May provided for some really good golfing weather in the fact the winter and spring rains finally decided to take a break. May was a little warmer than unusual in that we experienced 7 days in a row of 90+ degree temperatures. The warm temperatures left on the last day of May and brought with it a substantial hail storm. June thus far has been much wetter and cooler with the last seven days having produced nearly 8 inches of rain and much cooler temperatures.
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| Hail Damage on the IP Greens |
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| Post Hail Storm |
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| Fallen Tree due to Saturated Conditions |
Irving Park Pond Dredging - Still Awaiting Permit Approval
The first stage of our pond dredging project on the #13 pond at Irving Park is still on hold due the permitting approval process. We had hoped everything would be approved by sometime in May but nothing seems to move very quickly when it comes to permitting. We are expecting a 6-8 week period for dry down, so we are now realistically looking at sometime in August to begin the dredging part of this project. Stay tuned....
Farm Forward Tees
We have started construction on a few more forward tees on the Farm course. Our plan is to build new tees on holes 15, 18 and possibly 7. This is part of the long term plan to build a short course that is more enjoyable beginners, novices and people who simply do not hit the ball far enough to enjoy playing from the standard teeing grounds. Per a set of guidelines from the PGA of America's Tee It Forward program the forward tees will fall into a range between 4,000 - 4,500 yards long.
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| New Forward Tee Location #15 Farm |
Farm Drainage
Immediately following the Presidents Cup this year the Farm staff began working on a large drainage issue on the #1 fairway. The turf had thinned severely due to the above normal rainfall over the winter months and the fact Zoysia is very sensitive to wet conditions. New French drainage was added to area nearly 4,000 sf in size and all the damaged turf was replaced with new Zeon Zoysia. We have several more drainage projects we hope to work in before the end of summer.
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| Damaged Turf due to Poor Drainage |
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| Drain Lines Installed and Damaged Turf Removed |
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Finished Product being Watered
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With June comes a lot of extra seasonal staff and we are very pleased thus far with this year's recruits. We have brought in approximately 15 school students to help with all the extra workload that comes with the summer growing season. The greens, tees and fairways were aerified during the first of week of June on the Irving Park course and we couldn't have asked for better weather with bright blue sky's early in the week and significant rainfall coming right towards the very end. The same large scale aerification will take place on the Farm course the week of July 8-12, so make sure to note that on your golfing calendar. The two courses shared a truckload of sod in early June and we expect to install another 2-3 to repair thin or damaged areas and to assist in some of our future construction and drainage projects.
