"Off" Season Chores

Outdoor Work

January is obviously not a great month to be outdoors. Regardless of whether you are debating going outside to possibly enjoy a round of golf or maybe you have some chores to do around the house neither are fun when it is 42 degrees outside and breezy.  The mornings are especially brutal when the overnight temperatures have fallen well below freezing. While going outside may be a voluntary decision for some, the golf course maintenance staff is not quite so lucky.  Of course some mornings are colder than others but if the sun is out and the temperatures are anywhere close to freezing the staff knows to suit up and head onto the course.  On a property as big as a golf course there are always things that can be done if it is not too wet and there is no snow cover. This year we will remove close to 30 trees between the two courses that are either dead or undesirable. Undesirable trees might include trees that were severely damaged last year in the ice storm, trees that are over crowded, and select undesirable species like Sweet Gums that drop liter in the form of gumballs year round. Once trees are cut down the debris is separated into three categories.  Some will be hauled to the local debris landfill, some will be taken to a local saw mill and some will be saved for firewood.

Firewood

Debris for Removal

Logs for Sawmill

In addition to tree work there is a long extensive list of jobs that need to be completed before the season begins anew.  We now have an extensive planting of ornamental grasses that have to be cut back each winter.  We have dams on the majority of the ponds and lakes at the Farm that have to be cut back each year to prevent trees from establishing themselves and weakening the integrity of the dam itself.  Leaves continue to blow from the wooded areas and falling limbs are a constant nuisance this time of the year, all of which have to be removed to keep the course neat and clean. 

In addition to some of the routine maintenance work we do we will also engage in a couple of small landscape projects at each course.  The area behind #6 green at the Farm is a little more open towards Hwy US 220 as a result of the recent clearing and road work.  Therefore we will be adding approximately 30 new evergreen trees and shrubs in this area to create more privacy for the course.  On the Irving Park course we will attempt to soften the view of the backside of the pool and DRT pavilion by adding a combination of evergreen and flowering shrubs.  We hope to have these projects completed by the end of February.

Indoor Work

Of course there are always going to be days during this time of the year where it just doesn't make sense to go outside.  On those days we still have a lot to keep everyone busy.  There are a long list of golf course accessories that have to be refurbished for the next season. That list would include but not be limited to tee markers, hazard stakes, cart signs, trash receptacles, water stations, range accessories, and benches just to include a few of the more common ones.  Along those same lines the equipment technicians have a healthy list of jobs to do on the equipment to get it ready for another long mowing season.

The aforementioned is just a brief glimpse into a few of the things the staff focuses on during the winter months in an effort to have everything ready once spring rolls back around.