Tree Clearing

Tom Talbot and his staff from the Town of Vail have been doing a fabulous job removing dead pine trees on the course. Friday the crew came back to #3 to remove and mulch a dead tree near the tee boxes.

Their help and willingness to comply with the golfers on the course has been fantastic. They never want to upset a golfer or interrupt with their game. When the fire crew is on the course the golfers are notified and the specific area may be altered for the safety. Their work is certainly appreciated.

If the GCM staff were responsible for removing all of these trees over the past 4-5 years we would not be getting much of anything else done around the course. But, we would be really good and taking down trees!

A dash of snow

A dusting of snow by the day's end on the course today. I saw the Vail Mountain School's Nordic Ski team practicing around the golf course with their "dry gear". Most of our fertilizing has been accomplished with only a few holes left.
Much of the work accomplished today by the crew involved cutting back the willow bushes. The tenth hole is done and now we are moving to the first and ninth hole. With cutting them back so much, it is now much easier to find your golf balls. Our goal for willow cutting is to ease future maintenance of these very fast growing plants. In low lying areas willows do very well in poorly drained soils and suck up a lot of the ground water. After being cut so drastically, at first glance it may look as if they are dead. Have no fear, these hardy plants don't skip a beat and when the soil temperatures rise in the spring, you'll see plenty of new growth.