As of this morning the entire back 9 irrigation has been installed and is operational. We are currently running two systems, the old one and the new one are interconnected on the main lines to allow us to have the ability to water as needed and its all controlled from 2 computers at the maintenance facility. Once every hole has been installed this connection will be removed and the old system "uninstalled". I would expect installation to continue for another 3-4 weeks if weather is optimal and days are as productive as possible. All that is left are holes 3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9. The biggest thing that will slow them down will be rainy days like yesterday and rock; we've been very fortunate since September with the weather. Once done they will remove any old controllers, sprinklers, valve boxes and quick coupling valves. This should take a couple of weeks as well. I'm looking forward to them wrapping up and getting around behind them to clean up any areas of wear and tear and all of the material storage areas!
The 2nd hole project still has some planting to do. The detention area was seeded with a native plant seed mix and a monarch wildflower mix just yesterday. Potted plant material will be added toward the end of May when plant material becomes available from the nurseries. Its hard to keep perspective with things greening up and having that short lived warmup early last month but its only the the first couple days of May here on Cape Ann. We will be out aerating the bentgrass sod that was utilized for the collar and approach to remove the organic layer that remains from the farm and replace it with sand over the next few months. This will help firm the playing area and allow water to perk through the thatch. The weather has been less than desirable for seed germination with daily averages staying in the 40s; we will need to see this in the upper 60s and nearing 70° for optimal bentgrass germination. We planted creeping bentgrass seed on the 2nd green a few weeks ago with some plugs from other greens to get a mottled look once it is completely grown in. The cover will remain on to try and create any warmth from the sun even on days that are only in the 40s and 50s- watering with 50° water will moderate most temperatures... you may see the cover off for mowing and fertilizer applications... I am working on staying patient! The hole is starting to set up and if you've seen it from a distance, keep in mind that perspective is everything regarding the green and what the surface looks like; its completely different based on where you're standing. Believe it or not the bottom photo was after the first mowing about two weeks ago and the top photo is yesterday. This is a classic example of the old adage, "good from far but far from good". We will continue to hit the green with sand which will encourage filling in but this won't happen until things REALLY warm up- probably toward the end of May and early June.
As for the rest of the course, there is plenty of regular spring wear and tear that needs to be tended to. Couple the projects with the remnants of last season's drought and you get a recipe for some less than perfect areas. We will be working on roughing up, seeding and fertilizing many of these areas in the coming weeks as time permits. Most of these areas are in the roughs but some are on fairway edges where we had poor or no irrigation coverage in the past. Many path edges are also beat up from the numerous tractors that have been moving around the course on our paths that are narrower than the wheel bases. Please try to keep your cart with all 4 tires on the paths when driving around as much as possible.
In the meantime, come out and enjoy the course as it continues to improve over the coming weeks.
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