Opening Day!

No. 16 Tee View

The wait is finally over! The golf course is open and ready for play. Due to the late spring melt coupled by a few heavy rain storms that we received in the last couple of weeks, only the back 9 will be open for play. The front nine will be open next Friday May 16th in time for the the long weekend.

The greens department has been very busy these last few weeks. The back 9 has now received a pretty good raking and we are starting to cross over to the wetter front 9. The silt has been cleaned out of the back 9 bunkers, they have been pushed up, sand has been added and then they were given a proper final rake. The rough around greens is slowly thickening up and was mowed yesterday afternoon. The fairways look great and were finally mowed this week for the first time allowing them to dry up a bit after last week's heavy rain.  The tees, collars and approaches have been mowed multiple times and are looking good also.

As mentioned in our previous blog post, the greens over wintered very well. It is a slow process to get the greens up to there ideal playing conditions with the unseasonably cool weather. With some warmer soil temperatures to encourage growth, we will slowly lower the heights of cut. Along with the lowering of the heights of cut, numerous applications of sand and other cultural practices will be done to not only improve the health of the turf, but to provide a consistent and enjoyable putting surface.  We ask for your patience through this process.

There are a few isolated small areas on greens surfaces that were repaired last fall that did not root very well with the early frost we had. These areas are scheduled to be repaired next week. If your ball happens to land and rest on one of these areas, we ask that you treat it as 'ground under repair'.

Driving Range is drying up

The driving range is looking good so far this spring.  Ninety-five percent of the surface water has drained down and it's looking pretty dry.  We hope to have it fully open by the long weekend if the rainy weather holds.

The springs from the upstream hills bordering the property are still running.  Many areas on the course remain really wet until the surface water stops flowing and the levels in the ditches are lowered.   Some areas on the course have been roped off, but some remain unmarked. We ask that you use caution while driving the golf carts around the course to avoid these areas.

Last fall, Hydro One did a large project behind number 1 tee in the ditch and up through the main entrance. The drill that they used to pull the electrical wires underground accidentally hit our irrigation line feeding our driving range and the tennis area. The pipe that is needed for the repair has been dropped off on the side of the road between number 2 and number 8. It will be welded together and then be transported over to the repair site ready for next Tuesday's repair.

The weather today has a chance of rain in the forecast with warm temperatures. It might not be a bad idea to throw that rain jacket in the golf bag just to be safe!

Having said all of that, we would like to wish all the mothers of the club a happy Mothers' Day and enjoy the opening of the golf course!