Winter Melt Version 3.0

An inch of rain over the weekend has once again created some impressive ponds on the low areas of the course.  Dave, the mechanic of 40 years, commented this morning that he has never seen so much water on holes 6 and 7.  This is the third significant rainfall event this winter, and despite all of the rain, the course is still snow covered.  From Friday to today, the snow depth on 6 green went from 13" to 8", and the forecast isn't calling for melting temperatures until Friday.  Below are some pictures of the course from this morning.  Enjoy (?).

The pond by 6 and 7 (above and below) is bigger than it was in February, and it was the biggest that we had ever seen in February.  The forward tee on 6 is nearly an island tee, and you would have a 200 yard carry to reach the fairway as it is now.

This babbling brook connects the (wanted) pond on 5 to the (unwanted) pond shown above.

The water by 3 green and 4 tee didn't fit in one picture (above and below).

Alright spring, we're ready for your arrival.

Old Tractor, New Home

Yesterday, the oldest piece of equipment that we own went to a new home and got another lease on life.  Back in the day, the 1958 Toro General was used for everything from pulling gang mowers to cutting cups, but for the past 25 years, it has been sitting idle in our shop.  Although it was taking up storage space, it was just too cool to send to the scrap heap, and we were always hopeful that it would end up in the hands of someone who would refurbish it.  Well, that's exactly what happened.

At the Wisconsin Golf Course Superintendents Association's Spring Business Meeting, Chad was talking to Michael Lee, and somehow, the old General was brought up.  Michael, who is the manager of golf course maintenance for the Kohler Company, grew up near Blackhawk and worked on the crew for 5 years.  He actually used the General when he worked here, and to make a long story short, his nostalgia has gotten General a new home.

Chris Zugel (superintendent) and Joe Sell (assistant superintendent) from Whistling Straits picked up the tractor, and Joe is already working on getting it started.  Eventually, I suspect that it will look and run like new, and they have every intention of actually putting it to use.  Who knows, maybe it will even make an appearance on TV when the Straits course hosts the 2015 PGA Championship.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday:

Our 1958 Toro General was loaded up (above) for the trip to Kohler, where its accommodations look significantly more comfortable than they were here (below).

March Madness

What a difference a year makes.  Last year on this date, we were only two days away from a high temperature of 65 degrees and ten days from opening the course.  Now, we are awaiting another winter storm that is forecasted to dump 6-10" of snow on top of the 7" that we received last week.  Although we are ready to get to work on the course, we are hoping that this is a sign that 2013 will be a little less extreme than 2012.  Normally, the course opens in the first week of April, and since 1973, the opening dates have ranged from March 7 (2000) to April 22 (1993).  In the meantime, work continues inside and out.

Last week's snow made it a little more difficult than normal, but we were able to get around the course well enough to remove four trees: a dead maple between 1 & 10, an ash tree between 2 & 11, a silver maple right of 11 that had split 3 years ago, and a declining beech tree at the beginning right of 12 fairway.  What resulted from this tree removal was a large pile of wood...

If you drove down Lake Mendota Drive, you may have also noticed that the village removed three ash trees that were adjacent to the course.  Municipalities all over southern Wisconsin are implementing plans to deal with the emerald ash borer, and we have been bracing for its arrival for many years.  Currently, we only have 47 susceptible ash trees on the course (64 have been cut down), and the vast majority of the remaining ashes have an insignificant effect on how the course plays or are small, easily-removed trees.

Otherwise, we have filled out our staff for the coming year, and there will be a few more new faces than normal.  Two of the four new employees are college students with prior landscaping experience and one is a high school senior who will be enrolling in the Golf Enterprise Management Program at UW-Stout.  It is always nice to be able to hire seasonal employees with prior applicable experience and/or interest in the profession.

Stay safe in tomorrow's storm, and cross your fingers (and toes) that this is the last major snow event of the winter.   

Strange Sights

The rollercoaster weather pattern has continued this week, and after reaching a high of 45 degrees two days ago, the windchill dipped to -8 degrees last night.  The precipitation throughout the winter has been above normal and that's a good thing when considering the vast amount of soil moisture that was depleted during the 2012 drought.  The days are getting noticably longer, and I, for one, am getting antsy for the arrival of spring.  Last year at this time, temperatures were already consistently in the 40s, and the course was unknowingly three weeks away from opening.  That doesn't look to be the case this year, but you just never know.

The standing water that was pictured in the previous post allowed for an unusual sight...someone ice skating on the 7th fairway.  A picture of this gentleman skating on the course was also featured on the local news.

No offense to him, but we hope that this individual doesn't have the opportunity to ice skate on the 7th fairway in years to come.

Due to the relatively deep pond that had formed in front of 3 green, we also dusted off the trash pump in an effort to remove the free water from this area.  The drain tiles that we installed in this area were still thawed out, and by sticking the pump intake into the catch basin, we were able to move most of the water to the rough area between 4 tee and 4 fairway.

Unfortunately, there was nowhere to move the water that settled on the beginning of 7 fairway, and we have already ordered bentgrass seed in the event that this area doesn't survive the winter (although it still may).

In other news, Chad and I have been busy interviewing candidates to fill our summer crew.  Four employees from last year have graduated college and moved on and that means that we have a few more openings than normal.  But, we've had a lot of people apply and are confident that we will have another great group of employees this summer.

Dave, Omar, Angel, and Chris have nearly completed the maintenance on the many mowers that are needed to groom the course, and they will soon be moving on miscellaneous pieces of equipment that also need attention.  If time/weather allows, we are hoping to tackle a few minor shop projects before the course opens for the year.

An Icy Situation

When 0.6" of rain falls on a foot of snow that's covering frozen ground, you get this...

The pond on hole 5 is so full that it's nearly touching the green.  Water ran from the valley below 2 and 11 tees, across the cart path, and into the pond.

Hole 7 now has a winding, frozen river down much of the fairway.

The water from 5 pond ran across the range towards holes 6 and 7 to form a very large water feature.

The newly-formed pond in front of 6 tee is quite impressive (above and below).

Since my last post, the unwanted pond in front of the third green is now nearly up to the green's edge and is probably three-feet deep.

As you can see, we're not dealing with an ideal situation and even the rough has ice under the remaining snow.  You'd be hard-pressed to find an area without ice accumulation, and as has been discussed in prior posts, turf and ice don't always get along.  The good news is that the ice has formed late enough in the season that we aren't yet worried about it dying due to suffocation/anoxia.  With Poa annua, we start to worry about anoxia after 45 continuous days of ice cover, and at this point in the season, this is unlikely (but certainly possible).  Thus, as long as the turf didn't suffer crown hydration injury (which is instantaneous death), we are optimistic about the health of our greens to this point.  And, although crown hydration may have occurred, we don't think that is has to this point.

The previously-pictured areas of deep standing/frozen water do concern us.  We suspect that these areas will suffer damage, but it's impossible to say to what extent they will be injured.  Although the ponds that formed are the largest that we've ever seen on the course, the sloping topography of the course limited the amount of areas that collected this runoff water.

At this point, there is nothing that we can do to alleviate the situation, but if the ice cover remains on the greens for the 45-day threshold, we will considering removing it.  While the situation may look and sound ominous, we are holding out hope and are at least grateful that this didn't happen in early January.