All Done

That is correct, all 375 trees are cut down, hauled away, and the brush burnt. Walking down the 14th fairway to inspect the progress, a big smile came over me. The sunlight, that now will be able dry down the turf, was beaming brightly. The ability of golfers to play this hole that is now opened up is awesome.

This picture is from about 150 yards out and shows an open feeling to this hole. It was 2 years ago that we removed 5 oak trees from the east side of the green and immediately the quality of turf improved. I am counting on the same enhancements here.

We removed a few more trees in this area but more to help the approach. Look to see an expanded approach mowed this spring. As you can see, there are still some small branches yet to be cleaned up. I anticipate being able to get to most of the debris before we open. Once it dries enough to get equipment on the course, we will use blowers, sweepers, rakes, etc to remove the remaining sticks and then run a debris mower over the area. This will allow our sharpened equipment to mow turf and not branches.

This photo shows the reduction in trees between holes 14 and 15. It will be a bit easier to navigate through this area than before.

The last thing that needs to be done is to remove the stumps. We have a local tree stumper who will start as soon as he can get his equipment out onto the course. That will happen yet this winter. His plan is to have as much done by the time we open. My staff will have to clean up the chips and then backfill with soil. I plan to seed most of these areas and put a cover on it to help the germination process. More on this at a later date. So if there are any volunteers out there that will be able to help us out, contact me and we can make arrangements.

Japan

The question most often asked is "What do you do in the winter?". Well, the answer today is a vacation. Actually, it's a trip to Japan to visit my daughter and son-in-law, who is stationed here in the navy, AND my granddaughter. This is a 12 day visit to not only see the kids but take in the country and and taste a bit of the culture. A marvelous opportunity to explore and think about the upcoming season. It is early spring as the locals are starting to work their gardens. I may get a chance to visit the local golf course before we leave. The question that I will leave you with is" How come if we leave Japan at 9:20 am, we arrive in LA at 9:00 am?" Can't wait to see the tree project completed. I will report back next week, after I eat a big fat juicy cheeseburger................

More Trees

The tree removal crew continues on today despite the cold temps. Yesterday they got to many of the trees to the right of the 7th green. They plan on working back toward the tee. The total number of trees in this rough line is 113.

If the weather cooperates, they will then tackle the trees between holes 14 & 15, with a few additional trees to remove to the left of the 15th green.

New Years' Resolutions

It's that time of year when a lot of us ponder ways to improve ourselves. Over the last few weeks, I have been thinking about ways to make the Luck Golf Course have a competitive advantage. It is no secret that the number of golfers is not growing, so we have to make our venue more enticing to the golfer. Over the past 3 years, we have had the opportunity to improve the playing conditions considerably through the generous contributions to our Donation Fund. With the rebuilding of 4 greens, installing over a half mile of drainage, and the removal of several hundred trees, the course now has a new and different look and feel.

Many years ago, I heard a motivational speaker address an audience of golf course superintendents. She had a quote that has stayed with me and helps keep me centered when life, family, and work needs attention. "Elephants don't bite, mosquitoes do." In essence, it's the little things that matter. With that in mind, I have scratched out several details that I would like to see improved upon this upcoming season. This holds true not only on the course but in our course business operations as well. The list, in no particular order:

1. Season long bunker maintenance schedule. With a reduced budget and a large project to finish, bunkers were definitely ignored.
2. Improved regular greens maintenance program. This will include cup changing, verticutting, topdressing, and rolling.
3. Details in edging of trees and cart paths. This includes line trimming and the use of round up.
4. Mowing patterns.Over the course of the season, edges of the greens, tees, and fairways will tend to wander.
5. Improve our customer service with speed and efficiency. This will include social and electronic media.
6. Launching several new marketing campaigns to include a wider customer participation rate.
7. Continue to establish and implement a long term plan for continued financial success.

With that, I wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Progress

The tree cutting project continues on like syrup in January, slow but sure. All of the marked trees between holes 4 & 5 have been removed and the brush burnt. The only thing remaining is the removal of the logs to be used/sold for firewood.

Of course there will be cleanup in the spring of small branches and debris. The areas where the burn piles were will be cleaned up and seeded as well. The first glimpse of the benefits of this project are seen here at the approach to the 4th green. With the removal of all the trees inside the cart path on the left as well as thinning several between the path and the 5th tee, this will allow not only the improve the shade/wetness issue in this area but an enhanced playability of the hole from the players standpoint.

The next area of work are the trees between holes 4 & 6. All the marked trees except for 15 have been removed. Brush piles are currently being burnt. The thinning of the trees will make the errant shots easier to recover to the proper hole for advancement.

With the holidays on us, work will resume sometime after the first of the new year. There are still plenty of trees to go but I'm confident we will be done before spring. Happy Holidays!

Trees vs Forest

Work is slowly continuing on removal of trees. We are almost done with the removal of close to 100 trees in the area between holes 4 and 5. All the brush is burnt so far but we need to still remove logs for firewood sale or use. These pictures show the thinning of the herd of trees. I am looking foreword to seeing the enhanced improvements not only to the turf quality but the playability. There are still plenty of trees here as the golfers will be able to experience the trees as the forest will disappear.

The next area we will attack will be the area between holes 4 and 6. With the forecast calling for mild temperatures, we are anticipating some more progress.

Thoughts from the Floor

Now that winter is really here, it is time to start the winter maintenance schedule. Even though the wood cutting crew is off for Thanksgiving Week(aka deer hunting), my work load is focused on servicing the 50 golf cars we lease. It turns into an assembly line of work which isn't necessarily a bad thing as I get to do some thinking as I lie on the floor dropping the oil into a pan. Each car gets washed, inspected for any damage and worn parts, new filter and oil, fuel stabilizer added, inspect and adjust the belts and battery, and finally air up the tires and driven to the Lion's Shelter for storage. I repeat this in groups of 5 as this is all the space the shop allows.

The other thing that I am doing is assessing the quality of each of our cars. Our lease is up at the end of 2015 and we may want to consider purchasing some.This would reduce the number of cars we need to lease and help in our cash flow as we service our customer.                                                               The good thing about assembly line work, it allows me to think about the upcoming year. There are more than a few areas that I would like to improve not only the quality of playing surfaces but the presentation too. Yes, ultimately it comes down what we can afford to spend. But that is the opportunity I enjoy to work on. The areas the come to mind while I lay on the floor(no I'm not sleeping/dreaming) include stepping up the greens maintenance with topdressing and verticutting, applying some timely fairway products to improve the infiltration and appearance, and some more detail work on bunkers and cart paths.

Everyone, have a great Thanksgiving!