs of life, as well as the lilacs and dogwoods.

Even at 5 tee things are starting to pop. Today Judge Netting installed two of the seven posts to go into the ground for a new net. These are 12 inch diameter steel poles. This will be a polished enhancement to the old net that was installed in the past. The posts are buried 10 feet deep and will max out at 40 feet in the air. The first two holes we an easy dig, now they are getting into rock, which of course is no surprise. The project should be completed by the end of next week.