Additional Vandalism

Trust me when I say that this is not the next course update I wanted to be writing.  Unfortunately, the golf course suffered additional vandalism overnight on Friday, February 14.  When assessing the damage, I'm 100% certain that both acts of trespassing/vandalism have been committed by the same person(s).  This time they entered the property on the left-side of the gates in between the main gate landscaping and the condominiums at Fairway Villas.  They preceded to drive over the practice putting green, do another loop on #10 fairway, and then go back to #2 green.  They had another campfire on #2 green in the exact same spot as the night before.  They then drove their vehicle onto the green and did a few circles.  I'm optimistic that the areas where they drove onto both the practice putting green and #2 green will be ok.  They could potentially thin out a little but I think they will bounce back.  Hopefully our saving grace was the fact that the tires were on snow/ice rather than directly on the bentgrass.  I tend to be a very optimistic person and a glass half full kind of guy, but I'm worried about the area where the fire occurred on the green.  We will take a wait and see approach with this area and monitor closely everyday.  I'm hoping that warmer weather and aerification will potentially allow this area to fill-in.  That being said, even if it does fill-in it will probably be weak all season long and appear stressed.  If the area doesn't bounce back we will either have to plug or sod the area and monitor/care all throughout the growing season.

The Chesterfield County police were on property again on Saturday to assess the damage and file a report.  They have a couple potential leads and I'm hoping that they can catch those responsible.  The main gate is locked every night when the last employee leaves and this practice has been in effect for a long time.  Scott and I are currently discussing different options in order to secure the rest of the front entrance.  My hope is that this can be a project that's completed soon and I can go back to getting some sleep at night.  Thank you for your understanding and once again I'm sorry that this had to happen.  The Golf Course Maintenance Dept. will do our best to fix the damage and have these areas fixed ASAP.

Long Overdue Course Update

I realize that it's been awhile since I have updated the blog and explained everything that the Golf Course Maintenance Department has accomplished in the last few months. As you all are aware, it's been a severely cold winter with an abundance of rainfall and snow. However, we have gotten a lot of projects completed and the following highlights a few.
 We cut down some trees this Winter throughout the golf course and grinded the stumps. The majority of the trees removed were dead and posed safety concerns. A couple of trees were removed to improve conditions in order to grow and maintain healthy bermuda/bentgrass. Topsoil will be placed in the holes where the stumps were and sod will be laid in the Spring. Below is an Oak tree that was removed on #3 because it had been hit by lightning.

The bunker drainage on #7 was fixed and water now drains as it should in this bunker with no standing water. Not only had the drainage collapsed within the bunker, but roots from a neighboring tree had completely clogged the drainage line.  The bunker drainage runs across the fairway, through the rough, and exits in the creek in the woods to the left of #7.  Tree roots had entered the drainage at a coupling joint and completely clogged the line as shown in the photo below.This area has been GUR since we fixed the drainage because I'm not able to get the YBD pure white bunker sand at this time. The sand comes from Maryland and it has been too cold for them to mine the sand. I have been assured that when conditions improve, sand will be delivered as soon as possible. Once the sand is on property we will fill-in #7 bunker and add additional sand as needed to other bunkers throughout the course.

All course amenities have been brought in during the winter and have been refurbished. The guys have done a tremendous job making most of the amenities appear new again. In particular, the tee yardage plates have been repainted, sanded, and the yardages have been re-engraved. I believe the finished project turned out great.

In other news, we did experience some course vandalism overnight on February 13. The main gates were locked throughout the night but a vehicle bypassed the gate and drove around the right side of the front entrance column. They then preceded to drive on #10 fairway and turn around and then they drove around the maintenance shop and down behind #2 green. They parked their vehicle behind the green and had a campfire on #2 green. They then drove back up the hill behind #2 green and exited the property. Luckily, they didn't drive onto the green. However, the fire appears to have reached the putting green surface and is an area we will closely monitor. The area may bounce back or we might have to plug this area. The Chesterfield County police were contacted and a report was filed and they came out and observed the damage.

We still have a lot of work to do before the winter is over including adding drainage around greens, beginning to replace curbs with cobblestones, and finishing our Roundup/pre-emergent herbicide application. I can't wait for the warmer weather and to see all of you again out on the course.