March started off with refinishing and repainting all course accessories. This job took a couple of weeks to complete and everything is now looking great once again.
Some of the finished accessories
Our new safety program was completed and is all ready for this years staff. This program is a little more in-depth than previous but is still very clear, effective and easy for our staff to follow.
Some of our safety materials being displayed for staff
We also took delivery on three new pieces of equipment in March which we were very excited about. We have a new Toro fairway mower and utility vehicle and a new John Deere bunker rake.
The new Toro equipment
The new John Deere bunker rake
My assistant has also been very busy freshening up the look of our maintenance facility. She has repainted all drywall surface in the building and has repainted all the doors and posts outside the building. We definitely have one of the best facilities in the province but work like this had never been performed on the building since it was constructed in the early 90's. This was long overdue and gives the building a much more professional image and shows how proud and fortunate we are to have such an excellent facility.
Some of the interior painting that was done
One of the overhead doors and posts that were repainted
We have also done our annual servicing that takes place in the pumphouse to ensure that this area of the course is ready to go for another season. At that time the pumps, piping, platform, etc were all given a fresh coat of paint to freshen things up and to help prevent rust. There had also been a leak in the ceiling of the pumphouse were the roof service hatch was located. We went up onto the roof and believe we located the problem and sealed it. So far things have been dry in the building since the work was done.
The painting that was done in the pumphouse
We have also been out on the course frequently since the snow has been melting to check on the turf conditions, fix tarps and open up drainage routes to remove excessive water off of the course. So far it appears that things have wintered pretty well and we are optimistic that we can get off to a very successful start this season.
A view under the tarp on 18 green
Water flowing out of the valley after the culverts were opened up
We have now just started removing snowfence off of the greens. This work will be continuing for atleast another week. We will be having a couple of our regular staff members back to work for the season next week and snowfence removal from greens and tees will continue. Tasks like unwrapping signs, putting out benches and accessories, cleanup, etc will all begin to take place next week. We will try to keep the tarps on the greens as late as we can before opening, but if it becomes too difficult to keep them down in the wind and the temperatures are warm enough than they may come off a little earlier.
Snowfence removed off of 17 green
We are not quite sure about an opening date yet as the course still needs to dry up and there is still quite a bit of frost in the ground so things are dependent upon Mother Nature at this point. I am optimistic that we will be out golfing earlier this year than the past few years though and I am excited to see everyone back out on the course and to see everyone again that I have not seen since the fall!
Hole 7 last summer
