Winter Arrives

We are full swing of the holiday seasons and winter has finally arrived. As I've said before, seems that we've been on a streak of breaking records. Over summer it was heat, lack of rain, then just recently longest time without measurable snowfall and latest measurable snowfall. I'm not all too disappointed that it took some time for winter to arrive as it has allowed us to get a good amount of work done outside.
We were able to get wrapped up with what I wanted on the landscaping project between 7 green and 8 tee. Guys spent last week getting the 8 Viburnum juddii planted. These plants will take a bit of time to grow and fill the area in but in the mean time it will create some appeal with spring flowers as well as fragrance. Come spring we will finish sod work to wrap up bed dimensions but also insert some perennial plants for color and filling gaps. We will continue working on the area between 11 green and 12 tee as weather permits. Again, this area involves removing the unsightly buckthorn and replacing with more practical and aesthetically pleasing plants.
Since the weather has made the switch to now "winter" we've begun our winter tasks. These tasks mostly involve refinishing course accessories as well as cleaning, detailing, and repairing equipment. Fortunately some of the replacements we've made in previous years with course accessories has cut down the time needed to refinish them. Less sanding and detailed painting is needed allowing us to do other things like thoroughly clean the maintenance facility along with outside work. Equipment repair will be minimal this year due to our recent agreements made with John Deere and Toro to do a large equipment lease and purchase package. Some wonder what it is we are replacing, here are the pieces coming in new and replacing old:
4 fairway mowers
2 rough mowers
5 tee mowers
1 greens mower to add to current fleet
2 sand trap machines
2 new multi-purpose tri-plex's
1 new Skid Loader
1 new sprayer with GPS technology
8 new carts
2 portable greens fans

These pieces of equipment are vital to our day to day operations and our efforts to continue making Briarwood better. I look very forward to next year and having this reliable equipment to boost crew moral as well as the appeal of BCC.  This recent commitment to the equipment will greatly help reduce equipment repairs now and in the future as we'll utilize the lease to keep the fleet current with technology and away from high dollar repairs which accumulate as years go on.  Utilization of technology with GPS will also add in minimizing our use with chemical applications by more accurate application by giving us better control of nozzle turn on and turn off.
Included here are some photos of tasks over the last few weeks: