It is that time of year where the ground thaws, grass starts to green up and buds start to pop on the trees. Temperature variations last weekend were insane across New England with some places hitting 80° while we were sitting at 33° with snow flurries and Portland, Maine had 5 inches of snow! The good weather is coming, I'm just not sure when. At least we kind of had a winter this year with a few snow events and rain that turned into ice.
The maintenance team was busy with snow cleanup as well as equipment maintenance. We are wrapping up our service work on all of the equipment as we speak. Everything has been serviced and inspected with a fine toothed comb, detailed and painted. Cutting reels have been rebuilt, blades sharpened, supplies have been refurbished and the shop straightened out. Continuing education classes were a focus for the professional staff allowing for licenses to remain up to date and exposure to some amazing new technologies in the turf field. Our staff lineup will be a little different this season but we have hired some new seasonal help and are excited for them to start in early May, get them trained and productive.There's definitely a lot going on. A new tennis patio is underway by the upper tennis courts. An amphitheater style patio with a sitting wall is taking shape. Natural rock veneer will be utilized with a bluestone cap, accent lighting and some plantings will finish the area off. This will be a nice addition to the area for the summer.
The greens were aerated on March 11th, 12th and 13th. We uncovered the greens, applied a heavy sand topdressing, aerated with 3/4" tines, brushed the holes full, rolled them and covered them back up. I am thankful for an experienced and dedicated staff; we were a well oiled machine. Covers were permanently removed early last week; the greens made it through in pretty good shape, were rolled six times before mowing and making our first poa annua seedhead suppression application last Friday. Tee covers will come off this week followed by a mow and a seedhead and fungicide spray as well. We are looking ahead and aiming to open the greens sometime around the weekend of the Masters if the weather cooperates.
The course has been cleaned up of sticks and debris, the irrigation system has been charged and tested, on course bathrooms are turned on but will remain closed until they are cleaned and some other items addressed. We have changed out some sand and removed an old liner on the 4th hole and will continue to work on course preparations in the coming weeks and months. We will be bouncing back and forth between items on the course and around the clubhouse as the weather changes; the soft wet conditions make it sometimes difficult to get around the course without making a mess and more work. We reworked the parking area by our greens nursery/practice area in an effort to keep people off the grass on the first hole. We also added some cobble edging by the 2nd green and hope to add some more as time allows.
We are also working on the initial stages of a future project to increase our pond storage capacities on holes 1 and 18. A feasibility study is underway looking at the current conditions, environmental conditions, existing soil makeup, sedimentation quantities and dredging or expansion possibilities. The newly approved Enhancement Plan that was developed by our architect Robert McNeil is the blueprint for any modifications. Once the results of the study are in hand we will be able to look forward at the options. Increasing our water storing capabilities is critical to future course management.
The 7th green is slated to begin in August after the Michael Burke Invitational; we have been moving fill material out there all winter in an effort to minimize disruption to membership. The site is difficult to access and material needed to be delivered in small load of 3-4 yards at a time. Lets just say there were hundreds of loads brought over the last few months. We will level out the area and seed it for stability until the time comes to start the project. It is an extremely challenging site with a lot of unknowns under the existing green. We know there is rock, just not exactly where or how much. The architect's goal is to utilize what is there underneath to create as natural a feel as possible. The green will be built in a similar fashion to the 2nd green with a modified USGA sand base over a gravel layer and seeded and plugged with cores from our existing greens. This will give us a surface that will be similar to our other greens and should probably be ready around Memorial Day of 2026.