Some late winter photos.

We have finally melted and rained our way out from the late winter snow and ice.....again.  I took a stroll around the course yesterday with camera in hand.  Overall, I was pleasantly supprised by how well the course had drained and withstood the late winter blast. 

Unfortunately, April 1st is looking to be a more likely opening date than the March openings of the last two seasons.  There is limited if any growth and green up at this point, with some localized exceptions.  The greens and fairways are still quite soft, and with the coming rains, will be some time before we can put vehicle traffic on the course.



Sandy bunker banks green-up slowly.

Above, you can see how the rough around the greens isn't really greening up too much just yet.  To the left you can see how the bunker faces are slower to green up.  This is mostly due to the buildup of sand over the years and years of steady play.  Things are just starting to wake up, but the ground is still quite soft, and likely to become softer if the predicted rains hit us.  We are chomping at the bit to get out, as we still have yet to be able to access the tree mess from the ice storm. 


There are some areas, mostly low-lying wetter areas that are starting to green up.  #18 fairway, the bottom of #1 fairway, and #3 fairway are showing preliminary signs of life.  Unfortunately, with the wetness, they also acquired a smidgeon of late-season snow mold.  You may see it when we open, but if temperatures rise, we should grow through it in no time later this spring.


Our friend Mr. Snow Mold.

 With the recent high-water events, we did finally see a little damage.  Not much to worry about, but the creek did get a little over #2 tee bank once again.  It wouldn't feel like a normal spring if we didn't have some sort of repair to this area!  As you can see, the sod we placed last year post-flood just wasn't quite rooted well enough to withstand the minor flooding.  There was a little sediment dropped to the left of the path and behind #1 green.


Sediment from the flooding behind #1 green.



Sod damage by # 2 tee.





Despite this mess, we have dealt with far worse conditions in the spring.  Let's hope that we can avoid any massive spring rains, and have a normal, on-time opening in early April.  I know you all are as anxious to get out there as we are.