April 1, 2021 Update

As I sit and write this, all we have left on the railroad tie removal project is sod work on holes 14 – 17. We plan on getting the sod next week to finish everything. Along with that we performed our spring green organic removal (aerification) procedure. Today we will finish up the tee aerification. As you can see it has been a busy month for the staff and with the lack of rainfall and oncoming drought conditions (we will discuss in next blog in more detail), we are moving into full summer mode already in April.

The second phase of our cart path replacement project started yesterday. The areas being done this time are behind #5 green, past #6 tee, two areas on #7, #8 tee area, #10 tee area, left of #13 green, past #15 tee, and one area on #18 cart path. Please follow any signage or rope to avoid these areas while the work is being done.

In July, we will begin the 3rd phase, which will include repairing the #7 bridge and 2500 square feet of cart path replacement.

After we finish the sod work next week, we will put a team together to start going through the bunkers to check depths and replace or more likely remove sand to improve playability with our current sand. This will be our best option until we have a plan to renovate bunkers and install a more playable sand. Along with that you will start to see more staff hand watering due to the drought situation we are currently in.

One thing we will ask of you is to keep the golf cars (all four wheels) on the path around greens and tees where the railroad tie curbs used to be. As I indicated earlier, the next blog will be a detailed conversation about the drought condition path that Northern California is heading towards. Hopefully, we will get some April showers to alleviate this, but it does not look promising as of now.

Yours in turf,

Stacy L. Wallace, Golf Course Superintendent