Golf Season 2017 in Front of Us

Since my last post, winter has come(sort of) and winter has gone(kinda). But the good news is that worked continued on the course to improve the overall playability. We had the woodcutters come back out to remove trees and brush to the left of Holes 14 and 15. We will now be able to identify the out of bounds/property lines in those areas. The view from the 15th tee will now allow one to follow their ball into the trees on the left but will be able to locate it quickly again and continue play.

This week, tree trimming was completed on holes 13 and 17. The large old oaks had the dead wood removed, low branches trimmed up, and a general cleaning of the canopy was performed. There were 2 oaks at the beginning of the 13th fairway but near the road were removed due severe health issues and liability. You will not miss them.

I was reminded of a tree to trim by the golf commission that was forgotten last year. It was located at the beginning of the 18th fairway on the right. The ash tree was trimmed along with 2 oaks near it.

The maintenance staff over this past fall and winter did remove a few trees that had the dreaded "Red Ring Disease". One notable tree was a large oak to the right of the 4th green that played havoc with the putting surface. Thought I had a picture of it but apparently I don't. It is currently resting behind the green awaiting clean up.

Our first order of business when the staff gets back in a week or so is to clean and pick up a lot of branches. Remeber the rain/windstorm at Christmas? Well, there was a lot of debris that came down. Oh and to add to that, those high winds a few weeks back? Yep, they added to the mess. We should have everything cleaned up by the time we open sometime in April. Until then, stay out of trouble.

Golf Season 2016 in the Rear View Mirror

It has been 2 weeks since we closed doors on the 2016 season. The golf year goes by very quickly and if it wasn't for cell phones with cameras, it might all be forgotten. So without any further explanations, here is the year in review.

Back in March, we hired out some tree pruning and broken branch removal.

We got some Jr muscle from the high school to help in the clean up.

Updates to the clubhouse included this new railing, along with stairs,lighting, plumbing, floor tiling, grille area, kitchen upgrades, parking lot crack sealing and painting, and new HVAC.

We did some fairway expansions on holes 10, 14, and this on 17.

New cart paths were installed at the driving range and on holes 7 and 14. Cart paths were resurfaced on holes 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, and 18.

This fall, we started to open up the area behind 14 green and to the right of 15 tee.

And finally, we got a good start to building the forward tee on hole 2. This picture doesn't show the additional fill that was hauled.  We will let it settle over winter and finish first thing in the spring.

With that, everybody enjoy the off season. I will update this blog when the woodcutters begin their work on holes 14 and 15.

Course Improvements Continue

I apologize. It's been awhile since I've updated the goings on at the course. No excuses, being too busy is part of everybody's life. We all need to put balance in our lives. It is just easier said than done.

We have completed these 9 repair projects around the clubhouse: replaced hand and deck rails on the upper deck, installed drains upstairs in the kitchen and in the Men's bathroom, purchased a new ice machine, purchased a new gas range for the upstairs kitchen ( I need to sell the old one ), corrected all of the lighting in the main clubhouse area, tiled the hallway from the bathrooms to the main area, replaced/repaired all of the outside stairs, purchased a new grille and installed a small patio on the north side of the clubhouse, and we had our parking lot crack sealed and the lower lot striped. All of these items were well needed.

Our last 2 projects are currently under way. We are installing new HVAC on the bar side of the upper level. The current unit is nearly 30 years old. We will plan to upgrade the dinning room side in the near future. The other project is adding 3 new path areas and then remove and install new asphalt to several existing paths. Taylor Paving began on Wednesday and dug in the new paths on the Driving Range Tee, 7th green, and the right on 13 green. They were also able to install the gravel base material before the heavy rains came.

This is the path extension by the green on 7.

This is the path to the right of the 13th green.

This is the wet spot at the beginning of the 2nd fairway. We hauled all of the excavation to raise the area so it will drain naturally. We will bring in some more material to shape a new green tee. Just killing 2 birds with one stone.

Stay tuned for more timely updates, I promise.

Clubhouse Improvements

The golf season is moving along as well as several planned upgrades. Almost all of these improvements will be noticed right away. Back in February and March, we installed drains in the bathrooms and upstairs kitchen to correct some plumbing issues. At that same time, we upgraded all of our inside lighting to ensure all lights work. Before we opened, we replaced the carpeting in the hallway with tile that looks wonderful.

Now that it has warmed up, work was done to outside projects that were indeed needed. The railing on the upstairs deck was removed and a new one installed using aluminum spindles. We have received many compliments.

We finished 3 stair projects. The first one was to remove and cement the top step on the west stairs coming up from the parking lot. A new hand railing will soon be installed there as well. The second project was to replace the steps on the south side of the 10th tee with a new one along with a railing.

The third stair project was the removal and replacement of the stairs going down to the cart staging area. It was completed this week and is outstanding.

We had a small patio built on the north side of the clubhouse so we can grille away from customers. Also included in this was the purchase of a new commercial grille.

Meanwhile, back inside, a new ice machine was installed by Bernicks Pepsi. The old machine will reside in the maintenance building ready to go for backup or on heavy use days. A grille was purchased for the upstairs to replace the old one. Currently the grille is in transit.

And finally, improvements to the lower parking lot were done by crack sealing and line painting for organized car parking.

Overall, the needed repairs and improvements went very smoothly. The new feel will not only add to the customers' experience but the safety aspect was accomplished.

Expansions

If you have been able to get out and play, you probably noticed some bronzed colored grass. What this is really, is the turf being mowed at a lower height of cut. Over time, mowing patterns change and edges seem to wander away from normal. In other cases, it is a playability issue as we strive to provide a user friendly approach.

There are several approaches shown here that we expanded to allow greater ball roll toward the green. This also allows a different chipping technique or putting stroke to get on to the green.

                                           This shows us widening the approach to 17.

                                           The back collar is larger on green 6.

We also moved the fairway on 14 to the right of the tree. This gives a bit of forgiveness on tee shots.

 Part of the winter work is still evident as there is a brush pile to the left of the landing area. This will be burnt as soon as the burning restrictions are lifted.

Later in the summer, we will finish cleaning out the remaining brush to the OB stakes and plant grass. Not only will this make the playability better it will also speed up play.

This is a small part of our efforts to make Luck Golf Course the best it can be.

Ready to go

We're waiting on the weather to cooperate so we can begin our golf maintenance. This is one of the few years where we are ready to go but Mother Nature is delaying the beginning. As I write this, the temperature is 10 degrees. Forecast is for 60's by Wednesday and continuing for a while. The equipment is prepped as well as the accessories. There are a few benches in need of fresh paint and I will see to that they get done. As I stated previously, the course is mostly cleaned up. A day or two with the blower and mulching mowers should finalize the clean up. We will begin mowing this week and slowly get back to regular maintenance practises. A little patience this time of year helps as doing nothing to the turf is actually one of the best things when there are extremes in temperatures as we have experienced the past few weeks.

Stretch yourself out and get ready to play!

Final Clean up

With some help from some "Jr. Muscle" aka Luck-Frederic Baseball Team, we were able to remove branches and rake up debris along holes 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8. The boys did a great job for us which lightened up the workload for the maintenance staff.

On Tuesday, 6 "Sr Muscle" volunteers showed up to help our staff clean up the branches along 11, 17, and 18. I would insert pictures here and mention names, but my phone stayed in my pocket and thus the omission. Thanks to Roger Swanson to initiate and lead the charge.

The staff is working diligently to remove the final trees and branches this week despite the not so spring like weather.We will blow off the course and mulch the remaining leaves and branches next week. The course will open tomorrow April 1, no fooling! See you out on the links!

So Close

The title of this blog tells the story of several events that have taken place recently. The snow storm that hit this week was so close to dumping snow on us. Fortunately, we stayed clear of the wrath. But, if it had hit, we would have burned the last of the brush. We will have to wait until green up before that happens now. We may remove it from site or leave it until later. It all depends upon the weather and work load. So close to finishing that project.

We got real close to finishing all of the tree work. There is one oak left of 4 green that will have to wait until next winter. There is a chance that it could fall on the green. With it being soft, even if it does miss the green, a good chance there will be significant holes made. Waiting is our best option. So close again.

We are currently having Cal Haines do the hanging branch removal from several of the trees. These broken branches occurred over the past few storms. When they are on the ground and we will clean them up.

This is the tree behind #1.

Cal is also doing the trimming of several trees along 11. His bucket truck is very turf friendly and is not making any tracks. Now standing on the the 11th tee gives one a feeling of openness.

We will begin the final clean up next week. I have the baseball team out here on Monday for a few hours and on Tuesday I have some "Senior Muscle" coming out to lend a hand. Cal will also start stump grinding. This years project won't be near as big as last year. I'm thinking there are less than 50 to eliminate. The course accessories will come out of storage and after some cleaning and painting, they will be distributed accordingly. We will blow and mow greens, tees, and collars and then be ready to open. Yes, we are so close!

Work On

Good news is that the tree crew will be back to finish all the tree work next week. With the weather warming considerably, I'm thinking they will be working mornings until it is too soft. Cal Haines was able to drop the tree on 18, barely missing the rain shelter. My guys have burnt and cleaned up most of the limbs. I went back to my email from last fall when we toured the course, and I forgot about the tree on 13F to remove. There are also 2 dead oaks left of 17 by the pond that I will have taken down. I'm hoping that Dan Siefert will be able to leave a 6 foot stump on the pine right of 12 green so we can explore the possibility of having a chainsaw carver build us a logo man to oversee all those missed putts! As weather permits, we will get after the clean up and course prep promptly.

There maybe some courses opening in the Cities this weekend but we still have a solid 4-6 inches of snow covering us. I still anticipating opening around April 1. Gwen does start back on Monday and has a lot of things to get ready for the season. The grind continues in the shop and the equipment should be ready to go by then.

The golf season is coming!

Renew

The days are getting longer and the temps have moderated. These are great signs that the end of winter has started. How long will that take? It's different every year. I always plan my winter work to be completed by April 1.

Last week I was able to attend the Golf Industry Show in San Diego. Yes the weather was warm but they did have the air conditioning on for us in the convention center. Over 12,000 people from around the world attended this event. It is always great to renew friendships and catch up with others in the industry. Even casual conversations lead to exchange of ideas and information.

With a large event, one must have a game plan to attack the needs that you are looking for. The first 2 days I spent in the classroom. I listened to talks on DIY Projects including bat house construction which would reduce the mosquito and flying insect problems. There were several short presentations on equipment modifications that could be useful. A longer presentation on Labor Management from The National Golf Course Owners Association was next. There were several management companies that gave their ideas on managing the largest line item of the budget.

The afternoon seminar I attended was The Business of Golf. They presented their ideas on emerging trends in the industry. The #1 trend they see and we are doing a terrible job is promoting women at the golf course. Europe is doing very well with this and we should follow. I highly recommend that we make a better effort in this area. The good news from this seminar is that we are doing the right things to keep our golfers and attract new ones. They are: 1. Great Course Conditioning. 2. Great Customer Service. Gwen and her staff do an amazing job. 3. Priced Right. The Golf Commission has helped in setting the bar to have a great value to their experience. Other tidbits I'll discus later.

The next 2 days were spent on the trade show floor. With over 5 acres of displays, my game plan was to work on our needs. I spent a lot of time with the tee sign and marker folks. By implementing some new accessories will help bring a fresh feel. I also spent time looking at the fairway mowers as this is our #1 priority of equipment needs. The last main focus area was that of irrigation. The need to upgrade our system is great and we need to start gather information to help decide how we proceed. This is a year or two away.

It is always fun to look in all corners of the show to find those unique items that can help out our needs. I'll comment on two that I saw but there were more. First is a product called Vinyl Guard. It is a vinyl product that when heated shrinks to conform to the object. I have used it before and I will buy some this year to cover our rake handles. Instead of replacing handles, simply cover them to look new again. There is a significant cost savings by covering instead of replacing. Second is a hot item that golfers are talking about are Golf Boards. These are individual boards to stand on to travel around the course. They have a handle bar to grab and and to turn you must lean to one side like a snowboard. I was able to test drive one and they are very safe and fun. This could be another avenue to increase revenue. I will be getting a demo this spring and allow golfers to use and get their feedback on the potential use. I will let people know when that happens.

For now, back to the grind stone.

Work Continues

A short walk on the course yesterday yielded the following pictures:

A pile of lumber logs from the 18th tee.

The willows between 17 and 18 are gone. Need to finish burning the brush. We will discuss this summer what trees to plant in this area.

There is still one more oak to remove to the north of the red tee on 18. I should have a much better chance to produce quality turf.

The 4 oaks behind 11 green and the broken white pine to the right will finish the main tree removal. The ob lines on 14 and 15 still need to be cleaned out but should not take too long.There is still plenty of winter left to accomplish our goals. Meanwhile, several brush piles will be cleaned up next week.

While the Cat's away, the guys keep working

I am coming to you from sunny southern California. Ia m currently attending to some family matters at a time when the weather cooperates in my favor!

While I am gone, the tree cutters have continued their winter work upon snow landscape of the golf course. All the trees that I marked along the left of 2 and right of 8 have been removed and burned. Some minor cleanup will occur in the spring. Yesterday they attacked the trees on 5 and burned the pile that has been there since summer. Their journey will next lead them to left of 14 and left of 15. Their final destinations will be the oaks by the 11th green and red tee on 18, along with the willows between 17 and 18, and end up removing the broken white pine right of 12 green.

Today's technology makes it possible to work remotely with use of smart phones. My guys have made physical contact to assure everything is going fine while I can be tethered via cell phones. Now if I could do this and make sure the reel grinder was still working, I might stay longer.

Pictures to be posted next week when I get back providing I can get re acclimated to winter!

Winter Work

Winter has finally arrived as there were golf courses opened around the Twin Cities as late as the week before Christmas. I kept myself busy in November and December by refurbishing the employee break area in our shop. Everything on the walls was taken off and all lockers were removed and put out in the shop area for painting. The ceiling was scraped and repainted. The walls were washed, repaired, and painted from leftover paint from the clubhouse. The rug was removed but did not paint the floor yet. I had some vacation time to use up so that will wait till next winter. The cabinets were painted and the lockers were repositioned back in place. I had some pictures but they have seemed to disappear from me.

The tree crew was able to make it out for a day last week and begin removing more trees. Our game plan this year is to thin/open up the areas along our boundary lines. They were able to start along the left side of hole 2 and finished up that area. Some brush was burned but still more to clean up.

Next week, after this cold snap, they will venture over to the left side of #8 and continue on with more of the same. Stay warm.

Picture Story 2015

As try as I might, being able to find time to post relevant material is becoming increasingly harder. My good intentions to update as we go along through the season never materializes, but winter has arrived and now as I glance at pictures that were taken, I will comment after the fact that it happened.

We converted the rain shelter on hole 7 to a refreshment center, aka "Mike's Bar". We had it opened on weekends and for some of our bigger events.

Of course it never fails, the night before the Men's Member Guest Tournament, a storm blew through the course and made a mess of everything. The crew was able to get out and clean up before the event started. Unfortunately, one of the casualties was this tree guarding the dogleg on 7. Most of the members I talked to say they won't miss it.

We were finally allocated funds to purchase some needed equipment. Shown here is one of the new greens mower on a new shop hoist. The greens mowers along with a rough mower made a huge difference in maintaining the course properly and this lift was used to maintain and adjust the equipment correctly.

. With a little muscle from the Luck Football Team, the boys did a nice job cleaning up the area between holes 4 & 5. We even got out many rocks and we should be able to regularly mow this area next year.

In late October, we started this project to make this area to the left of hole 4 more playable. We will finish this up with sod in the spring.

We will be taking out a few more trees this winter. Pictured here is the red tee on 18. There are 4 large oak trees that are inhibiting turf growth in this area. There will be more tree pictures as they begin to fall.

That was 2015 in a nutshell. I've already started plans for 2016 and when you show up in the spring, there will be new golf cars waiting. Have a great off season.

Whew, Really

Looking at the date of my last post, has it really been that long? Must be, computers don't lie. So what have we doing for the last 2 months? Short answer, a lot. Let's take a look to see what we have been up to as long as it is raining on this Saturday morning.

The main projects from last fall and winter are nearly completed. The drainage lines on holes 9 & 15 have been seeded and sodded and are recovering and working nicely.

Nearly all of the 457 stumps have been cleaned up, back filled, seeded. and are growing nicely.There are a few random areas for whatever reason not growing, have been seeded again. There are several stumps yet to be cleaned up between 4 and 5, but now that the young staff is here for the summer, they will finish up as time permits. We will be dragging a landscape rake through this area as there is much debris to be cleaned up.The last thing we will do is to "pop some rocks". In other words, we will dig up the protruding rocks so we can mow this area once again. By looking at the number of golf balls that inhabit this area, I'm sure the golfers will appreciate it.

With all the timely rains this spring, the grass is growing very well. All the winter damage has recovered, and the staff is mowing constantly to keep up. So far so good in that regards.The purchase of some new equipment has helped tremendously in mowing, moving people around, and in the shop.

It is nice to see a lot of new faces enjoying the golf course. The overall atmosphere is a positive one and we will continue to improve and maintain our beautiful course. Summer is here. Come out and enjoy.In fact, you may be seeing me out playing golf and not working.

Spring Clean Up

Spring clean up continued last week as volunteers from the Unity Golf Team and the Luck - Frederic Baseball Teams showed up and helped with our tree clean up. It is nice to have "Jr Muscle" to help load the stump chips for disposal. With that help, we are about half done with that project. We have the cleaned up stumps back filled with soil and will be seeding those soon.

A nice picture of the boys after their work. Thank you!

Clean up

This past weeks' weather allowed us to get out on to the course and begin the final phase of tree clean up. It was good to see that the actual mess was less than anticipated. All the areas that trees were cut in have had the remaining branches picked up and piled for burning. Well, the burning ban may make us think of alternate disposal methods unless the forecast of snow changes the conditions.

By Friday, we were able to bring out the blowers to not only move the remaining debris but get any of the wet leaves off the turf. This process will continue this week on the entire course.

There are still a handful of trees to remove. Some of these trees that need to go were a result of the storm on September 3. If everything goes well, I am anticipating an April 1 opening but that could change either way. Check the course website for updates.

The Melt

I took a stroll around the course today. The snow is receding nicely. My objective was to inspect our clean up duties. Yep, the branches didn't disappear! It looks like we can start the clean up process next week. This view of 14 is wonderful.

So Where We Going?

As temperatures rise, the and snow melts, plans made over the past few months are now getting ready for implementation. The immediate plan this early spring is to do a solid clean up of the tree removal areas and the couple of trenches from drainage installation. This is top priority and we may be able to accomplish this even before we open the doors to the public. The stump grinding process will commence when the chance for damage to the turf is minimal. The clean up and seeding will follow as quickly as possible. As mentioned in an earlier blog, attention to detail is high on the priority list. All playing surfaces including traps will be upgraded to higher maintenance practices. The results will be noticeable but necessary for us to continue upgrading our playability.

Our new membership campaign is going very well. With finding a price point that people are comfortable with, we are finding a commitment level from golfers who would have not regularly played our course. We are noticing families signing up, golfers who use to be customers coming back, and a lot of locals who are ready to try golf again. With these additional committed golfers, we have the opportunity to improve our overall financial health as well broaden our appeal among our customers and broaden our base for growth.

Winter Waiting

With the sun angle a little higher in the sky, spring will be coming. Ah, not real soon as the as the temperature this morning was -28! Work on equipment continues in the shop and realize that the golf season will be here sooner than I think. We had a Golf Commission meeting the other night and plans and pricing were discussed so I have some more office duties to work on. Next week, I leave for San Antonio, Texas to attend the GCSAA Golf Industry Show. It will be 4 days of business seminars and golf maintenance educational opportunities as well as the trade show to look at and inspect anything golf course related.

Nothing could be better than 4 days of golf with no clubs.