April 1st

The 2015 golf season started 1 year ago today. While that was no April Fools joke, someone or something is definitely playing one on us today. Everything looked great this morning. Even under a cloudy sky I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures. The best was off the forward tee on 9.

9 tee towards 9 green

And a few hours later...

Same day, different view

8 green towards the tee

The hail/snow won't last long even with the cool weather, although it will add to the general wetness of the course. Aside from the weather limiting play, everything is going smoothly on the course. We've mowed greens 3 times since opening on March 22nd and the front 9 fairways were all mowed. There are also a handful of spots in the rough that are growing enough to warrant a mowing once it dries out. The course accessories have gradually been put out, and only the benches remain inside now. The bunkers were also cleaned and raked with special attention given to the front left bunker on 3 green. We stripped all the sand that had been contaminated by pebbles from the drainage lines and replaced it with fresh sand.

We hope to work on a few other projects (including opening the bathrooms on 6 once we are sure there wont be any frozen water lines) but once the grass starts growing in earnest, it will be a full time job to keep up with mowing. Even if we get the two more snowfalls that equipment manager Dave is predicting it won't be long before daily play is a reality. See you on the course!

What's happening? Sticks, mostly.

Between 3 and 4 Fairway

Raking sticks after the winter is always a big job. I am happy to say at this point all that is left is to pick up the piles scattered across the whole course.

Peeling the cover off 14 green

At this point the covers have been off for about a week. It's always fun to see the green color as the cover is taken off.

Shaded back side of 3 green

The covers are all white except for the green colored logo. On the back of 3 it was just that much warmer with the darker color to melt off the frost and leave behind this picture.

Rapid Changes

As is often the case, weather is the star of the show here at Blackhawk. The recent volatility has given me a few interesting pictures

Standing on 7 fairway, looking north towards the pond

This standing water lasted 3-4 days around the 19th of February. Almost all of the snow melted and eventually drained away, leading to the next picture.

Starting the course clean-up

After things had a chance to dry out a little, we were able to go out and start the after winter clean-up. 

Snowed out!

Less than 24 hours later we got hit with this snow, which is still lightly coming down now.

The good news is everything is looking good after the weird winter. The bad news is winter is not quite over yet.

January Shop and Course Update

January at the shop has been business as usual so far. Dave, Omar, Angel and Kevin have been hard at work on the fairway mowers. So far there has only been routine maintenance/repair, which this year included changing all the bearings in the cutting units. There is a lot of equipment left, but it has been going well so far.

We've also started working on course accessories.The benches got a fresh coat of stain, and the ballwashers are shiny and ready to be put together later in the winter. The picture to the right shows nearly finished tee blocks, missing only the Blackhawk logo.

As for the course, it's really too early to know exactly what will happen. With the dramatic swings in temperature and the rain and snow we had some worry about ice. Chad went out to have a look at a few greens, and thankfully there is no ice so far. We will continue to monitor the course, and take any action if necessary.

2015 So Far

The Weather
The year so far has been very good for course conditions here at Blackhawk. Almost without fail it has rained when we needed it but still been dry enough to have excellent playing conditions.


The Course

3/30/15

7/10/15

It's funny to imagine the picture on the left actually looking good at one point, but two days before opening  we thought the range was starting to look great. As with the rest of the course, July looks much better on the range.

The Crew

We ended up with quite a few new faces this year on the seasonal crew. The good news is, everyone has been eager to learn and improve every day. Going forward I can only see conditions improve as everyone is able to focus less on learning and more on the details of every job.

The Projects

Once the course is playing well we are always looking for ways to improve the overall look of the course. Going forward we hope to finish cleaning up all of the plantings on the course. One of the best gardens this year is the bed between 9 tee and 1. If you haven't had a chance to see it, it's much better in person. It smells even better than it looks.

9 Tee Flower Bed

                                                             Another focus so far this year has been the clubhouse. Aside from the new parking lot, we have started some work on improving the flower beds and hope to have some larger changes in the future.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       This year we also have a gentleman on the crew who is familiar with prairies and native plants. In his own words he "knows just enough to be dangerous", and has helped out tremendously with his work on 3,7 and near 8 tee.

The last major project so far has been the work done with the pond. Over the past 25 years grass, mud and leaves have made their way into the rock surrounding the water. It has been providing a perfect spot for weeds to grow and was only getting worse as time went on. The difference between the finished area on the south side and the rest of pond is dramatic. I can't thank the crew enough as the work is hard and messy, but the end product will last for years to come.

The Final Word

As always we hope everyone is enjoying their year here at Blackhawk and look forward to seeing you out on the course.