The Thinner the Air

 The winter is almost here, and the weather sure as heck feels like it.  We have received about a foot of measureable snow here at Fossil over the past few weeks and the temps have been low enough to keep it around. 

We go back and forth trying to decide whether or not we will blow out our irrigation system.  It take 2-3 days to blow out and if you recall last year we started to blow out but stopped after day 1 and pressured back up because the forecast changed and it looked like it was going to be warm and dry.  And it was.  Good call.

We always get the question “What do you guys do in the off-season?”.  Well, there are many things to do when the grass stops growing.  We have equipment that needs preventative maintenance, golf course accessories that need refurbishing, and projects that need planning.  It is also a chance to get caught up on the current issues affecting the golf course industry as well as taking advantage of the educational opportunities that happen this time of year.  Last week my staff and I were able to attend the RMRTA tradeshow and convention.  I was able to attend some really good seminars–one of which was a talk on water conservation by Dr. Brian Horgan from the Univ. of Minnesota.  Another talk was on Poa control using PGR’s, herbicides, and cultivars.  I learned that there is some pretty promising grass cultivars that are showing some resistance to the herbicide Round-Up.  These grasses are not to be confused with the “Round-Up Ready” bentgrasses that were being researched which proved to be unsuccesful.  These new cultivars are showing resistance to Round-Up at lower rates–which may prove to be a great tool in combatting the war against Poa.  (OK, so I am guessing you really don’t care about this, so I’ll hush). 

Let’s get to the recent pics!

Fall 2011

repair tools

Just a few pics off the iPhone.  Sights from Fossil Trace.

We are wrapping up Arts and Crafts and are ready for warm Spring weather.  Matt and Hannah are seen working on the benches.

We are sad to see #4 cottonwood go.  That tree really helped define this hole.  We knew it was declining several years ago and planted a new cottonwood in its place about 5 yards to the southeast of where this tree stood.  Regardless, it is sad to see such a large tree taken down, but it had to go for safety reasons.

Here’s to fixing ball marks and an exciting new golfing season:)

Happy Friday.

perspectives

Pop Quiz

True / False

1. Fossil Trace is an 18 hole golf course in Golden.
2. 3 Tomatoes is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
3. There is a cat employed at the golf maintenance division.
4. The golf equipment manager has a background in aviation electronics.
5. The golf pro at Fossil Trace once said in 2010 that the greens are TOO FAST.
6. The same golf pro wears funny clothes.
7. In the winter the maintenance staff works on refurbishing all the golf course accessories including tee markers, ball washers, bunker rakes, course signage, stakes, bag stands, benches, etc.
8. Along with “arts and crafts” the maintenance staff works on MANY projects outside on the course when the weather permits.
9. Many wild animals including elk, coyote, fox, raccoon, red-tailed hawks inhabit the natural areas at the golf course.
10. Geese, however, are not welcome.
11. Canada geese are not from Canada.
12. The course irrigation system is often accessed during the watering season with the superintendants iPhone.

Here are a few pics of recent.

#6 Fairway pipe replacement.  The Public Works Department did an OUTSTANDING JOB on this project.  The golf course super was SUPER NERVOUS about this project and the impact it would have on the course, and he could not have been happier at the outcome.  Thanks to all who were involved.  He can sleep now. 

Here are a few pics of the crew working on our bunker face project:  As you can see in the first pic, there is about 3-8″ of sand that has built up in the face over time. 

Here is Jay getting jiggy with it:

Cat:

Here are a few pics of us working on our indoor projects:

Meet Steve:

and Ryan:

Clean shop:

and here is Matt: