Winter Recap

With us heading into February and no rainfall to account for this season I wanted to post our drought plan and throw up a lot of pictures of things we have been working on over the past six months.  Sorry for the lack of updates on the blog but it has been a busy season with no rainfall to give our staff a breather.


Water Conservation   

Action Plan 2014

The entire State of California is in need of substantial rain and snow fall to replenish our water supplies and prevent us from slipping into a serious drought this summer.  We are hoping that with the remainder of our winter season, heavy storm systems blow through allowing for significant amounts of precipitation.  With drought conditions likely to persist this summer, listed below are areas of the course that will be cut if restrictions are made.  Our main goal is to create a balance between great course conditions and being environmentally friendly with our water usage. 

Water Features

All of our lakes and ponds will not be replenished with the exception of #18.  The water fall feature on #18 will be maintained at an acceptable level.  We will also be transporting water from our lakes to irrigate the majority of our landscape beds.  Thanks to the hard work of our Landscape crew we now have a variety of drought tolerant plants throughout the course.  Instead of irrigating an entire bed with the system we can now be more selective with our watering.

Native Features

Our native features consume roughly 15 acres of the course.  There are approximately 100 sprinkler heads existing to irrigate this area.  We have already drastically reduced our water consumption in these areas. These features would be next on the list if restrictions are made.  We would allow them to brown out and allow for winter rainfall to revive them.

Rough Features

Areas of rough that are out of play would be the next area to take a look at if needed.  We would begin with areas that don’t have as much of an impact on play.  The area between #6 and #7 fairway would be an example of this.  We would continue throughout the course if needed.  A positive side to this would be that it would provide for easier course playing conditions.

Fairways

Hopefully it will never come to this, but in the case of a severe drought we would start by shutting off certain areas of the fairways.  Our main goal would be to concentrate on keeping the main landing areas healthy and let the remaining surface brown out.  Because of our advanced irrigation system, we can be very specific with what areas of the course we want to water.

                                                Driving Range

Based on the boards approval the driving range would provide a substantial savings if restrictions where enforced.  This area makes up roughly 5 acres and would provide a reduction in our usage. 

A few more notes on the drought and it's impact on our course and the budget.  If serious cutbacks are mandated (40-50%) we will look closely at our chemical applications to limit weed populations and enhance fall recovery.  We will need to look at raising our seed budget significantly to reseed all areas this Fall.  Let's hope for the best and pray for rain.

 #10 Lake Construction

Below you will see a lot of photos of the lake construction that took place in the Fall. Currently we are waiting on our permit to install (3) transformers to power the wells and new pump station. We are hopeful that by this spring we will be irrigating the course with our new well water.

Water has been drained. You can see all the sludge left in the bottom. Long ways to go.

 

You can see the far side of the photo where the wet well is going to be installed.

Sucking the sludge out!!

Wet Well Installed

 

Wet well installed, starting to install fabric for liner

Liner installed, starting Shotcrete process

 

Everything installed with water level starting to rise.  We are currently working on the finishing touches that include acid staining of the concrete, and irrigation -sod installation around the hard lines.  We were hoping for winter rains to fill the lake but obviously we are getting no help from mother nature.  We will be forced to fill the lake with our well water if we receive no rainfall.

Tree Removal

We removed a lot of trees throughout the winter to improve playability and enhance our views. The major areas where this occurred was left of # 3, #3 green, right of #6, left of #7, #11 green and left of #17.  Here are a couple of photos from the removal.

One of the big moterey's in this photo was already removed, the stone pine in front of the cuttings is next.

 

Now you have a chance to make par!

Left of # 7 fairway. Where are those beautiful oaks hiding?

 

Suprise! This area is currently being grow in.  The fairway will be widened eventually and will offer the players a risk/reward option if they are in position to go at the green on the second shot.

Another area to the left of #3 that really exposed the oak in the background and provided some more options from the T.  In all of the areas with tree removal we had to come back in and amend the soil.  Thanks to our new bobcat, it made the process a lot smoother.  Still it was a timely process to remove all those roots and create a new environment for our turf to thrive in.

Collar Expansion

  I'm sure by now most of you have seen the collar expansion around the greens. This was completed to make our surrounds more playable and offer our members some more shot options.

This is what the expansion areas look liked after we scalped them down, aerfied and seeded them.

Here's another look at what the areas looked liked after the scalping and seeding process. If you play on a weekly basis you will notice that these areas have recovered nicely.  Moving forward we will continue to aerify and seed these areas along with updating some irrigation.

What's on the Agenda

 Currently we are working on the final touches to the lake at number 10. Like I mentioned above we will be acid staining the concrete and finishing things off with some new sod of fine fescue to surround the edges.  After the transformers are installed we will set the new pump station and work with a contractor to construct the exterior as our "pump house." Once the lake is complete we will head over to #17 fairway to complete the area where the monterey pines were removed at the corner. This area will also involve installing a new fairway bunker as well. Time and budget permitting we have the T at the driving range to complete along with the bunkers at number 2.  Hopefully withing this time frame we will have had some rain fall to allow more employees to focus on projects and not course watering.  Feel free to email me at amorgan@pahgcc.net to talk about any concerns you may have or to set up a time tour of the course with me.

Spring Updates

It's been a busy winter and I have not published anything in some time.  I wanted to share a lot of photos with you because I feel they highlight  improvements made and provide some educational benefits as well. Before we get into all the photos I wanted to give everyone a sense of direction our staff is heading.  Once aerification is completed we will be focused on getting the course in prime shape for member play along with completing the bunkers on number 2 and 15 to tie that whole area together.  We will not be completing any more bunkers in the future per the request of our new architect, Mr. Jay Blasi.  If you are not familiar with Jay check out his website to get some more info, www.jayblasi.com  Along with getting the course  back in shape we will also be going through the bunkers with our roto-tiller to bust up the sand to try and provide a more consistent sand.  Once that's completed we will be focused on daily course preparation for the next few months.  We are excited for the upcoming season and look forward to any challenges we are faced with throughout the summer.  See you on the course.

All of the photos in the section below are from the renovation to #17 bunkers.  For those of you wondering, we are going to hold off on the last two on 17 until we complete #2-15 bunkers.  2-15 will be our focus for the next few weeks.

#17 Bunkers 

Original Shape

We are suppose to have 4 inches of sand not 3 feet.  Just another photo that sums up why are bunkers need rebuilt.

Starting to add new shape.

Adding soil to make new bunker floor

New Rough shape of Bunker

Subsurface Irrigation installed.  The product is called Neta-Fim and it's the plastic tubing that is wrapped around the bunker edge.

Here is the completed bunker minus the sand.  Notice the Sta-Lock material installed over the soil.  This is the material that will prevent our soil from contaminating the sand along with maintaining the internal integrity of our bunker for years to come.  No more bunkers with 3 feet of sand.

Finished Product minus one more load of sand we are waiting on delivery for.

Here are just a few more shots of the bunkers on the right side.  You will see a lot of similarities with the pictures above.

Same scenario here.  We only want 4" of sand.

Sta-Lock material installed along with new shape.

Completed Right side Bunkers.

#10 Ladies T- Complex

Here you will find a bunch of pictures from the construction to the ladies T-box on number 10.

Original T box

Adding Soil and beginning to shape.

Almost there.  Getting ready to remove old sod and sand-cap T in preparation for new sod.

Adding Sand for Sand Cap

Laying the Sod.

Finished Product

#4 Hedge Row

Removal of outdated and extremely woody hedge row.

Installation of new paver walk paths

Finished Product

#13 T- Complex

While completing this T complex we removed all of the coyote bush along the left side to open of your views of the preserve.

 Removal of coyote bush to expose oaks and views. The 3 Tree in need of some improvement

3 tree completed.  The T is no longer sliding off the hillside.  Along with leveling you can see how much extra T-space we added.

Original Size before addition.

Expansion, and new sod being installed.

Tenacity Herbicide Applied

For any one that has noticed the yellow or white spots in a few of our T's, it's the result of a herbicide applied to selectively kill bent grass.  A lot of our T's have small patches of bent grass that are unappealing to the eye and provide an inconsistent surface.  Tenacity was released this spring and will allow us to control bent in our rye surfaces.

Notice the patches of Bent

Tenacity doing it's job. We will make one more application that will hopefully allow for a 100% stand of rye in our T's.

Tree Communication

I have been receiving a lot of feedback about tree removal and I wanted to address a broad overview and a few specifics.  Trees are obviously a very important asset to the club and we want to ensure that we are doing everything we can to protect them and ensure great health.  A major step taken to maintain our trees was to hire  Barry Coate and Associates to provide a detailed audit of our trees.  The little silver tags on every tree are proof of Barry's examination of 1,600 trees that inhabit our property.  We have a manual corresponding to each tag that gives an overview of the trees health, current disease and recommendation to keep or remove along with a recommendation to replace.  This is one piece of  information we use for selection of removal.  Here are some photos of what the manual contains.

Tree Manual

Each individual tree shown here.  The "R" at the far right indicates removal.

Photos showing infected areas

1 More Photo

About 3 years ago the Golf and Greens Committee started a sub-group the "Views Committee" to select specific trees for removal to enhance our views along with improving playability.  We would put together a priority list for each year due to the fact our tree budget allows for 40K on an annual basis. Here are a few notes taken our fist meeting in 2009.  We have met every year since and if anyone would like those notes I can get them to you.  This is another piece of info we use for removal.

(Revision 1)

November 2, 2009

Report from the “Improve our Views” subcommittee

Subcommittee Members:  Terry Eastham, John Pietrzac, Sue Rose, (Andrew Morgan)

On November 2, 2009, the Views Subcommittee spent three hours viewing the course with the objective of improving the views of and from our golf course.  Although the primary focus was on trimming and removing trees, several non-tree recommendations are included in the list below.

Since the annual tree-trimming program is already underway, the highest priority (and less controversial) recommendations will be implemented almost immediately; specifically the recommendations for the #1, #4, #7 and #13 holes.  Comments and further prioritization of the remaining list of recommendations can be considered as/if needed.

Andrew also took notes that hopefully agree with the following:

 Highest Priorities (for immediate implementation):

1)      1^st FAIRWAY --- Trim right side of pine tree #10 (on right side of fairway just off the T-box); also trim adjacent pine tree #9.

2)      4^TH FAIRWAY --- Remove pine trees #262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267 on right side of fairway near the green.  (Redwoods are already planted in this line to replace the removed trees).

3)      7^th T-BOX---Remove the two larger trees behind the T-box; clean out &/or trim the lower lying shrubbery.  Leave the oak tree behind the red-berry bush to the left of the T boxes.

4)      7^th GREEN---Remove tree #482 (leaning over D. Zepp’s House) & do not replace.  Replace the tree (trunk) #464 with a liquid amber.  Also remove scrub tree #474.

5)      13^th FAIRWAY---Remove the obviously dead tree on the left side o f the Fairway.  Consider trimming the tree(s) that is on the center-right side of the fairway (down in the hole) near the 1-tree T-box.

6)      13^th FAIRWAY---Remove the dead tree on the left side of the fairway at the turn.  Also remove the single pine tree on the left side of the fairway at the turn (that is in front of a nice oak tree).

Other Course Areas:

7)      9^TH FAIRWAY---Remove pine tree #596 on left side of fairway near the newly seeded area.  Re-locate an existing small redwood to the general area of #596.

8)      9^th FAIRWAY---Remove the “leaning” pine on the right side of fairway.

9)      5^th FAIRWAY---Remove pine tree #363 on the left.

10)   14^th FAIRWAY---Remove the small pine(?) tree on left side of fairway (near 1-tree Tbox).  Replace with a liquid amber(s).

11)   14^th GREEN AREA---Remove the ugly pine tree #370 to the left of the green.  

12)   14^th GREEN AREA---Remove pine trees #371, 372 and 373 and replace with liquid ambers or prune trees.

13)   18^th T-BOX---Trim/thin the oak tree to the left of the 2-tree T box.  Also trim/thin the oak to the left of the T box that is above the 17^th green.

14)   18^th FAIRWAY---Plant three redwood trees to the right side of the fairway (and right side of the cart path) to block the view of the house with the junker Volkswagon.  Every member & guest riding a cart has to look at this back yard today!

15)   12^th FAIRWAY---Consider topping the two very tall pine trees that are on the right (near the right side of the 15^th green).

16)   11^th T-BOX---Consider topping oaks on left???

17)   11^th T-BOX---Consider thinning/topping tall trees around the 16^th green to open up view(s)???

 Pro-shop and Driving Range areas:

18)   Remove the two birch trees in the planting bed (right side of pro-shop looking out).  Trim/thin/re-do the remaining shrubbery that is currently overgrown. 

19)   (Later) remove the large Juniper tree that is at the very end of the electric storage shed.

20)   Trim the large cypress located near the top of the parking area (driving range side).

21)   (Later) replace the single pine tree that is to the left and above the 9^th green (above the driving range) with several liquid amber or prune trees.

22)   Remove/trim two tall pines to the right side of the driving range.

23)   Lower the height of the hedge that backs the 9^th green by 1-2 feet so that a view down the 9^th fairway is possible.

24)   Lower the height of the hedge surrounding the 1^st T box so the pro shop can see who/when/if anyone is on the T.

Other:

25)   Remove the old and almost-dead tree trunk near the snack shop.  It will never recover to look good!

26)   18^th FAIRWAY “short-cut dirt path” ---Consider eliminating this path OR making it look like it is actually a featureJ.  A slightly curved path (compared to the current linear line) that enters the area more to the left than now and exits more to the right than now…with a low maintenance “mandina” planting along the lower side of the path (to hide the path) might work.  This feature can be seen from the club house!

27)   We discussed but did not address the proposal to widen the 2^nd T Box.

We have a beautiful course with beautiful views that can only get better!

(end)

Before I get into any specifics I wanted to touch on one more general theme and that's to promote the trees on our course that our native to our property.  We are trying to provide some continuity throughout the entire course.  Over the past fifty years a lot of trees were planted without much thought put into placement and species.  This is why today we have a lot of trees on the course that don't belong.  Our main focus of the property should be our heritage oaks and beautiful redwoods native to the area.  What's happening is a lot of these smaller "weeds" I call them are taking away from our signature specimens.  Below are a few examples of this.

Here is an example were the canary pine is taking away from our beautiful white oak, not to mention you can't even see the oak in the back ground.  I know some might say "well it provides safety for people on #8 T" were as I feel the oak is providing the safeguard.  This an example were you remove the canary and it will highlight our 100 year old oak.  Items like this will be discussed for the upcoming 2013 tree budget.

Here another example of a poor specimen ( look at the branching structure) at the back of number 15 not only blocking the view of our oak but inhibiting it's growth.

Specifics:

 I have had a lot of feedback concerning the willow at the turn on number 8.  I would like to start off by saying that 95% of the tree removals are approved by the golf and greens committee or the views sub-committee and this specific willow was no different. It was brought to the committee and approved for removal. The removal was based on the fact that this weeping willow was out of place and caused a lot issues for cleanup and turf coverage. Below is a photo of a valley oak that was planted to replace the willow.   I don't think you can argue that fact that  this tree fits the landscape.

Replacement for willow

 Here are a few photos of the removal to the right of number six to open up the view of our water feature along with making the T-shot a little more forgiving.

 Probably one of the most talked about (controversial) tree's since I have been here is the the monterey pine by the approach on number 10.  Like all monterey pines here they are nearing the end and this one is no exception.  I'm sure the removal of this tree will cause emotions both ways.

Will be removed!

 Moving forward I'm sure that we will continue to see a lot more monterey pines pass away.  We will continue to promote healthy vigorous trees that enhance our experience on the course and use our different committees to make those important decisions.  If you would like anymore information regarding trees at the club please don't hesitate to shoot me an e-mail and we could meet to discuss or tour the property.  amorgan@pahgcc.net