How 'Bout the Weather?

Whew!  Sitting at my desk in what seems like the first time in two weeks, "whew" seems to appropriately summarize the days since the snow melted.  Without the luxury of seasonal workers, the crew had to go from 0 to 60 in the blink of an eye, and I hope you'll agree that they did a tremendous job of whipping the course into shape and getting all of the on-course amenities in place.  After opening the restroom near 6 tee on Wednesday, the course was basically fully operational.  Normally when we open, the weather is still kind of questionable, but with the lowest high temperature being 73 degrees since opening, that was certainly not the case this year.  The grass is growing like crazy, and we'll be spending much of our time over the coming weeks walking behind or sitting on mowers. This year's course opening of March 14 was the second earliest on record (since 1973) and was only topped by seven days in 2000.

What month is it?  Not only are the daffodils in full bloom, but the magnolia bush between 1 and 9 is already dropping its flowers.

Besides getting the course cleaned up, mowing, and putting out the course equipment (benches, ballwashers, rakes, etc.), we've also gotten our irrigation system primed, and the big intake pipes are in the lake.  Shredded bark has been added to the landscape beds by the clubhouse.  Select stump holes have been ground, cleaned, and reseeded.   Chad has also spent a significant amount of time seeding areas of the rough that thinned out during last summer's hot, dry weather, and we're cautiously optimistic that the seeding will have a reasonable amount of success.  Since most of the affected areas are heavily-shaded, it's difficult to establish seed due to tree competition for moisture and light.  However, with the warm soil temperatures, good soil moisture, and trees that haven't leafed out, conditions are about as good as they can be for germination to take place.  We're crossing our fingers.

Now that you've hopefully been able to enjoy the weather with a round of golf, you should have seen that the course did indeed fair well over this abnormal winter.  There is a very small amount of winterkill on the back half of 3 green, but it is already recovering very nicely with an assist from Mother Nature.

While it looks as if 80-degree days are going to be disappearing for the meantime, the weather is still forecasted to be more than reasonable for this time of year, and we hope that you'll continue to enjoy this bonus golf.  Although we've finally caught our collective breaths from the chaos of opening, the crew will still be more than busy going forward.  

  

It's Opening...

 ... on Wednesday!!!  I hope that you're as excited as we are about the course opening in two short days.  As was detailed in an email sent out by the club, there will be no restrictions on tee times (mens and ladies days).  Right now, we're not 100% percent sure on the availability of golf carts, and we'll have a better idea as the course dries out tomorrow.  Everything was pretty wet today, but that can change quickly.  Since the back 9 generally slopes towards the north and away from the sun's shallow southern angle, it tends to remain soggier, and there's a chance that carts might be allowed on the front 9 but not on the back 9.

We took the covers off of 11 and 17 greens on Friday, and they look great.  Today, the ropes and snow fences were removed from the perimeters of the greens and tees, and some time was spent resuming the stick and debris pickup that started last week.  Possibly due to the lack of snow, there isn't a tremendous amount of tree material on the ground, but we still have a enough raking to do.  Over the next two days, we'll put out the course equipment, cut new cups, fix the bunkers, get the lift running, and mow the greens (among other jobs).  All in all, the course came out of winter in great shape.

However, some areas in the rough that took a beating last year look a little rough, pun intended.  Due to the hot, dry summer and limited irrigation capabilities, some areas that are heavily shaded, trafficked, or both suffered.  Many of these areas have Poa annua seeds in the soil that will germinate once the soil warms, and we will also be interseeding more desirable, shade-tolerant grasses.  Until the worst of these areas improve, they may be roped off to allow for seedling success and recovery.  Namely, the rough between 3 and 4, by 12 tee, and between 14 and 15 may need a little babying.

We hope that you're able to enjoy the record warmth that is forecasted over the next week with a round or two at Blackhawk.  See you on the course!

Melting Update and a Farewell

Spring appears to be springing earlier than normal this year, and with a high temperature of 65 degrees yesterday, the course quickly went from being covered in four inches of snow to mostly snow-free over the course of our eight-hour workday.  The long range forecast calls for a brief cool down tomorrow and Friday before a sustained warming trend next week.  As of yesterday afternoon, frost could still be found 2.5 inches below the surface of the greens, and the below picture shows just that...

Inevitably, you're probably wondering when the course will be opening.  Unfortunately, at this point, it's hard to say.  Prior to opening, we like to see the following:  no snow, no frost, actively growing turf, and a favorable long-term forecast.  Thus, with minimal snow and frost and a good 10-day forecast, it looks as if it'll be sooner rather than later.

Two green (in the foreground) was nearly clear as of yesterday, and eleven green (in the background) is still covered in not snow but a white, impermeable plastic cover.  The covers on 11 and 17 will likely be coming off shortly.

As of right now, our best guess is that the course will have little to no winter damage, which is fantastic news.  In previous posts, some concern was expressed for the third green, which was still 100% snow covered as of yesterday afternoon.  However, two weeks ago, we pulled two plugs from this green, and they sprung to life very nicely.  Our ice concerns have basically passed, but until it really warms up, damage from crown hydration and snow mold are still possibilities.

In other, unrelated news, we will be saying farewell to a member of our crew, Jake Rath, this Friday.  Jake interned for us during the 2010 and 2011 golf seasons while finishing his Golf Enterprise Management degree at UW-Stout, and he was converted to a full-time employee this past fall.  Last week, he was hired as the assistant superintendent at Bishops Bay, and although we'll be sad to see him go, we're proud to see him advance his career.

Earlier this winter, we were also thrilled to learn that our other intern in '10 and '11, Cody Semingson, was hired as the superintendent at The Valley Golf Course in Mondovi, WI.  Cody grew up near The Valley and is looking forward to the challenge.

In a very competitive job market, it's very rewarding to see former Blackhawk interns, Jake (left) and Cody (right), progress in the industry. 

 

Treasure Hunt: New & Old

My wife has been busy studying for her nursing boards lately and with no kids, that's meant that I've had more time to kill than normal.  Yesterday, when Google-ing images of Blackhawk, I ran across two aerial pictures of the course that were taken in fall of 2011.  One picture is taken from the south and one is from the north.  They're great images that can be seen (and purchased if you so desire) from the following link:

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/bill-lang.html?tab=artworkgalleries&artworkgalleryid=120041

So, that's the "new" part of the treasure hunt.

Here's the old...  I've always been curious about the work that A.W. Tillinghast did on the course, and to the best of my and Chad's collective knowledge, no formal plan exists of the plans and recommendations that he made for the club.  But, I'm going to look more into that.  However, I did run across two very cool letters that Mr. Tillinghast penned during his extensive travels of the U.S, on behalf of the PGA.  These letters explain some (maybe all?) of the work that he suggested at Blackhawk.  I hope that you enjoy reading them as much as I did.

The first is from May 6, 1936:
http://www.tillinghast.net/Tillinghast/PGA_Letters_JAN-JUNE_36_files/Media/Madison%205-6-36/Madison%205-6-36.jpg?disposition=download

The second is from October 23, 1936:
http://www.tillinghast.net/Tillinghast/PGA_Letters_j-dec36.html#82

Three Green Snow Removal

Today, the decision was made to clear the accumulated snow from three green.  I'm probably beginning to sound like a broken record, but the arborvitaes and University Avenue bridge create an excellent microclimate for snow and ice accumulation.


 The above picture was taken prior to removing the snow, and the reason that we removed the snow was to facilitate the melting of the ice that had formed beneath it.  The ice was thickest on the front half of the green.  The sun had melted some of the snow on the front, but it reformed into ice during the cool nights.  Earlier this winter, we removed snow and ice on the back half of the green, but it wasn't as thick there this time.  The warm temperatures that we had today put a tremendous dent in the ice, and grass was already poking through the ice as of this afternoon (see the picture below).

Some of you may be wondering what effect this warm winter has on the golf course.  The short answer is that it's too soon to tell, but with the exception of three green, we aren't too concerned about winterkill.  However, that can quickly change if the Poa were to "wake up" (which is does much more easily than creeping bentgrass), take in water, and suddenly freeze.  This can result in crown hydration, which is something that has been discussed in length previously.  Otherwise, our main concern is degradation of the snow mold fungicides, and we'll be keeping a close eye out for any snow mold as the winter progresses into spring.  Currently, very little is present, even in the roughs, but pink snow mold doesn't necessarily need snow to form; it just needs cool, wet conditions.  To be sure, we're keeping our fingers crossed for a turf-friendly finish to winter.