The year is winding down and we are still getting short bursts of warmer than normal temperatures. While I'm perfectly happy not to be dealing with winter just yet, the fluctuation in the weather adds some frustration when trying to keep the course open for play. While the warmer days make for a chance to get out and play, they also cause the surface to thaw, which can cause damage to the roots, so it has to stay closed. I've discussed this numerous times in previous posts but wanted to mention it again with some pictures from last weekend to show what is happening. The forecast is for some warm days over the holiday period so we plan on having the course open whenever it is possible without doing damage.
Standing water on 2 Green. The surface had thawed but the rootzone was frozen appox 1" down so the water sat on top as it had no where to go. Walking on the turf will cause damage to the plants as the roots will be broken at the point of transition between the wet thawed turf and the frozen rootzone. It is not an issue when the entire profile is frozen solid and less of an issue if the turf area is dry.
More examples of standing water on 4 & 5
The maximum depth of core that could be removed before hitting the frozen rootzone
This video shows how firm the frozen layer is. At the end you can also see how wet the surface is under the boot.
The bunkers suffered from the same issue. Here the bunker on 12 had standing water in it. The video below shows that the sand on the very top had thawed but underneath the sand had frozen preventing water getting to the liner & drainage.
We've been busy getting the budgets ready for next year, taking some time off, getting education & credits, mowing fescues and brush and working on extending the chemical room to provide more storage. Once the new year starts we will start some tree work and a few other smaller projects around the course.
I discussed the driving range project last time, however the other big capital project for 2016 was behind the scenes with the building of a new maintenance barn. The existing barn is over a hundred years old and in decent shape for it's age. It was modified before construction to provide a maintenance shop and some storage on the ground floor with more storage upstairs. There was an old barn to the west of the big barn that was in a poor state of repair so it was removed and this area became the topdressing storage bins.
The soil bins built in place of an old barn that was removed.
The recycle washpad attached to the soil bins.
Interior of the chemical and fertilizer storage with the mechanicals for the washpad
There was an alcove to the west end of the barn that was roofed and became the chemical room. With these additions the old barn provided a decent facility for a start up golf course, however due to it's age it needed work to handle the loads that were required of it. Last spring it was decided that a new structure be built to house the equipment. The cost to renovate the old barn to make it suitable to hold the equipment upstairs was very high, so it made financial sense to build a new barn from scratch.
The old equipment storage was very cramped (this is the old downstairs storage)
Upstairs storage was adequate with the original equipment fleet......
but it became cramped and overloaded as the fleet grew
The new barn was designed to house all the equipment. Cody cut out scale footprints of each piece of equipment and placed them in a scale floorplan to work out the best options for storage and how large a facility was needed. The new barn houses all the mowing equipment along one wall, while all the misc equipment is along the other. This makes it easy to access any piece without the need to move another. The center aisle houses all the utility carts with room to spare and also has enough room to park the plow truck which is really nice to come into when it snows! The upper stone parking lot behind the soil bins was also paved as part of the project and provides a nice additional staging area.
Site prep for the new barn
The builders moved fast, this was four days after they started!!
Each piece of equipment had its own dedicated parking spot
The upper parking lot is now paved and provides a nice additional storage area
The maintenance shop remains in the lower level of the old barn and in time it will be renovated to ensure it lasts another hundred years (as the base structure is sound) and to provide much needed storage for the clubhouse on the upper level. This winter the course staff have been working in the downstairs storage area of the new barn that is now vacant. Part of the storage is being walled off which will extend the chemical and fertilizer storage. This will provide more room when the sprayers are parked. By moving the mechanicals for recycling the equipment wash pad water outside to the washpad it will facilitate the installation of the new premix system in the chem room which will speed up and make safer the mixing process.
The new barn is directly behind 15 green. It changed the view a little with the tip of the roof visible and the new fence. There plantings along the fence will restore the view as they mature.
The entire maintenance staff love the new facilities and look forward to the planned renovations in the future. Over the next few months the changes the staff are working on to the old barn will make it flow even better, so equipment can be picked up easily.
As 2016 winds to an ends I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
