April 2012 to April 2013.  How different the weather has affected the golf course.
The recent storms have impacted the golf course to a significant degree.  It has rained 8 of the last 11 days.  Yesterday it rained over 5 inches at the club.  We have had 7 inches of rain for the month. This is double the normal April rainfall amount.  Below are a few photos of the damage and the impact of the storms.

No two years are ever the same in managing the playing conditions of a golf course.  Weather conditions are the most impacting influence on the golf course here at NCC.  We have no control over the weather.  We do adjust to the varying and extreme conditions to protect the turf and prepare it for as high a quality as possible for the membership.

Last March and April we already had 80 degree days, very dry and windy.  The staff was having to hand water areas on the turf to prevent wilting.

                               Temperatures in March of 2012

Wilting turf in March

Staff watering dry spots in fairways in April of 2012

Staff syringing greens in the hot temperatures of April 2012

                                Cart path flooding and erosion

#4 white fairway is flooded

Trees have fallen

                                          Widespread flooding

 Red #8 fairway is flooded from the canal

Bunkers slopes have washed

The staff is removing standing water from the fairways

                                                                            

Spring Course Opening

We will open the course for play on Saturday April 6th.  Please recognize that there are likely to be numerous frost delays for the next few weeks.  You can follow course updates on my twitter (@TommyDWitt) and the www.rainedout.com text update option.  We are not at full staff until the middle of April so it will take a few weeks to get the course and accessories into shape.  When the course opens, other than the greens being mowed, you find it in a semi-winter state.  The fairways are too soft to be mowed.  We have begun preparing the bunkers but it will take several weeks to remove the debris and contaminated sand and re-distribute the sand.  The short game area will open as soon as the soil temperatures are available to promote turf growth so that the small and heavily used area can recuperate.
I just want to give you a chance to get out and play a few holes if you like.
 Below are some of the beginning spring course preparation tasks.

The turf is still dormant and soft

Limbs and debris are collected and discarded

Sticks, leaves and debris are blown off the fairways and tees

Debris is removed from the bunkers

Bunker faces erode during the winter and must be restored

Sand is re-distributed within the bunker to proper depths

Sticks are blown off the greens

Greens are rolled to improve firmness

Melted snow combine with freezing and thawing

result in very soft spring surfaces

Notice the footprints in the bottom of the photo

The first green's mowing is done with mowers

set at a higher cut than in-season heights to

prevent scalping

All of the dry areas on the course are mowed to remove small debris

Approximately 60 re-furbished benches are placed on the course

264 rakes are placed in the bunkers

Mario is placing 216 refurbished tee markers onto the tees

All newly refurbished ball washers are placed on the course

How are the two new greens doing on the red nine?  VERY SOFT!!!!

They were planted last fall and have approximately 98% coverage.

They are extremely soft as you can see by the footprints in the photo below.

The softness is due to the freezing and thawing of the winter months

as well as the newness of the the green and the melting snow.

We will be rolling and watering the green's surfaces to firm them

The new greens will be rolled numerous times to firm the surfaces