GCC Golf Course Winter Update

Thus far the winter of 2016 has been very interesting.  The El Nino effect has brought much needed rain to the west coast but the east cost has also experienced its fair share of rain as well.  In addition to rainfall the temperatures in December and early January were unlike any I have ever seen. A picture of our fairways in early January looked as if they were either overseeded or painted.



A few short weeks after this scene there was a completely different landscape in place. A winter storm in late January blanketed both the courses with 4-6 inches of a snow sleet mixture.



All in all, while the weather has been interesting it has also been very manageable.  During the middle part of January we experienced some temperatures in the mid teens but none that were low enough to trigger any type of winterkill concerns.

One of the many dead Pines marked for removal

In amongst the rain and snow, the staff on both courses has been actively working to implement actionable items included within our 2016 Tree Program. As such, both courses have seen a significant number of trees removed from the courses.  The Farm course has had close to 40 trees removed in recent weeks and the Irving Park course has seen around 45 trees disappear. We still have another 6 trees on list at Irving Park slated for removal.  Once all the removals are complete, we will begin grinding stumps and removing the stump grindings.  Once the stumps are dealt with the staff will be begin the final repair of these areas.  Several of these areas are large and will require sod work. The sod work will most likely not begin until sometime this spring when we can get some good quality sod and are not worried about it winter killing.

On the ground