Golf Course Important Notifications - February 2019

With spring right around the corner, I wanted to update the members on a few important things that we have been working on and a few things we will try to tackle in the near future.

Irving Park Hole #13 Pond Dredging - April - through the Summer Months

The pond on hole #13 has become an unsightly water feature that has been inundated with upstream erosion deposits over the past several decades. We are currently in the final stages of bidding this project out and expect to drain the pond sometime during the month of April. Once the sediment has had ample time to begin to drain out (6-8 weeks) we will bring in large excavators to remove the excess sediment off-site. Depending on a lot of different factors, but mostly weather, we expect the working stage of this project to last 4-8 weeks before the pond is refilled. There are a few things the members should be made aware of prior to commencing work on this project. The first is the pond does not support any large sized fish population, so the smaller sized fish and minnows will be safely drained downstream. There will likely also be an odor from the decaying organic material. We are will be committed to completing this project as quick as possible to minimize both of these aspects. We are designing in new riprap baffle walls to catch future erosion at the two stream inlets in an effort to aid future annual/bi-annual maintenance and removal of incoming sediment and debris.

Sediment and Debris Buildup #13

Irving Park Greens Aerification - March 4-5
We will be conducting our first aerification of the year on the Irving Park Bentgrass greens on the first Monday and Tuesday in March. We will be using small coring tines for this aerification as the greens are slowing to healing with the cool soil temperatures in March. Members should expect about 3 weeks for the greens to fully recover. Our second spring aerification will be conducted on June 3-6.  This aerification will include not only greens but also tees and fairways, thus the two additional days of course closure.

Farm Swim/Tennis/Maintenance Parking Lot Renovation - Month of April
We are in the middle of the planning process to refurbish the entire parking area at the Farm swim/tennis and golf maintenance shop. This area has seriously deteriorated over the past many years and is in much need of new resurfacing. The existing asphalt will be removed and new asphalt will be installed.  We are also planning to add a small amount of extra parking in the swim/maintenance area. The current plan is to begin work as early in April as possible and have the work completed by the end of April depending on contractor scheduling and weather. We are currently in the engineering phase and as soon as that work is completed we will send the project out to bid.  There will be limitations on accessing this area for tennis operations and the Tennis department will communicate those restraints as soon as we know an official and definitive work schedule.  We do not expect this work will conflict with the pool season schedule.

Ultradwarf Greens and Remaining Warm Season Grass - Winter Prognosis
To date we have experienced two moderately cold weather events that caused us concern with the health and survivability of the new Ultradwarf greens. For both of those events the club took the extra measure of applying and additional pine straw insulation blanket. The unseasonably warm weather last week lead to the greens breaking dormancy and unlike last year at this same time there is a uniform emergence of new leaf tissue across the entirety of the greens. The forecast for the next two weeks is for near normal or slightly above normal temperatures.  March can be a very unpredictable month in our area for weather so we are not out the clear yet but it would seem we have made it through the months that produce the harshest weather. As for the remaining parts of the course with warm season grasses, we are currently not expecting anything beyond the normal spring time and early summer repairs due to poorly drained and overly shady areas.

Pine Straw Insulation Prior to Covering

Tree Thinning Program Wrapping Up
The staff along with the help of Bill's Tree Service has been working hard this winter to remove trees that have been identified for removal as part of our on-going tree removal and course beautification program. We expect this work to conclude sometime toward the latter part of February or early March depending on contractor scheduling. Stump removals and grass repair related to these areas will take place later this spring.

Tree Logs Stored for Removal

Spillway Pipe on Farm Pond Hole #14
The pond on hole #14 on the Farm course has not been holding a proper level over the winter months and we experienced a small sink hole around the structure during the two fall hurricane events. The club has retained and engineer and pond specialist to investigate the issue and will do whatever is necessary to restore the functionality of the spillway pipe in a timely and responsible manner. The spillway pipe for this pond is the original galvanized steel pipe structure that was installed during the ponds construction and we estimate it is somewhere in the area of 60 years old and will need to be lined with a new HDPE pipe as well as a new riser and overflow structure designed and installed.

Sloughing Bank around Intake Structure