Punch Away

Today we started fairway aerification on the mountain course. The weather is fantastic and we are pulling a great plug. Five holes down and Just twenty more fairways to go.

Tag Team

What a team effort! With six inches of snow piled on top of our plugs on tees and rough during the day Tuesday. We only had one day to finish cleaning up from aerification before a busy Easter weekend. Get er done! Job well done guys!!

April Showers Bring...

April Showers bring... wet heavy snow! Welcome to a Colorado spring. Sunday the golf course was busy, folks were out in short and T-Shirts, washing cars, working in the yard, barbecuing just enjoying the warm 80 degree temps on Sunday. This fabulous weather was closely followed the next day by highs in the upper 30's windy, damp and snow on the way. Well what a difference a day can make now we have 3 inches of snow on the ground and more expected throughout today. This moisture was much welcome since March went down in the record books as the driest in Denver history and the 2nd warmest. This was the first moisture we had on the course since February 23rd. Lets hope April continues to brings more beneficial moisture.

Check out our real time camera link on the right side of this blog and watch the snow blow.

New Species?

Just recently we discovered of all things small snails growing in our irrigation main line pipes? We contacted the Colorado Department of Wildlife to see if they could ID the snail. On Wednesday afternoon they stopped by, both rangers said they have never seen this type of snail and will have some experts look at the small snail to see if it is a new species or is it an evasive species. Fortunately this creature was not the Zebra Mussel or Quagga Mussel both are very evasive an would devastate our irrigation system.

New Species of Snail?

Fairway Expansion

This spring we started our fairway/IR expansion on select holes and landing areas. As of now we have selected around 12 fairways. This expansion should help speed of play and make the landing areas just a little bit more forgiving. You should be able to see the new mow outs when you are playing golf, they are marked with red turf paint. The pictures below are just a taste of what some of the new mow outs will look like.

#2 Mountain Before

#2 Mountain after

The Fairway moves to the right a little and the IR goes around the tree

Irrigation or Irritation

Irrigation or Irritation that is the question. Over the last ten days we have begun the long process of charging the irrigation system. The frost free main line went great but the 2nd week of charging up summer laterals has been much different. So far we have had three lateral breaks. A two inch T, two inch slip fix and a two inch 90. Thankfully two of these breaks were in the native and one in a fairway. All of these breaks should be fixed by the weekend so we can get back to business as usual.

#11 Native right of green

A two inch 90 right off the mainline

Hanging On

With temps in the upper 60's all week we still have some snow hanging on. Number five fairway has had snow cover since December 4th. With a little help from us it should all be gone by next week.

Lighting Protection

Just recently we added more lighting/surge protection to our irrigation pump station.

Last year we had over five thousand dollars in damage from four separate lighting strikes.

These lighting strikes occurred from May-July. As far as we can tell they were not direct hits but close enough to cause damage to the sensitive electronic equipment in the pump stations electrical panel. We were not alone in the summer of 2011 countless other golf courses were damaged from severe lighting strikes. We did have surge protection and proper grounding of the pump station but took extra precaution by adding a larger surge protector. Thanks to High Plains electric we got a great deal on this unit.

Lighting Facts:

- A typical lightning bolt contains 1 billion volts

- 10,000 to 200,000 amperes of current. One Amperes can kill a man.

- The average flash would light a 100 watt lightbulb for 3 months

- A leader of a bolt of lighting can travel at speeds of 60,000 m/s

- The US averages 20 million lighting strikes per year

- The Rocky Mountain Foothills are the Lighting capital of the US

Picture of the LEA International SP200

that was installed on the pump station

Hello Spring

The last few days have brought some incredible melting. On the 27th of February we had 10 inches of snow on most areas of the course. Over the last two days the sun and wind arrived with temperatures in the upper 60's and we had some significant melting. Yet we still have 12-15 inches of snow on our northern faced slopes. We have a plan in place to increase the melting of the snow in those areas.

These two pictures were taken eight days apart. Get ready for some golf once we dry out a bit.

Before and After

February 27th

March 7th

Winter Micro Climates

Winter micro climates are very common in Colorado. A Typical winter micro climate on golf courses are Northern exposures these areas hold the snow most of the winter. And the complete opposite happens on the southern exposures which are dry and greening up. So we have some areas of the course that are greening up while others are still frozen and under snow.

These two micro climates usually are not to far apart most times on the same hole or just yards from each other.

#5 Mountain Fairway Northern Exposure

20 inches of snow

# 17 rough Southern Exposure

greening up and no snow cover

NOAA Weather Report

NOAA Weather Report for Colorado March-May

• La Niña continues to weaken in the Pacific Ocean. Surface and sub-surface water

temperature anomalies in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean have decreased and will

likely continue to do so in the coming months.

• The recent decline in La Niña may be linked to large scale oceanic and atmospheric

circulations and anomalous warming produced by a moderate to strong Madden-Julian

Oscillation (MJO) that propagated eastward across the tropical Pacific Ocean in late January

and early February.

• The movement of the MJO across the eastern Pacific Ocean may account for the relatively

sudden shift from unseasonably warm and dry conditions across Colorado and the western

U.S. in December and early January, to the unseasonably cool and moist (snowy) conditions

across the southwest and central Rocky Mountain regions of the U.S. from late January to

mid-February. Conditions normally attributed to La Niña were replaced with those commonly

associated with El Niño.

• With the MJO weakening as it moves east across northern Africa and over the Indian

Ocean, the jet stream and weather patterns across the western U.S. should return to

those commonly associated with a La Niña. However, as this La Niña weakens, so

will its influence on weather patterns affecting the U.S.

• The outlook for Colorado issued by the Climate Prediction Center for the March-May

climate season is calling for at least a one-in-three chance of above average temperatures

and below average precipitation across the entire state.

What's a Purr-wick Golf Green?

What actually is a Purr-wick golf green and how are they constructed?

The Purr-wick golf green design was first conceived in 1966 at Purdue University by Dr William H. Daniel. The design was attempting to create capillary action from coarse sand to fine sand. Basically a water pool/table on the bottom of the green created by a plastic barrier. This water will be absorbed by capillary action to the finer sand above. In theory you can change the level of the water in the green by adding or reducing risers that are located at the drainage exit. This water table is created by separate tiers on golf greens with contours. So a high area on a green is one tier and a low area is another. Most greens at the Pinery have 3-4 tiers as far as we can tell, since we have locate most of the outgoing drains. The ability to manage the water table on Purr-wick golf greens gives the design an advantage to manage water in extreme weather conditions.

The Purr-wick design was originally constructed for water conservation on sports turf and eventually found its way to the golf industry. There are still many examples of Purr-wick greens construction mostly in the mid west. As far as I know we have the largest examples of Purr-wick construction in the country with 27 golf greens.

#8 green lake course

Note the plastic liner and the separate tiers.

You can see the pipe on right of the green that exits to the right.

Profile View of Purr-wick golf green

Cross section drawing of drainage and riser system

Notice the water table and capillary action to the sand above

Time Lapse

A short test video on time lapse snow removal off of #8 green mountain. This was filmed back in January and filmed with a GoPro Hero. A picture was taken every 5 seconds. It took us over an hour to remove most of the snow and ice off the green. But now we can watch it in just over 2 minutes.

Record Snow

The last week we saw record snow fall in Colorado. This major winter storm started on Groundhog Day February 2nd late in the afternoon and kept snowing through Saturday the 4th. There were snow totals in Pinecliffe Colorado located in the foothills around 51 inches and totals here at the Pinery of 24 inches. What a storm, some areas had snow rates over 2 inches per hour. As of now most of Colorado is covered in a white blanket of fresh snow.

No Golf Today

Audubon Certification

This Morning when I was checking my e-mail I noticed one from Audubon International. We received our Audubon Certification on January 27th 2012 after joining the organization in March of 2010. The last few years were filled with new challenges accompanied with educational opportunities and fun times. We all learned how to protect the environment just a little better and education others of the importance of environmental stewardship. It is a proud day at the Pinery since we are the 38th golf course in Colorado and the 957th in the world to be recognized as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. We are all deeply honored for this distinction.

Below is a press release

Pinery Country Club Recognized for Environmental Excellence

PARKER, CO – Pinery Country Club has achieved designation as a "Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary" through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, an Audubon International program. Steve Whiting, Course Superintendent, has led the effort to obtain sanctuary status on this course and is being recognized for Environmental Stewardship by Audubon International. Pinery Country Club is the 38^thcourse in Colorado and the 957^th in the world to receive the honor.

"Pinery Country Club has shown a strong commitment to its environmental program. They are to be commended for their efforts to provide a sanctuary for wildlife on the golf course property," said Jim Sluiter, Staff Ecologist for the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Programs.

"To reach certification, a course must demonstrate that they are maintaining a high degree of environmental quality in a number of areas," explained Sluiter. These categories include: Environmental Planning, Wildlife & Habitat Management, Outreach and Education, Chemical Use Reduction and Safety, Water Conservation, and Water Quality Management.

The Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, endorsed by the United States Golf Association, provides information and guidance to help golf courses preserve and enhance wildlife habitat, and protect natural resources. Golf courses from the Africa, Australia, Canada, Central America, Europe, and Southeast Asia have also achieved certification in the program.