July 2014: On the course

After a lot of rain in early July, the last couple weeks have been beautiful.  We are especially grateful for the moderate temperatures this year since the harsh winter left us with weaker turf than usual.  The National Weather Service is predicting a similarly mild August with average rainfall which should equate to great conditions for golf.

Below is the putting green on June 27th.  I am often asked about the ornamental grasses you can see in the background along the first tee.  They are Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'.

Early mornings have been beautiful lately:

5 Green

4th Hole

Karl changing cups on the 4th green

Below is the 9th hole and clubhouse.  On the left you can see some of the Ash trees that were killed by the Emerald Ash Borer over the last year.  For more on this destructive insect see here.

 

 

The renovated bunkers are performing very well.  Improved drainage, new sand, and a sod "face" have greatly improved this sand trap on the first green.  A small amount of rain used to wash this trap out and make it unplayable. Now it is playable hours after a strong thunderstorm.

 

 

 

Even the infamous 7th fairway has been cooperating this year after starting out more than 50% dead.  So far, we have not experienced the deadly combination of excessive rainfall, high heat, and solar radiation that damaged this floodplain fairway in 2010 and 2011.

7th Fairway enjoying 2014

And finally . . . Safety first!  Two junior greenkeepers try on bump caps before inspecting the course:

 

 

 

 

 



Pictures from June 2011

While looking over recent pictures, I noticed that we golf course superintendents tend to take a lot of pictures of problem areas or projects in progress.  I take about 10 times more pictures meant to inform (not so pretty) than pictures meant to impress (pretty ones).  Superintendents are fascinated by pictures of turf disorders, projects involving mud and machines, and rare phenomenon.  We can't help it.  It's our job to deal with the behind-the-scenes stuff that makes golf courses tick.  I realized the other day that if you looked at this blog, you might think that Sugar Creek is always 1) flooded, or 2) under construction.  Definitely not true!  The majority of the time it is a beautiful place with lots of golfers enjoying themselves.  I decided to lead with the good stuff this post!

A collection of pretty pictures can be found here : Slideshow

So far, June has been an eventful month at Sugar Creek. We have had many beautiful days for golf. We've also had a tiny flood -- just a little one, no big deal! 

9 Green and Clubhouse on a nice day

2 Green and Clubhouse

4 Tee

June wouldn't be complete without one flood picture.  Let's hope it's the only one!  Thuderstorms gave us over 3 inches with the inevitable result:

4 Fairway

The crew has been very busy working on the sandtraps, mulching landscape beds, preparing the course, and all the other tasks that are part of our in season routine.  The course is in very nice shape thanks to the efforts of our dedicated staff. 

One of our major accomplishments over the past few months was the replacement of our main irrigation pump and the renovation of the pumphouse plumbing.  Thanks to the previous experience of our handy mechanic, we were able to do the work in-house and meticulously go over these pieces of equipment.  I am now 99% sure this plumbing will hold on any given night.  Last year, it was down to about 50/50.  We got it up and running just in time for some dry weather, which all too quickly turned into wet weather. 

Below you can see our beautiful new Berkeley pump and reassembled plumbing.  The pumphouse is really the heart of any golf course.  This pumphouse supplies the rest of the course with life at about 600 gallons per minute:

40hp centrifugal pump

Rebuilt valves and plumbing

We used the new pump for 2 nights before the recent rainy spell hit.  Who knows when we will need it again!  No one is really looking forward to the forecast at the moment:

I'm thinking this has to be a mistake.  The meteorologists are having a good laugh right now.  OK guys, you can change it to the real forecast any time now!

Added June 19, 2011:  I knew the forecast had to be wrong.  It has turned out to be a beautiful Father's Day weekend in our area.  Slight chance of a sprinkle later Sunday but I'm betting on it missing us.

Spring Green-up

Spring is coming slowly but surely!  We have had a cooler March than last year, but April is here.  In 2010, we had some unusually warm days early on.  April 1 and 2, 2010, were over 80 degrees!  We haven't had any really warm days yet, but temps are climbing gradually and turf is starting to respond.

Here is a pair of photos that illustrate how different each year can be:

March 31st 2011 - Starting to warm up

April 2nd 2010 - 80 degrees and green already

April in 2010 was unusually warm early on, so we're not complaining.  We're just looking forward to those 70 degree and sunny days that are on their way.

2010: The Year in Pictures

Update on the Flood

The ground is drying out fast after the flood last weekend.  We were lucky the water went down fairly quickly.  The maintenance crew has now fixed all the sand traps and mowed almost all the rough.  The course is starting to look like normal.

Loads of debris were removed after the flood, but we still keep finding things where they are not supposed to be.  One of the most unpleasant jobs of flood cleanup:  Fish duty!  (See photo below)

Don't worry.  They have been removed!

Update: July 10, 2010

Over the last month, we have really seen some ups and downs in moisture.  After a wet June, we had a very dry week, then a little more rain.  For a while, it seemed like the maintenance crew was pumping and reconstructing sand traps almost every day.  See Update: May 15, 2010.  I am happy to say we are back in what I call the "sweet spot" - not too wet and not overly dry.  We have been having some beautiful golf weather.  More pictures and articles to come . . .

Ring of Fire Storm Pattern

If you are like me, you may have been asking yourself lately "What is going on with all these storms?"  I found a good explanation on Tom Skilling's blog.  He calls it the "Ring of Fire" pattern.

For more on the recent storms and their cause, check out Skilling's article.

Rain Storms

On Saturday, June 5th, we experienced a 2" rainfall in less than 30 min.  As I mentioned in a previous post, this really wreaks havoc on the sand traps and lower areas of the course.  The rest of the golf course is wet but undamaged.

Check out Sugar Creek's Facebook page for some photos from just after the down pour (Click here).  If you ever wondered what the golf course looks like right after a storm, here is your chance to find out!

3rd Hole - April 9, 2010

The turf really greened up last week and the willows are flowering. An abundance of catkins (flowers) and growing stems gives them a yellow color this time of year.

Update: March 28, 2010

We've been waiting a long time to see a forecast like this.  On November 7th and 8th, 2009, the temperatures broke 70 degrees for a fleeting moment, but you have to go back to September of 2009 to find another 70 degree day.  In fact, we haven't seen a stretch of sunny, temperate days since the one that ended on September 19th -- about six months ago.  Let's hope the forecast doesn't change on us!

We have already had a lot of play this March, but I suspect many golfers will play their first rounds soon.  You can always see and book available tee times at our website: http://www.sugarcreekgolfcourse.org/.  As of today, the course is dry enough to allow riding carts without restrictions until further notice.

Update: March 22, 2010

Winter returned briefly last weekend, but all the snow has melted.  The greens and tees are looking good along with most areas of the fairways.  The weather for this week looks a lot better than they were forecasting.  It will be a good week for early spring golf!

A Beautiful Day

What a day for March 16th!  The greens were mowed for the first time and are putting well.  The next few days look like more of the same beatiful weather. 

Many golfers came out to enjoy our 9,000 square foot putting green

Not bad for March 16th!

7th Green on March 16th

Golf Course Opening

Starting Monday, March 15, the golf course will be playable and open.  The rain on Saturday set us back a bit, but the greens and tees are clean and firming up.  After a long winter, the weather starting March 15 looks great!

Did you know that last winter was one of the longest, coldest winters ever?  The Chicago area had 97 straight days under 50 degrees.  By this measure, only 4 winters were worse: 1920, 1945, 1899, and 1979.  You can read about it here (WGN Weather Blog).

It's Almost Time!

The driving range is now open!  As for the rest of the course, it is getting close.  There is still quite a bit of ice and slush out there.  4 of our 10 greens are still covered in ice and slush.  The maintenance crew has been busy blowing debris (and some ice) off of the greens and tees so that the course will be playable as soon as possible. 

Check back soon for more updates.

8 green with ice -- March 10 -- Should be gone tomorrow

7 Fairway with some ice, melting fast

Looking forward to spring

It won't be long before this:

4th Hole in February

looks like this:

4th hole in April

Or this:

1st tee in February

looks like this!

1st tee in early April

Winter is here!