Plodding along

It appears that I have not been that inspired to write much lately. After almost three years of weekly updates I phased into every other week and now a record four weeks since my last post. We are in the Winter prep and put the course to bed phase. This may not be very sexy so not news worthy, I guess . It involves final mowing of everything, final leaf cleanup (we hope), bringing in the ball washers and eventually the tee markers so we can refurbish them, getting the plows ready, applying the last plant protectants and winterizing the sprayer and mix load pad. We also winterize the irrigation system and pump houses as well as the course bathrooms. This involves using compressed air to force the water out of the lines and using propylene glycol or non-toxic antifreeze where necessary. Our road maintenance duties continue and with all the rain we have been getting that takes time as the potholes mysteriously re-appear time and again. Speaking of rain we received 7.32" in November which is a record for my 19 years here. We are still below the normal seasonal amount but closing in on the deficit. I will post the numbers towards the end of this month for comparison.

irrigation blow out 6 Fwy looking over 15 green

The weather continues to be a roller coaster with some frigid days followed up by some real gems. Many golfers have taken advantage of these days but it still appears to be less than previous years. I have not heard any official numbers on our season but my guess would be similar to the last few years. In our peak season it appeared that the shoulder times of the day were a bit busier this year but that is just my personal observation. I will let you know if I get the official numbers. It is always good to see people using the course. We even had a visitor with an artistic mind recently. I posted this on Twitter saying "I often look at the course as a blank canvas also. Not the worst art I have seen in bunkers"

Bunker art

We will continue getting ready for the off-season and hope that everyone is enjoying their family holidays. I made a quick trip to my sisters in VT over the Thanksgiving weekend and it was actually nice to play in the snow they received, but equally nice to come home to 50 degree temperatures and no snow.

Bert loves the snow. It is water after all!