Golf Course Update March 18th / 2011


The video above shows Turf Care staff removing snow from the driving range tee and # 6 Raven tee on Friday March 18th.

The golf course remains entirely covered in approximately 1' - 2.5' of snow.

Driving Range Opening Date?


The driving range happens to be on the highest sunniest part of the golf course where the snow is the first to leave. We annually plan to open the driving range by April 1st, however weather conditions dictate our ability to open the range more than any other factor. Turf Care staff will continue to blow snow from the range to help facilitate a quicker opening. Stay tuned to the blog and the club website for updates.

Turf Hound Range Mats

The Turf Hound range mat system that was installed at the beginning of 2009 seemed to be very well received by the membership. Unfortunately the longer grass (rough height) areas saw premature wear. The manufacturer has improved the manufacturing process and sent us all new mats to replace the failed pieces. The replacement mats were covered under the original purchase warranty.

Members will also enjoy new Turf Hound mats that will be used on the par 3 tees. As part of the normal maintenance procedure, practice mats are used for the first 10 days and last 10 days (approximately)of the season to minimize excessive divoting on the tees when the grass isn't actively growing. If mats were not used the tees would never recover (fill in) and the tees would be in very poor condition all season long. The thought process in using the portable Turf Hound mats on the par 3's is that members will know how the mats feel and how the club reacts from their use on the practice facility.

Golf Course Opening Dates?


The decision process for opening the golf course is quite simple - open the golf course on the first day that it is ready to play. Once again weather determines the opening date more than any other factor. Once all or most snow has melted and the golf course has a chance to dry up, staff have work to do to clean up and prepare the golf course for golfers.

The 10 year average for opening day is somewhere between April 21st - April 29th. The earliest the golf course ever opened was April 1st and the latest was May 7th.

Turf Care staff will focus on preparing nine holes at a time for opening. Once one nine hole golf course is open staff will work on another nine continuing until all 36 holes are open.

When the golf course opens in April there are no tee times to book, tee access is utilized on a walk on basis only (first come - first serve). On May 1st tee times are booked if we are open on all 36 holes and league play starts at this time as well.