Wildlife in Full Bloom...
Try attempting to fix an irrigation satellite to almost have a heart attack as you almost stepped on a baby fawn. Fixing the satellite didn't mean much after seeing the joys of our wildlife here at OGC. In addition, we have seen so many fury critters all around this season from the Turkey Trotters, the monarch butterfly caterpillars are abundant, to the deer herd/population, to the turtles laying their eggs in fresh sod on #13 (thanks!), the red tail hawks, and i didn't forget you, to the hundreds of frogs in the pond on #13. We even had our famous cranes strolling the property this Spring too. Here at OGC, you are never alone with the wildlife that uses the property as their home and sanctuary!
#10 Landscaping...
Early in June, a landscape company was able to complete the project on #10 which will mature as the plants establish and flourish for years to come. The crane sculptures will also continue to be accented in this perennial bed. The outcropping of stones too add a dynamic touch, I just couldn't figure out where the waterfall should have went (Sorry the Legends Clubs...)
Sodding of Tree Areas...
After the first few weeks of June, our team worked hard laying down the rest of the sod and repairing the remaining tree areas and miscellaneous spots to improve the quality of grass in the rough. In total, we purchased 24 pallets of sod which is around 12,000 sq. ft. The weather wasn't fully cooperative as our second batch of sod came during a dry spell with very little rain. With all the sodded areas scattered throughout the course and not concentrated in one area, it has been a challenge to keep these areas wet to allow for the sod to establish smoothly. Some areas that don't survive, I plan to swap out with some new sod rolls in late June or early July. Soon, we will be taking off the ropes and stakes and be able to use these areas for normal play. With some extra rolls of sod, we were also able to fix up the fairway bentgrass areas that needed a few adjustments by utilizing the front part of the 17th fairway.
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| Look at that completed hillside right of the Green (w/a Magnifying Glass)!! |
In May's newsletter, I discussed the bushes between the parking lot and the range tee. With no better reason other than that some survived the brutal winter and some didn't. Our team held out hope for a few more weeks that the bushes would decide to fill in, but unfortunately, they did not, so we ended up cutting these bushes down to where the growth was and see what will happen with the re-growth. If the re-growth isn't favorable, we will know what to do towards the end of the season or early next year.
Bunker Work
Here in June, the Greens and Grounds Team has been working on some of the bunkers. Some members have been edging the bunker faces to give them a crisp clean detailed look while some of the other team members have been working on fixing some of the troublesome bunkers that had a poor liner material or minimal sand amounts. The most noticeable bunker will be the left green side bunker on #8 where the team carefully removed the white liner from the entire bunker and then added fresh sand to increase the amount of material there and provide better playing conditions. Right after adding sand to this bunker, it may play a little differently to the other bunkers but will settle down more as the season draws on.
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| Nice new Edge on the Bunker! |
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| Nice work Sam! |
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| Jake, Jacob, and Sam Working on Peeling the Bad Liner Out. |
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| Jake, Jacob, and Sam Working on Liner Peeling |
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| Removed Bunker Liner Material from #8 Left Green Bunker |
Pumpstation/Satellite/Irrigation Work
This Spring and early Summer we have really worked hard on repairing the irrigation system to replace sprinklers that were damaged towards the end of last year and also replacing certain components that have been worn out. In total, I have replaced around 20 entire sprinklers, 75 internal sprinkler bodies, and about 125 or more retainer rings that are a part of the fairway sprinkler system. In total, the irrigation system has ~807 sprinkler heads. Also, I've had a veteran contractor help me from time to time to work on an aging irrigation system that is 25+ years old. We are starting to see more wear on the entire system and will need to plan accordingly in the future to address this key "heart and artery" infrastructure that keeps this course what we all call OGC.
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| Those Ugly Green Boxes in the Rough.. This is what the insides look. ~25yrs ago these were state of art. Things obviously changed since then.... The pieces inside are not readily available and make watering a challenge without working properly (I brought the only available parts from the company which they call "Refurbished" parts and the part that was supposed to be good was actually worse than the part that needed to be replaced in the satellite). Sigh |
Remember, when laying sod, the green side goes up!
