Course update; flagpole and bunkers.

The greens crew and I have been very busy since my last post four weeks ago. The drier than normal weather has turned our attention to mowing and maintaining the course for daily play. I have never seen the golf course this dry on June 11th, it looks more like July 25th.

The flag is back up and flying high at Glendale CC. The rope broke and we had to rent a lift to get to the top of the pole. I thought I could climb up  a 24' extension ladder and get the job done but the ladder was ten feet short of the top. The photo below show Kyle our assistant superintendent operating the lift, and the second photo is a view from 35' up on the lift.

The other thing I wanted to bring to your attention is an issue with our bunkers. Last summer I toured the course with some members of our board and green committee. There had been many complaints from our members about balls plugging in the face of some of our bunkers. So the decision was made to pull some of the sand off the steep faces to help prevent balls from plugging. We don't get any plugged lies during the rainy months because the sand gets packed down and is hard. As the weather gets warm and dry, the sand gets soft and balls start plugging again. Lately we have a bunch of complaints about hitting the sod liner, or what our members are calling "black dirt." If a shot is hit from one of the areas where sand has been removed to help prevent plugging, you will hit "black dirt." I went out this morning and moved a lot of sand to some thin areas in the left bunker at #1 green, and the right front bunker at #15 green. Below is a photo of the left bunker at #1 green.

The green side of the bunker has a face that is very prone to balls getting plugged. The slope extends back into the bunker about 8-10 feet at the mid point. It's hard not to plug the ball in that area. It's a function of the design. Check out the photo below of a new bunker at Tacoma Country and Golf Club. The sod extends further down the slope into the bunker. No steep face for the ball to get plugged. This may be the design we need as we are exploring the costs of a bunker remodel project in the green committee.


One more thing I would like to remind our members. When entering and exiting a bunker, please do it from the low side. It's easy to walk in and out and won't cause damage to the bunker edges. The photo below was taken this morning showing a foot size chunk taken out of the top of the left bunker on #1 green.