Flood Recovery

The guys have been hard at work since 5:30am.  I'm so thankful for their hard effort during these times; by all means this is not fun work.  If you see them please extend a thank you; it goes a long way with them.  Early morning assessment of the golf course showed lots of positives.  First and foremost the amount of water that drained off the course.  Over the last 4 falls, we have done some substantial drainage improvements.  Roughly $70k has been invested into equipment and materials to complete these projects in house and it's paying off.  Pictures below are comparisons of yesterday vs today:

This illustrates the lowers area of #7.  Just a small amount of
standing water where the dog is at but otherwise clean.  3 years
ago had we seen this amount of rain that water would have
taken 2 or more days to drain.

Middle lower area of #9 fairway.  Again an area that has seen
drainage improvements and they are paying off.  Again, an area
that would easily have standing water for 2+ days after the rain
we received.

Photo of #9 fairway from the tee.  Again, all standing water is
gone.

Lower area of #1 fairway.  Yesterday there was a full flowing
stream across here.  Today all standing water gone and area where
we added drainage this fall; firm.

Minor debris was created from tree limbs.  More debris existed due to high waters and debris washing from ponds and other areas on the golf course.  Again, a crew of guys are doing a phenomenal job of cleaning this up.  We had one tree struck by lightning; a large elm to the right of 7 fairway just past the ladies tee.  Hopefully, the tree survives.  Normally the electric charge that goes through will kill it.  Also, a good learning tool to show why you should make your way to the clubhouse when the siren goes off.

Elm tree struck by lightning.

Lastly, where does conditioning go from here.  Our goal for today is to get all green side bunkers free of water.  As guys are pumping, other crews are working on getting sand back on the faces where able to.  With the amount of rain we received we are solid tining greens to aid in oxygen exchange and speed up the drying out process.  Following needle tining we are able to mow greens.  Greens are the only playing surfaces being mowed today; thank you to XGD which was installed in 2010.

Tomorrow; we hope to have all bunkers completely reclaimed by the end of the day.  Along with finishing bunker work we are looking to get tees and approaches mowed.  Mowing is much needed as the last time they were mowed was Monday.  Fairways still may be a challenge to mow come tomorrow, if anything tomorrow afternoon.  If we do not get fairways mowed tomorrow we will do so on Saturday morning.  There may be slight adjustments to tee times Saturday if this is the case, this allows maintenance to stay ahead of play.  Do not expect anything easy out of the rough.  Rain on Monday prevented us from mowing and it will be too wet to mow at all the remainder of the week.  Come Sunday it will be US Open rough conditions.  We have raised heights on the rough machines in preparation for the Illinois Open Semi-finals, this will help minimize the mess come Monday when we begin to mow.

These are always unfortunate events for all involved at any course.  It is an inconvenience to the players, a hit to the revenue stream, and a lot of hard labor.  We relish in these times.  You take the challenge head on and you succeed.  We appreciate your patience; please say thank you to the hard working Grounds Crew members if you see them out there.

July 12th Flooding

The notice that was sent this morning was only part of the total.  Since that notice we've received another 2 rounds of storms bringing our rain totals to 3.97".  The golf course just can't handle anymore and it's showing.  Numerous overground water situations are evident throughout the whole golf course.  Bunkers are acting as holding ponds at the moment as well.

As for today, there isn't much we can do on a maintenance side.  Patience and letting nature run its course is the best plan of action.  Come tomorrow, we will go in full force for cleanup and reclaiming Briarwood's golf course.  That is if we don't get hit too bad tonight.  Yes, more rain is expected this evening.  As for course availability, that decision will be made tomorrow morning.

Included here are some photos of the current situation:

Happy Summer!

     And a good day to all of our fellow Briarwood members out there.  It's been a busy month since the last blog post and for that I apologize for not entering a new update. So what has happened since the last blog post?  We had a heat wave with multiple days in the 90's followed by early fall weather with highs in the 70's.  We have had upwards of 2'' of rain in the month of June and the trend seems to be continuing into July.
      It was sad to have the rain falling hard during the afternoon session of the JUF tournament.  At least the wave of ladies were able to finish so it wasn't a total wash.  The course was in excellent condition at the time (and still is).  The next major event was Men's Member/Guest which happened this last weekend (June 23rd-24th).  The same trend continued during this event as we received 1'' of rain in a matter of just over an hour.  Luckily the golf course was dry and the rain either ran-off or it was soaked up.  Either way the maintenance crew was able to provide splendid golfing conditions for both days of the event.  We would have loved to prep the course fully on Friday but had to play the with hand that was dealt to us.  Fortunately the golf course dried out enough to allow carts Friday afternoon and allowed maintenance to do what we do best and prep the course fully for the Saturday round.  We couldn't be happier with the way everything worked out for golf course preparations and especially for Men's Guest Day.
     With Guest day behind us, we are able to have a bit of a breather here at maintenance until Fourth of July weekend.  My best guess is that people will be taking off Friday-Tuesday for a fabulous mid-year break.  Hopefully you all spend your time here at Briarwood Country Club.  During this so called "break" we here at maintenance will be working on the important cultural practises that need to be implemented every so often, plus we need to take advantage of these mild temperatures.  Such practises that will be implemented will be a verticutting on greens, tees, fairways, and approaches.  For further information on verticutting and its importance please read this great article from the USGA (http://www.usga.org/course-care/2013/05/the-how-and-why-of-vertical-mowing-greens-21474855829.html).  Maintenance was also able to needle-tine greens to allow gas exchange to the roots as we really pushed the greens to prepare for Men's Guest Day.
     As always, if you have any questions whatsoever, please do not hesitate to contact Justin Vanlanduit or Justin Jurczyk as we are always happy to talk turf.  Again, please enjoy these holiday times with family and friends!  In conclusion, please be sure to fix your ballmarks plus one extra, replace divots and rake your bunkers. Thank you!

June is Here

     I don't have any fancy pictures to include in this post.  We have been on cruise control for the most part here at Grounds and Greens.  We were able to finish up our last big project of the early season which was the extensive drainage project at the beginning of #12 fairway.  We removed roughly 150' of clay tile that as only 6'' in the ground and replaced it with new perforated 4'' drain tile.  This should really help #12 fairway dry up after that rains.
     Speaking of rain, I think this is the longest stretch of the year without getting any of the wet stuff.  Temperatures are starting to heat up and the course is starting to look better and better.  This is the time of year where the grounds department stays busy mowing grass.  Sometimes it's hard to even keep up with it.  The club will also be busy for the next "100 days" as we roll into Men's Guest Day on Wednesday, June 7th and then JUF day on Wednesday, June 14th.  The following weekend will then be the two day Men's Member/Guest tournament.  Needless to say it is a busy month and a busy time of year but we are looking forward to giving the membership the best playing conditions in Chicago!
     As always, please do your part as golfers and rake all your bunkers and fix ball marks on greens.  If you cannot find your own ball mark, just seek out someone else's and fix theirs.  Also, please replace all divots as the grounds crew will decide if they will live or die.  Enjoy the beginning of summer and see you on the links!