Course News

Course Update – July 7, 2026

Yet another maintenance Monday was impacted by poor weather this past Monday.  The property received just shy of another ¾ inch rainfall in the storm.  This had a negative impact on the agronomic plans for the course.  We were unable to complete another light topdressing on greens or spray programs.  To date we have completed only 3 light topdressings when we would expect to be sitting around 8 or 9 light topdressings to date.  This has a negative impact on ball roll, more directly on the remaining poa greens as the light topdressing smooths out ball roll that can become bouncy from poa seed heads.

With the humidity we are beginning to see disease on the fairways and tees.  We are hopeful that we can complete the spray program on all tees and fairways this Wednesday to prevent the disease from increasing.  

Bug spray continues to kill turf across the property.  The areas that have been killed by the bug spray will take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to recover.  DO NOT APPLY BUG SPRAY ON TURF! Please utilize a cart path or bunker to apply bug spray during your round.  If you see a fellow member applying bug spray on turf please provide them with this knowledge so we can prevent any future turf loss. 

Monday July 13^th the turfcare team is scheduled to relocate the geese on the property.  We have a large volume of geese to remove and would expect this program to take a few hours on Monday to complete. 

Rough continues to grow rapidly.  The continuous rains and heat have provided this turf with a lot of growth.  Rough mowers have been going steady Monday to Friday with the exception of when we have been too saturated to mow.  When we are cutting the amount of clippings is significant and these require the blower to stay operational all day to keep things tidy.  The amount of growth and morning dew also make for a less than desirable cut.  In many areas the grass lays over and we do not achieve the desired result.  This will come in time as we hope to see a reprieve in wet weather to allow repetitive mowing and a reduction in yield.

Course Update – June 30, 2026

On Monday June 29^th the Turfcare team vented all greens during the maintenance window.  This process punches small 1/8” diameter holes at 6 inch depths into the green.  This in turn will provide greens with much needed oxygen from repetitive weeks of rainfall.  The greens also soften up briefly from this process and slow down.  However the benefits of oxygen will aid in drying these surfaces out sooner than later which will see a positive ball roll return. 

With the significant rainfalls to start this week accompanied by a holiday on Wednesday July 1 the course will fall well behind in mowing and grooming practices.  The prime play areas will not fall too far behind if we are able to resume mowing on Wednesday.  Rough and park areas will be behind and the rough will be long.  When we are able to resume with rough mowing we can expect a lot of clippings which will need to be blown and a slower process to complete the mowing program.   A lot of drying out will be required by Thursday to resume with large acre rough mowing.  

To aid with grooming through this wet stretch we have increased the amount of push mowing on the property.  While labour intensive this process is allowing us to knock down the wettest rough areas and prevent too much turf loss.  When the grass gets too long and sits in standing water we can see it struggle for health and die back.  In general the overall presentation of the property is behind from a detail stand point and there are many areas half groomed as a result of ground conditions.

Cart paths continue to be less than desirable through these heavy rain events.  We will smooth these out as soon as we have a stretch of weather that allows.  Please continue to slow down on paths when carts are permitted to aid in minimizing turf damage to areas around paths.

The prairie grassland area to the left of 5 green was seeded and has begun to emerge.  We would expect this hill to be covered in prairie grasses in the next few weeks if we can get some consistent sunshine.

We hope that everyone has a great Canada Day celebration.  Here is too hoping for some consistent dry weather for the game of golf and course care.

Course Update – June 23, 2026

This past Monday the Turfcare team was able to complete a light topdress to greens.  This program that is essential to providing smooth and true greens has been challenged by weather variables this spring.  We are hopeful that the trend moving forward will allow this process to be completed more frequently so we can get ball roll where we would like.  With the continued moisture consistency from day to day is still a challenge.  We are also struggling to match the speed of the poa greens that remain on the property with the bentgrass greens.  These greens vary significantly in age and composition.  This makes consistency between these two styles of greens difficult when we do not control all variables. 
The wet weather is also causing concerns with algae on greens.  We utilize sand and other products to combat the algae both of which have been challenged to apply. 

A reminder to please avoid walking with your rickshaw across collars.  The excess traffic in these areas are creating turf health challenges.  It is very evident on holes like 3 and 5.  The collars are treated the same in these areas and the evidence of foot traffic is very visible where everyone walks. 

Clipping management and overall details continue to be behind.  We have areas that are receiving minimal mowing in this wet cycle we are in.  Clippings do not disperse well when saturated.  Overall there is great room for improvement on course presentation which will come as we hope to have some stretches of dry weather in the near future.

With all the standing water on the property we have begun to lose some turf.  Turf sitting in water for repetitive days loses oxygen and begins to die back.  We hope when these area finally to dry we will see some recovery but we will probably be looking at making some repairs when the wet cycle breaks.  Compound cart traffic with this scenario and we would lose more turf. 

Cart paths continue to be in poor condition.  Many of these have deteriorated over the last four to five seasons with significant capital improvement items.  The heavy equipment utilized during windows of time when paths are wet or holding frost has had a negative impact on them.  For all those that use carts please keep in mind to slow down and travel through puddles on paths.  The cart will be ok and the turf around the path that we continue to wear out to avoid water puddles will not.  Much like gravel roads for those familiar when we dry out we can smooth the paths but it takes minimal rain or irrigation water to create pot holes again.  The asphalt path systems installed around 9, 10 and 18 provide a much better member experience with minimal maintenance requirements other than a blow.  They are not impacted by rain and do not require repetitive maintenance. 

Here is to hoping for a stretch of dry weather for the game of golf and course care.

Course Update – June 16, 2026

The wet weather pattern continues early this season.  Since the big storm that started this rainy weather last Tuesday night we have received just shy of 7 inches of rainfall on the golf course.  This amount of rain has created challenges with course care and product application.  It has also created challenges with grooming and mowing turf consistently across the property.  This weather has not been ideal for the game of golf.

Cart restrictions when the course is at field capacity are required.  This amount of water can cause turf health issues that are magnified by cart traffic.  This decision is not one that is taken lightly.  The goal of the Turfcare team is to provide the membership with great golf conditions.  When these scenarios happen, while frustrating for all we have the experience and knowledge that when this pattern breaks we will be a better golf course for it with minimal wear and repairs required. These decisions accommodate the majority of the membership and at the end of the day they are the right decision for the golf course.  

Grooming will catch up in time. We are doing what we can to maintain the rough with standing water throughout.  This week we have made the decision to mow through the poor conditions.  The challenge becomes waiting with long grass that now creates a scenario where the long grass creates an environment that takes longer for the ground to dry.  While these areas will be unsightly this week they will rebound when the weather breaks.  We also increased the amount of push-mowing on the property. We have been mowing all rough around tee sites with the push mowers to aid in staying on top of as much turf as we can.

Greens continue to be soft.  It is the time of year where we would like green speeds to be at the summer expectation.  We are currently running about a foot behind the pace we would like.  This will continue to be a challenge as long as we continue to see rain.  Ball speed on greens has a direct link to moisture in the ground.  When we regain control of moisture, greens health will allow us to get the speed we desire.  With the moisture rolling of greens has been minimized so we do not create compaction and health problems for the summer ahead. 

The yield continues to be high across all playing features.  We expect that late day golf will see slower conditions.  We have made a long overdue regulator application to greens.  It has been two plus weeks since the sprayer has had weather conditions conducive to application.  Hopefully moving forward we will be able to stick to spray programs in turn assisting us in providing the conditions desired.

Flower planting continues across the property.  This has also been challenged with the abundance of rain.  We will continue to push forward with planting when conditions allow. The establishment of the prairie grassland on hole 5 has also impacted.  We have yet to be able to seed this area.  Hopefully this week a window will present itself.

From an abnormally slow start with winter type weather well into May followed by 10 days in the mid-30’s and now over a week of significant rainfall.  It has been a great challenge this spring to deliver the course as we desire.  Despite the challenges we are confident that when this pattern breaks a great 2026 summer awaits.  We thank you the members for your support and understanding through this difficult start and look forward to sunny days ahead for the game of golf and course care.

Course Update – June 10, 2026

A heavy thunderstorm on Tuesday delivered 4 inches of rainfall to the golf course.  This volume of water is significant and will take some time for the course to dry out.  We did also incur some tree damage and had to remove a couple that fell throughout the storm. The implications of the rain event will be felt for a period of time as we will fall behind on grooming practices.  More than likely mowers will not be back on the property until Friday depending on the weather which is forecasting more rain.  This will create a challenge with rough more than anything.  The rough has been growing rapidly as has all playing surfaces on course.  The spring flush of growth will filter out in time and we will regain control of growth.  Patience will be required for the next week while we clean up and catch up on the entire property.

Course Update – June 2, 2026

May 31^st and June 1^st the Turfcare team completed aeration practices to the greens.  This process was needed and will set the stage for a successful summer ahead on greens. With this process taking place later than normal we can expect our greens to take a little longer to hit the summer conditions expected.  We applied heavy water with fertility which will initiate a flush of growth.  Over the next 7- 10 days the evening golf conditions may be slower as a result. 

We will continue to aerate fairways this week with the hopes of completing that program.  Collars and approaches we hope to aerate Thursday morning ahead of golf.

The property is dry and we are watering at full capacity each night with the exception of greens. This has begun to create wet spots which are a result of the irrigation system lacking single head control.  We will protect the wet areas through this stretch of weather and hope that we see a slight reprieve in temperatures to aid in turf health and minimize watering requirements.

Wear areas are evident throughout the property.  We kindly request that rickshaw’s not travel on the collars of greens.  We are struggling with turf health on a number of collars and much of this is due to the additional traffic they see every day.  It is easy to take the most direct line to your next hole location but if we can follow the traffic control in place and be aware of our travel, course presentation and playability will benefit.

We have made a final glyphosate application to the area beside 5 green.  We expect this to be seeded next week.  Please stay off the soil until the area is established to assist in a successful project.  This area will play as a naturalized area meaning mandatory relief once it is established.

We have been finding a lot of sunflower seeds throughout the golf course.  Sunflower seeds are not permitted on the course.  They can actually create mechanical issues with the reels of mowers getting caught in turn dragging across a green and scaring.  Please refrain from the use of sunflower seeds on the golf course.

Course Update – May 26, 2026

Finally some weather that we have all been waiting for.  It is exciting to see the sun and have some warm temperatures for the game of golf and course care.

With the heat finally arriving we will see an impact to the course.  We would expect greens to slow up a bit for the next 7-10 days.  We are now able to complete some much needed product applications and this in combination with heat will see a flush of growth.  Some of the applications require water to set the product which is turn also slows greens.  These applications are necessary, well behind and will take precedence over other applications and items on course.

Aeration is scheduled to begin this Sunday.  We will be coring a number of greens that afternoon and evening beginning with the practice greens at 3:00pm.  Monday will see all greens receive a sand and vent program followed by fertility.  Our goal will be to have greens at summer heights and rolling well by the middle of June once they recover from the aeration program.

Beginning this week we will start with fairway aeration.  This will take place in the morning ahead of golf and we will halt the process once golf reaches the program.  We would expect this to take all of this week, the aeration day and into next week to complete.  Tee boxes will also go through the same program as fairways once we complete those features.

Dandelions are beginning to pop.  We did make a large scale application in fall to the entire property.  With the log jam of applications required across prime play features and only one sprayer the dandelions will be evident for some time until we can complete the other programs and then lead into weed management.

From zero’s to mid-30’s for what looks to be the better part of the week.  We are hopeful the turf will be able to handle the early season heat stresses considering we have not had the ability to set the stage on all playing features for the season to date.

This Thursday two Ash trees will be removed from the 18 hole beside the driving range.  These trees have begun to impact the netting and when we see windy days the net catches and tears on the trees.  Once these trees are removed we will have the climbers in to replace the one torn panel.

Course Update – May 19, 2026

Some much needed rainfall fell across the property on the long weekend.  If the forecast stays true for the end of the week, this rainfall should have the grass finally growing as we enter the end of the month of May. 

Minimal mowing practices continue as we still do not see the spring flush of growth with the colder than average temperatures.  The overnights continue to sit close to 0 keeping soil temperatures down and soil activity minimal.

Stumps have been prepped throughout the property and are ready for sod in many areas.  The rain on the weekend has the sod farm at a halt and we are hopeful we can begin to sod these areas at some point next week.

We continue to battle irrigation challenges.  We have had the system pressurized for 8 days and had to shut the pumps down on Tuesday morning to make our 7^th break repair.  This break is challenging and we have been busy chasing it for a few days.  It is located in the swale on hole 18.  We hope we can get this repaired this week so we can pressurize the irrigation system again with hot weather on the way.

Greens will see a lowering of heights this week.  We are slowly moving towards summer heights but are still not mowing greens daily with the weather factors.  We are in need to apply fertility and set the stage for the summer which we hope to do in the week ahead providing we have the irrigation system pressurized. If the irrigation system is up and running then Monday May 25^th will be the first light sanding of the season on greens.

We hope to have the plywood sheets delivered this week to complete the repair works to the scoreboard on hole 18.  At the same time we are expecting delivery of more boards for the bridge. If the forecast holds we are hopeful that next week we will see the contractors in to begin painting pergolas and buildings on the property.

We made a repair to the white tee on hole 10.  This tee will continue to be out of play while we allow the sod to establish itself.  Tee markers will either be on the green or blue deck weather dependent.

Driving range will move to the grass deck on Wednesday May 20^th.  A reminder the target green on the range is closed while it establishes from a resurface last fall.  Until a flag pole is placed in this green it is closed. 

A reminder for the early morning golf players that our expected pace of play is no faster than 3 hours and 30 minutes.  If you do catch the maintenance team it is expected that you wait and provide them time to safely complete their tasks.  These tasks being completed are important for the days experience for all members and it is important that we provide the time required for maintenance.   The Turfcare team begins work as early as they can considering the noise bylaws and good course conditions take time. At no point is an acceptable practice to hit your golf ball in the direction of staff working to provide you with the conditions you experience.

Course Update – May 14, 2026

The Turfcare team has made a repair to the white tee deck on hole 10.  Please be aware that this tee box will be closed for a few weeks while we allow the new sod to establish.  In the meantime the white tee blocks will be located on the either the forward tee deck or the blue tee deck dependent on the day.

We appreciate your patience while we allow this repair to heal.

Thank you,

Shawn Major

Course Update – May 12, 2016

As we enter the second week of the golf season we are still anxiously waiting for Mother Nature to deliver consistent heat.  We have begun to see some minor yield on the playing surfaces.  The growth and recovery is still minimal and because of this the day to day experience will still be variable.  We are not consistently mowing surfaces to protect turf health.  This will come in time as we await the arrival of warm grass growing weather.  As far as greens are concerned we have lowered the height of cut once this spring.  We will continue to move towards the summer heights as we see the weather improve with the goal of being in our stride as it relates to greens in earlier June.

With most of the opening details looked after we are beginning to address stump holes from tree removals.  We will prep all the areas in need and once we are ready for sod we will button these up in the coming weeks. 

We continue to train the new staff that have joined our Turfgrass team this summer. As we move closer to earlier start times we are hopeful to have the team comfortable and skilled in the tasks required.  Please continue to be patient as we work to acclimatize these new staff members to the property and details required.

The range target green continues to be closed.  Please refrain from hitting balls into this green to assist us in getting it established.  We are hopeful this process won’t take too long but much like everything we are waiting for good weather to aid in the establishment. We will continue to be on range mats for the remainder of this week and we will look to make the move to the grass deck by the weekend if the forecast holds.

Vole damage is beginning to recover.  We will continue to be patient with this damage as we are seeing positive indications that it will recover. 

Aeration was scheduled for this past Sunday evening and Monday May 11^th.  With the lack of growth, irrigation and weather challenges this process had to be pushed to the backup dates of Sunday May 31^st in the evening and Monday June 1.