Spring is in the Air!

As many of you have been able to enjoy, the golf course once again is greening up and getting back in shape.  We have a lot going on at this time of year and the weather has been great.  Here is a quick recap of the past few weeks here at BCC...

With the warmer weather upon us, we have started to mow all of the  "short stuff" on the golf course.  We are currently mowing on a modified schedule and we will continue this schedule until the growth of the turf warrants us going back to the routine that we established this past year.  

We have been lowering the heights over the last few weeks and the new fairway located in the driving range  is finally starting to look like something.  As the turf continues to grow and we continue to lower the heights of the fairway  this new fairway cut should help the membership with their drives as well as help give an aiming point down the east side of the range and keep balls from going over the fence and onto #10.

The ditch spoils located along the banks of the White Rock ditch have been shaped.  As I am writing this  members of the staff are busy removing debris, box blading the new mounds and contour areas as well as getting these areas prepped for seed.  We are hoping to finish the seeding, sodding and erosion control on the ditches this upcoming week.  Stay tuned for this, when I have a chance next week I hope to post with before and after pictures of the ditch project. 

In this picture are Greg Martin (owner of Modern Golf ) and Rick Phelps, Golf Course architect.  The three of us met on Monday morning and started laying out the grading plan for the Fowler 51 project.  I'm sure anyone playing the Fowler has noticed all of the flags and paint, marking drainage areas and cut and fill areas as well.  We will be starting this project  during the week of  March 19th.

Sand that had blown up on the bunker faces from the winter  wind  was blasted back in .  This is  a great starting point for the new bunker maintenance methods that we will be starting this year.  The sand in the bunkers had been shifted around considerably from the wind and snow from this past winter.  We were able to get all the sand back in that was blown out and redistributed the rest.  

Snow or shine, all debris was blown and removed from fairways, tees, approaches and greens.  This cleanup effort has been complicated by the wind storm the course received on February 22nd, but right now we are getting closer and closer to removing all of it.

The irrigation system has been pressured up and so far, there have been no major issues (knock on wood)

All tee divots from this winter have been filled.  It may be a bit before we see any germination because the soil temperatures are still cool but the seed will be there when it's time

Ditch Work and Tree Roots

The White Rock Ditch company has completed their excavation of the ditch this past week.  As the ditch company went past the cottonwood trees located along the ditch banks people have asked me about the tree health along the ditch.  Many tree roots have been sheared off with the excavator in order to straighten and remove the silt dams that have built up inside the ditch.

At the risk of oversimplifying it, it is important to note that trees basically have two types of roots.  As trees grow they develop woody roots, also called anchor roots, that help stabilize the tree and hold it in place as it grows.  Trees also produce fibrous roots,that are used by the tree for water and nutrient uptake.  When trees grow close to a ditch, which is the case for many of the cottonwoods here on the BCC property, the ditch acts like a barrier because these woody roots have nothing to anchor into.  These large anchor roots will run parallel with the ditch in a manner that is uncommon with how it would grow if there was no barrier at all.  The fibrous roots that have been torn will regenerate when the ditch begins to flow again and the trees can once again push out new roots for water uptake.  As you walk around many of the open space areas here in Boulder County you can see many areas where ditch companies have done this same procedure.   There are many old cottonwoods that are a good example of how a tree can weather the damage because of its access to water.  We will be monitoring the cottonwood trees throughout the spring to make sure that none of these trees become major safety concerns.