New Range Tee System

After the range project was completed and prior to opening, I thought that we needed to develop a system for moving the ropes on the range.  Our range is tricky in that it needs to be set at proper angles to avoid, or at least try to avoid, hitting balls towards 9 Mountain.  It is also very small considering we accommodate over 70k rounds per year and the tee is only 21,000 square feet.  Previously, we would rotate through the tee in only 4 weeks leaving a lot of gaps between divots.  Luckily we do have  mats in the back and we utilized them Monday through Wednesday.  

 What we have now is a series of dots on the tee marked off every three feet on the left, middle, and right side.  They were all measured off the back line with the proper angle set.  Starting in the back, we would put the first day on the range on marks 1 & 3 leaving a 6ft teeing area.  The next day, we put the ropes on marks 2 & 4 effectively splitting the previous days worth of divots with the back rope.  

With this system in place, we made it 7 weeks and a day before we utilized the entire tee!  What this means for us now is that we will be on the grass tee from Wednesday through Sunday until winter comes.  

A Steaming Pile of Goodness

This week we took delivery of 45 cubic yards of compost made up from general yard waste that one our local waste management companies operates.  It has been around 7 years since I ordered compost and I forgot how lovely the aroma is.  I also forgot the steam that comes up when you dig into it.  Nothing like that fresh warm steam spilling over your face on a cold morning!

I will be using this to mix with sand to fill in a lot of large bare areas we have in the rough.  The compost will help retain water which will increase the germination rate of the seed.  In addition to making divot mix, I will also be mixing some to topdress fairways and traffic areas that we tend to have problems with.  One of the fairways we will be doing is 7 Lake fairway.  From what I have been told, during construction, the topsoil was removed from 7 Lake, but never replaced.  I hope to add some nutrient and water holding capacity to this fairway with the addition of compost.  The same theory is used for adding the compost to traffic areas.

New Sand and Seed Stands

40 bottle stand being assembled

In an effort to get more people to fill their divots, we have provided two more areas to replenish your sand and seed bottles.  We have put new stands by the snack bar and the first tee of the Canyon course.

Our sand and seed bottles are a mix of sand and an 80/20 blend of rye grass and chewing fescue seed.  You can read about the chewing fescue here. Some places mix in a mulch, some places dye the sand green and some don't even put in seed.  Every different way can be effective, but one thing is common;  if not used regularly, grass will grow inside the bottles and clog them up.