2020 Summer Course Update

2020 has been quite year so far and I'm  not sure many of us anticipated how much our lives would change. In some ways our work lives in Granite Bay GCM hasn't changed drastically as the golf course never completely closed due to COVID and actually before all this pandemic stuff we thought we would be closed to finish the turf conversion we started in 2019.  Then "The Project" was cancelled followed shortly after with COVID shutdown's and all of our worlds changed.

#2 FW low shady area. Stays wet, collects golf balls and without
Member divot filling help is pretty tore up in early August.

In many ways the cancelling of the project was fortuitous for the GBGC membership as you now had somewhere to go and exercise and socialize in a socially distant fashion, so the golf course has never been busier. To give you an idea of how busy, through July 2020 we have run 26,000 golf rounds through the course. All  of which were Member rounds. In the entire year of 2019 we ran 29,000 rounds including both Member  and Tournament rounds. Most of these rounds were done without the help of Members filling divots because we were required to remove all of the divot bottles from the golf course and single cart riders because we cannot send out carts with dual occupancy. 

#1 Granite Tee. It got wore out early in the 2020 season and needed
to be re-sodded. 

All this activity didn't leave as much of a mark on the course early in the spring months as the course's cool season turf is thriving at that time of the year. But as we progressed into the summer months where the course has historically struggled, the traffic is starting to take its toll. GCM has more then doubled its man-hours on filling divots but it is hard to keep up. Additionally we are trying to culture new hybrid bermuda surrounds and #17 FW to help create the playing surfaces we all want at the same time taking care of a cool season course in another Granite Bay summer while receiving historic traffic. Something had to give and the course is certainly summer worn in areas in early August. Weather hasn't been to bad even after recording 15 days over 100 degrees and another 15 days in the 98+ degree range. Nighttime temperatures have been cool and the two distinct heat spells have been proceeded by nice cool downs.

Newly installed tee-line at the rear of the driving range was
a traffic related add in the social distancing world we now live in.

View from the back of the range on the new tee-line

None of us know when we will get back to normal. We do know that the fall equinox is 46 days away and post labor day aeration is only a month away. Let the recovery begin!

Driving Range Is Open In This New COVID World

After over 2 months of closure due to COVID-19 concerns and some much needed time off and renovation, the GBGC driving range opened this week on Tuesday 6/2/20. Due to the continued COVID protocols of social distancing that will likely be around for awhile,  we can only open the tee to 50% capacity. Mr. Peabody is working hard on securing funding for some tee expansion at the upper end of the driving range to mitigate some of the demand issues. If he is successful we will be adding 10 or so new bays up there. More to come on that.

Finished Driving Range product. There are now seven total target greens including 3 additional short game targets, and no sand traps to maintain around. 

COVID protocols remain in place on the golf course which eliminate commonly touched items such as sand trap rakes, divot bottles, ball washers ect. Elevated platforms in the bottom of the putting green hole remain for the foreseeable future. We will be installing some practice green target's in the upcoming weeks but no holes will be cut in the practice greens until COVID precautions are relaxed.

Upper practice green with no holes. We have come "cup-less" target poles arriving soon. 

Sand traps rake are still not available for golfers.

We recently upgraded the platform that is required in this new COVID world
from the foam we started with originally. I think all will agree this is a better
option then the bouncy, faded foam.

Driving Range Facelift

In the spirit of not letting a good crisis go to waste while the driving range is closed due to COVID-19 concerns, we are working some driving range improvements. Our initial plan was to aerify and throw some sand and seed at it and be done. But  upon further analysis we wanted to take the proper amount of time and effort to make modifications we feel will be more aesthetically pleasing as well as creating a more functional situation. Below are pictures of progress thus far. 

Here is a nice spring time picture of our range. Not to bad from afar. What you don't know is this range is extremely rough  out there and has allot of operational issues that hinder turf maintenance and retrieval of golf balls. One of the larger issues is we don't shut it down frequently enough for a maintenance  as this COVID situation is forcing us to do  now. Why don't we shut it down more often? Members love hitting balls and taking lessons. The secondary issue is we have too many obstacles to work around when picking balls and doing any kind of maintenance. The third issue is drainage which hampers maintenance and the retrieval of balls as well. The fourth issue is cool season turf for the most part growing in poor soil.

When we first went out on the range to game plan precisely what would make sense to do with a potentially long closure,  the first thing that we agreed to do was to remove the bunkers. I know they add a nice aesthetic to the range but the trade off is extremely worn out turf around them as they have to be avoided with the ball picker and any other maintenance equipment. This causes extreme traffic patterns is areas making it impossible to grow turf. I know you don't see these worn out  areas from the picture above but they are there and they are severe. These areas rapidly turn into mud then balls become smashed into them as tractor tire continue to roll over them creating a  real unsustainable situation.

We got started filling in the bunkers last week to get them ready for sodding on Monday 4/27/20. We plan on substantially increasing the size of the target greens near to previous bunkers by sodding down the slope where to bunkers used to be creating a false front to each target green that will be very visible form the tee. Additionally we plan to add another 2 targets giving us 6 total.

Above Enrique and the GCM crew stripping out the completely worn out center section of the range to prepare it for new sod. We will add a 135 yard (from the mats) target green in this area as well. 

Removing the bunkers are not the only thing we are working on. All of the sprinkler heads needed to be raised and checked and a large % replaced. Additionally depicted above is a drainage inlet (DI)  that has been dug out and will have a perforated riser installed to raise the DI grate. The displaced soil will be replaced with gravel to quickly drain the water that accumulated in areas like this by design and improve overall drainage and softness associated with these areas. 

I'll do an update again after we install the sod.

Storms & Pestilence

Storms have always been a way of life on the golf course and are seasonably predictable with foreseeable results and responses. Pestilence (COVID 19) on the other hand is not common in our golf course maintenance world and certainly the end results are uncertain. 

The Granite Bay Golf Course Maintenance Department is happy to be working and preparing the course so members can enjoy a  break from the isolation we are all taking part in. Specific precautions for our staff is keeping our distance with single cart & vehicle operation and meeting in the maintenance yard in the AM rather then our cramped lunchroom to detail daily tasks. Lunches are taken out in the yard and  inherent in our work practices is a natural social distancing. 

Below are some pictures of the recent weekend storm that brought 3" of rain as well as a big mess and the unfortunate change to the sixth hole at Granite Bay.

We haven't many big storms this rainy season and one of the biggest issues for golf course
maintenance when we do have big storms is bunker recovery. Heavy rains wash the sand off
the faces of bunkers and  fill them with rainfall, some of which needs to be
mechanically pumped out.

And the recovery process is lengthy. This go around will take us 3 days to recover all of the bunkers.

The big loss from this storm was the toppling of the large Blue Oak that protected the right hand side of  the green on #6

First things first. We need to remove the down tree. Next we can contemplate  future options for protecting
the right hand side of the green.

Coronavirus Update #2 - Additional Golf Course Precautions

Last week we removed all water cooler's from the golf course as a precaution against Coronavirus transmission from water cooler dispenser handling. Using CDC guidelines, ClubCorp has mandated additional measures to golf course operations nationwide to prevent transmission.

Practice green this morning with flag's removed

Additional Measures Include:

• Removal of all practice green flags.
• Removal of all sand trap rakes.
• Removal of ball washers.
• Removal of all divot boxes and bottles.
• Reversing the putting green cup.

Above picture depicts ClubCorp mandated reversal of the putting green cup. The tapered flag stick ferrule wedges into the cup with this configuration so we are asking all players to NOT REMOVE THE FLAG STICK WHEN PUTTING. 

Above picture depicts a ball that has settled into the reversed cup in the putting green eliminating the need touch the sides of the cup during retrieval of your golf  ball. We ask that you utilize the following temporary local rule at until we return to normal putting green cup placement:
IF YOUR BALL HITS THE BASE OF THE FLAGPOLE CONSIDER IT HOLED OUT. 

Above picture shows sand traps on #8 without sand trap rakes. GCM will rake bunkers in the AM. Players need to try to smooth out their tracks in the bunkers with their shoes temporarily until we come up with a better solution.

Water station on #5 tee without ball washer.

Following the CDC's guidance on keeping work places safe is ClubCorps and Granite Bay Golf Clubs upmost priority for our Members and Employee Partners. On the golf course we feel that by removing all of these commonly handled golf course items that we are eliminating potential transmission touch points. All of these measures are of course temporary as we all navigate through these new times we are experiencing. We are glad that at least for now we can prepare the golf course for our members to enjoy as their home away from home during these turbulent times.  

Thanks for your understanding and patience.

Coronavirus Update #1 - Golf Course Water Cooler Removal

As a precautionary measure amid the recent concerns with the Corona Virus, Club Corp and Granite Bay Golf Club have required the temporary removal of water coolers throughout the golf course. Bottled water will be available at the golf shop through this temporary period.

Thanks for your understanding and patience.