The Never-ending Season

With tomorrow's reopening of the golf course, Blackhawk will officially have been open for 10 out of 12 months in 2012.  Who needs to go to Florida or Arizona to enjoy golf in December anymore?  According to a recent article in the newspaper, Madison is on track for the warmest year in recorded history, and given the extended forecast, things will have to change drastically in the last three weeks of the year for this to not happen.  Although not yet having the covers on 3, 11, and 17 greens makes us a little nervous because of how quickly Wisconsin's weather can change, the warm weather has allowed us to comfortably tackle some outdoor tasks. 

Yesterday,  Chad, Omar, and I finished going through the inner workings of the green and tee sprinklers.  The guts of each of the 147 sprinklers were removed, cleaned in the shop, inspected for worn parts, and reassembled.  Although it is a relatively time-consuming process, it keeps the sprinklers in good working order and greatly reduces the odds of a "stuck" head flooding an area come next year.

Last weekend, I received an unexpected Thanksgiving surprise while checking the hillside lift that transports golfers from the 9th green to the clubhouse.  One of the emergency brakes apparently deployed late in the previous afternoon, and rather than stopping the lift, it snapped off due to an undetectable, deteriorated weld.  While it will be an inconvenience for the remainder of the season, the fact that it broke now is much better than breaking at the start of the next season.  Thus, the lift has been closed for the season for this and other repairs.

The asphalt pavers were here this week to lay down the gravel base for the cart path by 18 green, and it is now passable.  We found out that the previous path was over 40 years old and was essentially laid directly on the native soil; this explains why the paver broke through the path in its initial attempt to overlay the existing asphalt.  The path will be finished as soon as possible next spring.

Work in the shop continues to progress nicely, and the majority of our heavily-used vehicles have been washed and serviced and are ready to go for next year.  In the weeks to come, Dave will turn his attention towards the many mowers that have to be cleaned, sharpened, and given an annual check-up.   We have also started refurbishing and staining/painting the many on-course accessories (ballwashers, divot boxes, tee blocks, etc.) that take a beating throughout the golf season.

Although I've probably said this three times this year, we hope that you're able to enjoy the course for what might be the last playable stretch of weather.     

Hollow Surprise

Over the past two days, the crew from Wolfe Tree Service has been removing three trees from the left side of 18 green complex, near the cart path.  These trees were slated for removal due to the declining health of a linden and a silver maple and because of a lightning strike that severely damaged another linden.  As you can see from the picture below, we found quite the surprise when the non-lightning damaged linden was cut down.

With the exception of few inches of wood on the outer part of the tree, the inside of the main trunk was completely hollow from the base to 40' high.  How this tree didn't topple over is rather amazing, and we're certainly glad that it was removed before anyone or anything could be hurt by its inevitable collapse.  Besides eliminating safety risks, these trees also contributed to the significant amount of winter shade that is cast on the 18th green.  Tomorrow, we will be taking down a silver maple between holes three and four that has developed a great deal of rot and subsequent shelf fungi over the past two years.

Last week, we winterized the irrigation system and removed the plastic intake pipes that extended into Lake Mendota.  To remove water from the belowground pipes, a large air compressor was hooked into the irrigation system near the pumphouse, and the air pressure was used to force the remaining water out of the sprinklers as we turned them on.  On Thursday, the very heavy, cast-iron pipes that connect the pumphouse to the already-removed plastic intake pipes will be removed from the lake with the assistance of a boat lift barge.

The wind from this past weekend knocked many of the remaining leaves from the trees, and we will start cleaning them up tomorrow.  Depending on the weather forecast, we may begin applying our snow mold plant protectants on Friday, but since these products have to protect the greens, tees, and fairways throughout the entire winter, we try to time their application to as close to the onset of winter as is reasonably possible.

Otherwise, the cold days have allowed equipment work in the shop to begin picking up, and our fleet of Columbia utility vehicles are first on the docket for cleaning and servicing.  Between now and spring, there will be plenty of work, both inside and out, to keep our crew of six busy.

Early Fall

Despite an exceptionally long golf season, it seems hard to believe that it's already November.  The days are getting noticeably shorter, and the weather has certainly been very fall-like this week.  The trees have lost their leaves earlier than normal, and one has to suspect that the drought played a role in their expedited fall.  There are still a few oaks, shagbark hickories, and silver maples that aren't quite leafless, but they are definitely the exceptions.  Last week, we blew quite the pile of leaves to the road along hole 15, and tomorrow, these will be removed with the greatly-appreciated assistance of Shorewood Hills.

A snapshot of the leaf berm along 15.

Aside from a little bit of mowing and leaf cleanup, the frosty mornings have allowed us to get caught up on work around the shop, and we have also begun pulling soil samples from the course.  Every five years, soil is collected from each green, tee, and fairway for nutrient analysis.  Ten samples that measure 3/4" diameter by 4" long are randomly collected from each of these areas, mixed together, and placed in sampling bags that are provided by the UW-Madison Soil and Plant Analysis Lab.  The lab will then test the samples for pH, percent organic matter, phosphorus, and potassium.  We can then use the results to make any necessary adjustments to our fertility and overall management plans.

Chris pulling a sample from 13 tee.

Moving forward, we will likely be winterizing the irrigation system and applying snow mold fungicides over the next two weeks.  Course supplies will slowly migrate from the course into the shop, and the perennial beds will be pruned.  With consistently cold nights, mowings are few and far between, but sunny afternoons are still great for getting in a round.