Time for Irrigation

With an above average April for rain, I finally turned the irrigation on last week.  In 2012, it was done at the end of March.

 

 

Before we can start turning on sprinklers, there are a few things to be done first.  The intake pipe was attached several weeks ago.  Several gauges and tubes were then reattached in the pump house.  The intake pipe must be primed.  This involves using a small sump pump to fill the intake line.  We then turn on the jockey pump and slowly fill the miles of pipe.  Jose runs around with quick coupler keys and lets air out of the lines as they fill with water.  When the pipes are full and pressurized, I can start checking each heads.  This process takes several hours.

 

This year went great.  No broken heads or pipes.  This means we had a successful blow out.  If we don't get all the water out, broken pipes will result.  We had a few heads stick on.  Jose usually flushes out valves and they are ready to go.

New flower bed at # 8 tee.

 

Our old red and blue flags were replace with donations by a couple of members.  We also got new flag sticks for the front nine.  With a limited budget, these donations have helped immensely.

Killdeer Nest on Cart Path

.

 

If you look closely, there are 2 Killdeer eggs on the cart path on #13.  Killdeer are small birds that tend to live on the edge of ponds and will make a lot of noise as you approach.  I put a cone in front.  They should hatch soon.

 

 

#4 fairway. It's finally drying out enough to get back to regular mowing.  This week we plan on finishing bunker work and turning on the irrigation.  We also need to catch up on rough mowing.

Carts on Monday

Monday should be dry enough for cart traffic.  On Sunday, Jose and I mowed the greens for the first time since last Monday.  We plan on mowing tees, fairways and greens again on Monday.  As I also would like to spray greens.  I would like this accomplished because rain is expected again on Tuesday.  We will wait on bunker work until after the rain.  With a small crew, we can't waste effort on something the will be ruined with rain.  There is still much clean-up to be done.  The rough is starting to get long and dandelions will flower soon.  On Wednesday and Thursday, I picked a couple of good days to be away from the course.  I needed to recertify my pesticide license.

 

 

View from the shop on Thursday

 

#16 on Friday.  It's playable today.

Greens Mowing Set For Thursday

 

Saturday, we had a special guest.

 

I mowed a couple of greens today to check the quality of cut. As you can see, there is green under the brown tips.  We will mow all greens on Thursday.  Bunkers were started and will be finished on Thursday.  Bunker rakes are set out as they finish.

Lets Play Golf

 

Jose blew off the greens today.
 

 

Juan followed by rolling the greens.

 

Alex changed cups for the first time this season.

 

A few course accessories were put out.  It will take a week or two to get all ball washers, benches, garbage cans, tee markers, hazard stakes and bunker rakes out.  It looks like we can let carts out tomorrow and for the weekend.  Next week looks like cold again.  Be careful out there as we still have some soft wet spots.  If we don't get rain, we'll start mowing next week.  Everything should green up with warmth and some rain.

Flood Relief

Last week on Tuesday we received about 9 inches of snow.  Over the weekend, we added a little more than an inch of rain.  An inch of rain in July, no problem.  In mid March when the ground is frozen, we flood.  Jose and I had the pumps running for about 7 hours each day to get ride of the water.  In July, this would have soaked in.  Since we had cool temps, the turf should be fine.

 

Monday

 

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

 

RIP Dad

RIP dad.  My father, Dennis Augdahl passed away yesterday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.  You will be missed.  I was able to see him several times the last couple of months.

 

 

My dad and daughter a couple of years ago.

 

 

I don't think we'll match the March 8th opening we had last year.  About 9 inches fell yesterday.  With warmer temperatures expected by the weekend, it should melt quickly.  I made my first order for chemicals and fertilizers today.  We'll be teeing it up soon.