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

Recent Tree Removals

Unfortunately, or fortunately for some, we had to say good-bye to two old willow trees this winter.  One was located on the 1st hole near the creek, and the other was to the left of 5 green.  The removal of these trees is one of the changes golfers may notice in 2010.

Wildlife Slideshow

One of the best parts of working at a golf course is getting to see interesting wildlife every day. At Sugar Creek, we see great blue heron, white egrets, mallards, and green heron almost every day during the season. These birds especially like hanging out by the bridge between the 5th and 6th hole at sunrise and sunset. For most of the day, they hunt for fish in the pond.

Other animals like coyote, beaver, fox, and even deer are seen more rarely at sunrise. Luckily the beaver has not been seen for 3 years!

Over the past few years, I've been able to capture a decent amount of these animals on camera. There are a lot more smaller mammals and songbirds around that have so far evaded the camera. Keep your eyes open next time you play Sugar Creek. You never know what you might see!

Good Winter or Bad Winter for Turf?

As we get ready for the 2010 golf season, I know a lot of superintendents are asking themselves:  How much seeding and sodding will we have to do this spring?  How well will the turf survive this winter?  Will this turn out to be a good winter or a bad winter for the turf?  How can we tell?

Reel Grinding Complete

Annual equipment maintenance is an important project for any golf course maintenance department during the winter months. Our goal is to have all the machines ready-for-action when the season starts. To do this, we perform maintenance according to the machines' service manual, and we try to minimize down-time during the season by anticipating any problems that might occur. In addition to completing annual service on all the traction units and engines, golf courses also have to maintain complicated cutting units.

Here's a look at the underside of one of our greens reel units:

Winter is here!