Welcoming in March

Another snow event

Not much can be said about February other then it was a very cold and snowy month. On average, I would say we have 38 inches of snow cover on the golf course with much higher amounts in drifts. The last storm that started early on Monday, February 23 could have been worse as far as snow amounts and wind. This storm combined with snow on Friday, Feb. 20 and Feb. 21 added an additional 16 inches to the golf course. This additional snow pretty much ended any chances of having a March opening of the golf course.

As we move into March, the sun will get stronger every day and we pick up an hour of daylight with daylight savings time on March 8th. We are also watching the potential for a pretty significant warm up starting on March 8th and the possibility to put a big dent in the snow pack.

Membership has asked about the impact on the large amount of snow pack on the agronomy team. While we can't predict the future, it will most likely cause for a very busy spring season. Everything will be condensed into a tighter window as we make crucial fertility and chemical applications, complete cultural practices, and wrap up projects. Work like chipping our winter brush work, stump grinding, sodding projects, and general cleanup usually starts around mid March. This certainly won't be happening this year.

The agronomy hopes to be able to do a little tree work in March. If work would take place we would be looking at work to the 12th hole, 2nd hole, and 10th hole.

On the 12th hole, the ICC greens committee, assistant Michael Curtin, and I have been discussing bringing this hole back to more of it's original design. Some of the restoration work revolves around tree work. Currently, trees impede a second shot onto the green from the fairway. The plan is to remove three oak trees just to the right of the righthand bunker and the two large pines on the left just before the lefthand bunker. This will open up the second shot into the green and also allow the agronomy team to use the right portion of the green for pin placements. The trees to the left and right of the bunkers were not in the original course design. Also, all of these trees would also need to be removed before any greenside bunker renovation work could take place in the future.

Two additional oaks are planned to be removed on 12 in the area where carts exit the fairway. This will provide a wider area for carts to exit. This work will give the agronomy team the ability to fix a worn area of rough where cart traffic gets concentrated. This portion of the tree work on 12 is part of our rough improvement plan we have for the property.

On the 2nd hole, we plan to remove the dead tree hanging over the forward tee that is on the edge of homeowner property. Along with this we will be removing three trees from the left of the hole and pruning one remaining tree by the green. Removal of the three trees will allow the agronomy team to better establish rough between the cart path and fairway just before you get to cart parking for the green. This project is also part of our rough improvement plan we have for the property.

For agronomy and safety purposes we also plan to remove a tree on the left edge of the 10th fairway. This tree overhangs the fairway and has a large hollow cavity at the base. If it were to come down it would cause significant damage to the fairway and possibly damage the irrigation system. This tree also robs the fairway of water and nutrients and numerous labor hours are spent each season keeping a section of fairway alive that this tree severely impacts.

If tree work does take place, the blog will be updated showing the work.

Obviously, at this time we can't even give a ball park on when we might be open. Turf, especially greens went through a lot of fluctuations and periods of severe ice in December and early January. Since then they have been snow covered. Once we can access the health of the golf course and any impacts winter had, we will be doing everything possible to get open as soon as the turf is ready.