June 8, 2009

Hello all. I must apologize as it has been sometime since my last post. Most of you are well aware that I did not have an assistant last season and being as busy as I am in my personal life also, I did not have much opportunity to write many articles. This is my first of the 2009 season, and I hope the first of several I will try to write this year.

For any who missed meeting her at the spring meeting, my assistants name is Candace Moir. I am sure by now all of you have had a chance to see her and several members have made her feel right at home. She comes to us with 12 years experience from the Miskinaw golf club in Fort McMurray. She has her diploma from Olds College, and so far she brings a good level of professionalism to the maintenance department. She is learning at an exponential rate, and so far I can rely on her 100% to complete her required tasks.

So far, the 2009 season has brought about several headaches for me. We have not seen a DROP of moisture since the snow disappeared. The ground and subsoil at the golf course are EXTREMELY dry. I have never experienced such dry conditions at this golf course in the 14 years I have been here. We have absolutely no ground water to start with. No rain coupled with the strong, gusty winds we are becoming known for here in Edmonton have wreaked havoc on the natural moisture levels in the ground. There has been some speculation in the membership that I have not been able to water the course or am not watering as of late. This is not the case. We have been watering since about May 5, and I have been watering at 100% of nightly system capacity for 14 days. This means that for the last two weeks, I have been watering at the same rate as I would if we were going through a period of several days/weeks of 30+ degrees weather. Never in my tenure here have I had to cycle the system in the day to supply somewhat adequate moisture. I had to cycle the greens again in the day on May 3. The weather has been extremely cold this spring which usually means the water requirements are even less than normally needed in the spring. This year this is not the case.

What our members need to be aware of is the fact that we are built on top of a sand pile, laying on top of a gravel pit, on top of a knob. We are literally the highest point above anything North, East and South of here. So we need to take the good with the bad. When it rains heavy, we are one of the first courses in the city to allow power carts within a few hours of the rain stopping. We do not have the drainage problems other courses do, and that works in our favor during periods of heavy rains. Unfortunately the flip side to the coin is that during periods of heavy drought, we tend to suffer a lot more than these courses. Courses like Sandpiper have trouble when it is wet and we don’t. Yet when it is dry, their composition of soil and clay, and their height off the riverbed hold moisture for a long time allowing them to be more sustainable during drought. Natural rain is the best for any growing medium, and I always say that irrigation simply keeps things alive and green. Rain is usually the only thing that washes out the natural chemicals from river water that build up in the soil by using irrigation, and allow the grass to grow vigorously and heal/repair and prosper.

The unusually extreme cold we are still suffering (I had frost on my window this June 6th morning), coupled with the drought, extreme winds and high traffic has resulted in greens that just aren’t as good as they were in the past few springs. The hard reality is that we literally have to wait for a long, slow rain and a few days of heat to spice things up. The greens will continue to improve slowly until then, but still not fast enough for myself and I am sure many of you.

I had intentions on sodding all of the entrances/exits to cart paths, and also move the light switch on # 10. However, with the extreme drought and high winds, I am going to postpone this for a short time as I can’t have a crew member spending every day all day trying to keep sod alive by watering. Some of you may have noticed the red cart water cannon sitting on the hill at 9 tee/1 green. We are finally finished edging and filling traps so I am going to trench a few lines into the middle of the now just-about-dead hills and areas that do not get irrigation. I have to try and salvage what little grass we have left on these areas, and this is hopefully going to help. The drought has forced me to put this as my number one priority. This is the project you will see us completing in the near future.

All in all, I think we are still doing OK at the Crest, and I hope we get a major shot in the arm soon with improved weather.  Until then, we can only do what we can. Sam has imposed a ‘do not spend money’ clause on all departments in the CCT, so we will do the best we can with what we have. I should be meeting with Gord (Nitz) soon, so if anyone is too reluctant to approach me, by all means please pass along any questions to him, and hopefully I will have alleviated any concerns by then. Thank you, and I hope to post again soon in better conditions.

Lonnie