I found this creative sign posted along the course, have you seen it?

New Tools For Practice Green #1

Shown is a ball mark repair tool to help with the ball marks on the new practice green.  This tool works best when marks are fresh and not too deep.  Please utilize it by pushing it down with a popping downward stroke on top of the mark.

If everyone helps in repairing their ball marks, it will drastically help the putting surface.

This PVC tool is used to push golf balls off the green. Please use it to clear balls when finished chipping.  We've had quite a few accidental divots taken when a wedge was used to clear balls from the green.

Bunker Sand Removal #16

Unfortunately, the heavy December rains carried rocks, silt and debris from the hillside into this bunker.  A large drain above the bunker became clogged, and the overflow filled the bunker.  The sand was washed to the bottom and became mixed with rocks and gravel.  To fix the damage, the contaminated sand was removed and fresh sand will be brought in.  The photo above shows the bunker after the contaminated sand was removed.

What is interesting to note is how much the bunker has changed in the last 17 years.  The bunker lip which started at 4", was now an astounding 24" at the bottom of the bunker and 18" between the bunker and the green.  Over the years, sand has been deposited outside through play (hitting shots toward the green), and through regular maintenance (blowing leaves out, and the exit of the raking machine.) As the grass grows through the sand, the terrain actually gets higher.  In this case higher mounds were built up between the bunker and green, and at the front of the bunker (limiting visibility of the front of the bunker from the fairway.)

All bunkers and their surrounds change slowly but dramatically over the years.  This photo shows why it is important to go back and renovate bunkers if a golf course's architectural integrity is to be preserved.

GCSANC's 2012 Turfgrass Excellence Award

I'm very excited to have been selected for the 2012 Turfgrass Excellence - Private Facility Award from the GCSAA, Northern California Chapter.  Thanks go out to all my staff and directors who helped make it happen!

Newly Sodded Cart Path Near #1 Green

Here's a photo of the new concrete cart path on #1 just after sodding.  Note the drinking fountain was moved to the opposite side of the path.  The new paths provide a cleaner look and have better ingress and egress areas for cart traffic.

Videos of Storm Waters on 12/23/12

Thanks to Russ VanderSluis for these videos of the storm waters on #8 & #3 from Sunday 12/23/12.  We received 3.5" of rain in 36 hours.

 

We've already received over 14" of rain this season!

 

The Golf Channel's Michael Breed shows how to properly fix a ball mark!  This is one of the best demonstrations I've seen!

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/golf-fix-tip-breed-basics-ball-marks-121012/?cid=facebook_V_fix_BREEDSBASICSBALLMARK