Happy March to everyone! With the bright sunshine and warmer temperatures we have experienced in the last week, the greener sights of turf have brought the beginning to the golf season much closer. Over the last few days, all of the 15" of snow cover disappeared and 5.25" of rain fell on top of it. That created almost 7 inches of water that had no where to go given our partially frozen soils in the area, thus creating many of the flooding problems experienced here in Elkhart County. All 4 of the ponds on course over spilled their banks into their respective fairway. The course had 3 main areas of flooding that took about a week to subside, pictured below. Also, the rain garden overflowed attempting to handle all the runoff from the east side of the course, creating a temporary stream from our maintenance facility that flowed all across the course into 3 pond! The soils in these areas are still quite moist.
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| Snow melt/rain from rain garden |
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| The valley on #8 2/22/18 |
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| 12 fairway, 2/22/18 |
Many of you ask each year when the golf course will be available for play, and I thought I would discuss the two main variables that go into answering that question.
- The ground must be completely thawed out. This is for two reasons. One, there is no path for melting snow to drain down if the ground is frozen. The water either stands on the surface (or percolates down really slow) or runs off of slopes to any low area. Two, excess machine and foot traffic on frozen ground can lead to root shearing on turf plants, which leads to poor turf quality and a longer window for the turf to green up. Currently there is not any frost in the ground, which is a good thing for the beginning of the season and our course clean up efforts.
- The soils are mostly to completely dry and firmed up. This is self explanatory. Wet soils lead to damage from machine traffic and compaction. Playing surfaces also need a period of time to allow proper drainage so we can begin to work them into the firm surfaces you are accustomed to. This is the position the golf course is waiting on right now.
While soils are firming up, the staff and I have begun course clean up efforts. All of the tree debris is being collected, and on drier days, leaf litter will be blown and collected. Playing surfaces will be mowed or rolled on an as needed basis, given the slower growing conditions and our current staffing levels. The USGA has published a couple great articles further explaining the factors in opening for early play, which you can read
here and
here.
The staff and I have focused our attention on other projects while we waited for conditions to improve outside. The US 20 sign has been refurbished, complete with a new color scheme that adds a new pop to all those who drive by it each day. A special thanks to Greg Stump for his artistic efforts on this sign. We also have about 30 stumps to grind, mainly along the clubdrive. Depending on the location, these areas will be either be sodded or seeded after clean up is finished and topsoil is added to the hole.
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| The new sign along US 20 |
Another large focus of our department this spring will be where the old pool locker rooms were located. This area will be transformed into a beautiful landscaped area that will add pop to your experience at the Elcona pool. Currently we have been filling the area with sub soil in preparation for the first retaining wall to be installed. I will have more frequent updates on this project as it moves along.
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| New concrete retaining wall poured January 2018 |
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| Soil is off loaded from our truck, and pushed down the hill |
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| Rough grade for the first retaining wall being dug |
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| Rough grade established |
Spring is near, and with that golf is near too. We will keep you abreast on the latest course conditions, and open as soon as the conditions allow. If you have any questions, please email me at ryan@elconacc.com. Have a great week!
Ryan
