Getting back to Normal

After a very successful AT&T our maintenance operation as been full steam ahead in getting the golf course back into shape for the membership. The first priority is getting the rough mowed. On Tuesday we mowed all the rough on holes 1, 10, 18 and 2 thur 9. Today we will finish the rough on holes 11 thur 17 and then head back to the other holes. The current rough cutting height is 2 1/4" Within a few weeks we hope to be back to our normal height of 2"

Here is a photo of rough mowing taking place this morning.

Practice Round

Practice Rounds started today. Very few pros are out today as it is probably a recovery day for those that played in Newport Beach. Richie is out on the course playing his practice round with our Head Pro Mr. Cliver. Between the two of them I am sure that they can figure out the course.

Rich's tee time for the pro-am on Wednesday is 7:40 of the 1st tee.

Final grooming is taking place on the course. The roughs are being topped at 2.25" and the greens are rolling 11 feet on the stimpmeter. This picture was taken of the 8th hole a few minutes ago.

Rainy President's Day

As of 8am this morning we have had 3/4" of Rain. The rain currently has tampered off to a light drizzle. As you can see from the photo above many of the greens have a lot of standing water.

Currently the course is closed until noon. At that time we will reassess that saturated conditions and determine whether or not we will open. Our decision will be based on whether or the not the course can accommodate play with out causing long lasting damage. When the greens are saturated a foot print or indentation can be seen for a long time.

Weather up date.

A quick weather up date. Since my La Nina posting we have had some rain. Over the past 6 days we have received 2.25" of rain with a little amount of hail mixed in for good measure. Yesterday and Today have been good drying out days for the course. Today, once the frost cleared, we were able to get the mowing fleet on the course. We are trying to get everything mowed prior to the next forecasted rain event on Friday.
Now that things have settled back down after the "transition" events of the past few weeks I promise to be more diligent writing entries to keep you up to date about the golf course.

Dry!

While I don't want to make this Blog all about the weather, I feel that the weather it one of the single biggest limiting factors to the condition of the golf course. Last post I talked about frost and how we have been affected by it. Well it never fails, two days after that last post we have had a high pressure system set in over the southwest of the US and it has been non stop wind and heat. Last January we had 9 inches of rain for the month of January, so far this year we have had 0. And no significant chance of rain is in the forecast. While this dry month has been great for playing golf, the drought situation that we face in the Southwest portion of this country continues to worsen.
The US National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center recently (January 8, 2009) posted an important Climate Prediction Update. Based on lower water temperatures in the central and east-central Pacific Ocean, climatologists are now calling for a La Nina condition in the Northern Hemisphere for Spring, 2009.
For the U.S., this signals above-average precipitation in the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, and below-average precipitation in the South, especially the southwest and southeastern states. Warmer weather in the southern U.S. and cooler weather in the Pacific Northwest are also likely outcomes. This is bad news for southern states that have been suffering with a drought for the past several years.
Outside the U.S., a La Nina conditions usually results in high rainfall over Indonesia, and below-average precipitation over the central and eastern equatorial Pacific.
For more detailed information on El Nino and La Nina, see this very good website, Frequently asked questions about El Nino and La Nina.
At this point water rationing could be mandated as early as this summer. Valencia CC does have a plan in place to reduce water consumption if mandated and will be done so in a way that protects that playability and turf health of greens, tees and fairways. If we get to this point I will have a more detailed posting on how this will be implemented and what to expect. Until then, conservation will be key and a rain dance can only help.

Winter is here!

Our first frost of the season was on December 14th, about 3 weeks later then normal. Since this day we have made up for the lack of frost by having frost on 21 of the last 24 days. Two of the days with out frost it was raining.

Frost occurs when the soil surface is 32 degrees or below, causing dew to freeze on the turf. The ice crystals that form are lovely to look at, but are also the most serious hazard to the health and appearance of turf during the winter months. Frost produces a silvery sheen on turf as is illustrated in the photo above.

Frost by itself does not necessarily cause damage to turf. However, when weight is applied to frosted turf in the form of foot or vehicular traffic, damage will result. This is because frost transforms turf from a s soft, springy surface to a fragile, brittle surface that cracks when pressure is placed on it.

All types and heights of turf can be damaged by frost, not just putting greens.

Golf cart traffic on frosty turf results in damage that appears 2-3 days later. Walking on frosty greens also produces foot shaped patterns of brown, dead turf. In both cases, turf is slow to recover, leaving unsightly brown areas for weeks or even months.

Frost is frequently an early morning problem that is relieved once the sun comes up and air temperatures rise. Once frost crystals melt, turf is safe for foot and vehicular traffic.

There is really only one way to avoid frost damage, and that is to avoid all traffic until it has melted.

Winter has arrived!

Well for those of you who have not ventured outside in the past two days, Winter is Here! We started off Sunday with a low temperature of 26.8 degrees for our first frost delay of the season. That has been follow with some wet weather that rolled in Sunday Night and still continues to give us a scattered shower or two. No snow as of yet, but and I am sure when the clouds clear out that we will see some snow dusting the tops of the hills surrounding our valley.
So far our rain total is 1.3" A nice slow and steady rain that lasted over 10 hours. Combine this slow and steady rain with a golf course that was fairly dry, and most of the water soaked in versus running off.
Showers are forecasted through Wednesday and then I would expect a fairly slow drying out due to cold temperatures. If I had to put money down I would guess that we might have to stay on the cart paths till Saturday.
With this first major cold spell of the winter season we will lose some of the lush green color that we have been experiencing for the past month. We will be make foliar fertilizer applications to fairways and tees to help offset this lose of color.