Reel to Reel

It was a great week of clean-up.  As we head into April, I'm pleased with what we've been able to accomplish this week: blowing of greens, tees, fairways, rough and bunkers picking up stump and tree debris mowing and rolling of greens raking bunkers blowing rough #13 Wiedenmann vacuuming up debris #5 debris clean-up on #9 bunker clean-up #5 raked bunker #1 raked bunker #6

Weather and ground conditions this winter have been less than ideal to accomplish much of our planned tree work. This winter has been the seventh warmest winter recorded in the history of southeast Michigan.  We have had to cancel and reschedule our tree work multiple times. Conditions cooperated enough this week to finally start the process.  Five silver maples on the west side of #18 were removed this week due to safety concerns per the recommendation of two arborists and our Troon agronomist. Removal of the trees will not only resolve the safety concerns, but will also improve the playability of the hole; all of the above ground surface roots that were present were removed as well. Some tire tracking did occur in the rough as we were hauling out all of the debris and logs.  We will be working on repairing those areas when it firms up and as Mother Nature allows.

It has been a great week of cleanup on the golf course.  We were able to remove all of the large branches and debris from the previous storms.  We still have a significant amount of detailed cleanup work to do, but it was a strong start this week. We saw a substantial amount of snow melt this week due to the moderate temperatures and sun.  I was able to walk around yesterday and inspect a fair amount of turf that was visible.  I'm pleased with how everything looks, as the weather this winter has kept things extremely interesting. photo of #2 green taken Thursday afternoon photo of #11 green taken Thursday afternoon Currently, the golf course is under a couple inches of snow.  I'm hopeful with enough snow cover and the predicted colder night-time temperatures next week, ground conditions will be firm enough for the tree company to start. photo of #2 taken Friday morning photo of #3 taken Friday morning

Last week was busy as we were able to clean up all of the major limbs from the two previous ice storms.  The golf course was only clean for a few hours before the heavy snowfall Friday afternoon caused more damage.   The 7" inches of snow made for a picturesque setting, however the weight of the heavy snow caused significant damage to several limbs on many spruce trees and arborvitae throughout the property.  Cleanup is underway...again.  It looks like it will be another busy week.