Golf course preparations are slowly beginning to take place. While we have experienced some nice days we have yet to see a stretch of weather to dry the property out. We continue to wait on frost to leave the ground. This week the Turfcare team will focus on removal and storage of winter covers and begin with some general spring cleanup. The capital bunker program has resumed work for the spring. We are hopeful for good weather in the days ahead to assist with course preparations and the bunker program.
The snow slowly continues to melt across the golf course. Much as it was with the last update, the overnight low’s hitting as cold as -9 on April 3rd have slowed the encouraging start to spring we had at the end of February.
We are beginning to see a lot of the turf on the golf course and we are eager to get into spring temperatures that will allow us to begin course maintenance. While much of the snow has melted we still have a ways to go before we can begin to prepare turf for play. We need a good stretch of weather to thaw the ground, soil temperatures to warm up into the 10 degree range to support turf practices and the game of golf.
Enjoy the Masters week ahead!
The Turfcare team continues to monitor conditions on course. The daytime temperatures are initiating some melt on the property. This process is slow with overnight temperatures still freezing solid. The forecast this week is relatively positive. We would expect to lose a lot of the remaining snow early this week before a cold stretch returns at the tail end of the week. We will continue to assist with the spring melt while we wait for conditions to be sufficient for us to begin preparations of the golf course for the season ahead.
It is an exciting time of year as we begin to experience the spring like weather. As the snow continues to melt the Turfcare team will continue to monitor conditions and assist with the movement of snow and water where necessary. With the forecast showing positive temperatures moving forward we would expect the preparations of the golf course to begin sometime in early April. We are hopeful the forecast remains positive with overnight low temperatures staying above -15 to assist with positive opening conditions.
With the early spring like weather we are beginning to see a significant reduction in snow cover on the property. With the loss of snow we will ask members to refrain from using the golf course for the foreseeable future. We no longer have enough snow cover to accommodate ski trails. Further to this with the warm temperatures any traffic on course will now cause ice to form. With a roller coaster of weather possible over the next 30-45 days any ice formation can be detrimental to turf health especially the poa fairways and tees. Let’s hope that the forecast for the remainder of February and into March is beneficial to turf conditions and assisting us with successful overwintering as we close in on the spring golf season. Cart paths can still be utilized by members for walking.
With the recent snowfalls we are happy to let members know that ski trail has been groomed for use.
Please be mindful while skiing to keep to the groomed trails. They have been set in areas that will least impact turf health in spring.
Snow shoeing and walking on the course should avoid travelling on the groomed trails. Please snow shoe and walk beside the groomed trails.
We are happy to have winter activities available for the memberships enjoyment. By keeping to these few small rules we can ensure the winter use on the property will not have a negative impact on the game of golf in spring and will provide those skiing with a good experience.
With the arrival of snow we have been receiving inquiries about cross country ski trails. Unfortunately at this time we still do not have the volume of snow required for safe grooming practices. The snow cover is light and thin. The tracks of the groomer at this point would impact conditions in spring by damaging the turf. With some mild days ahead thinly groomed trails turn to ice which also result in poor turf conditions in spring. We ask that all members refrain from snow shoeing and skiing for the time being until conditions are conducive so as not to cause harm to the turf. We will update membership once we are capable and open for winter activities on course.
The bunker maintenance project wrapped up for the fall this week with the inclement weather. The team from Goodwin Golf made great progress this fall. They were able to complete the excavation and removal of bunker sand from all bunkers on course. They completed the edging and removal of this material on all bunkers on course. To date we have installed sand piles in all green side bunkers and have a some fairway bunkers with sand piles in them as well.
As we look to the spring we will still require a few weeks of good working weather to complete the full maintenance program. We have yet to complete drainage flushing and any required repairs through most of the fairway bunkers. Once this is complete these bunkers will have the floor tamped to smooth and then the sand will be installed. Sand needs to be spread across bunkers and depths checked followed by a plate tamp to set the sand for play. We are hopeful that we will be able to complete much of this required work ahead of opening next spring. Weather will be the factor that dictates when we can resume and how quickly we can complete this project. There should be no concerns on completing this process ahead of the end of May 2025.
We would like to thank the membership for its support as we look forward to resuming and completing this process which will revitalize Niakwa’s bunkers for its membership and guests to enjoy.
Great progress continued in bunkers this past week. We have only a few fairway bunkers in need of excavation remaining. All green side bunkers have received their new sand and we have begun to deliver sand to some fairway bunker complexes. With the colder overnights we have had to halt flushing the drainage system. This work will continue in spring to ensure our bunkers are draining properly. Our goal will be to complete the excavation works remaining this week and to hopefully haul out all contaminated materials by weeks end.
This will be the last week that we see bunker work take place this fall. We are beginning to lose efficiencies with frost/ frozen ground each morning followed by minimal working daylight hours. Heading into spring we are in a good position with this project. We will be able to disperse the sand piled in bunkers. Once this is complete the bunkers will be plate tamped and ready for golf. We have minimal drainage works remaining and will need to haul sand to fairway bunkers only. This winter the bunker sand will be stored in the back parking lot. This is allowing us to avoid road restrictions and inflated costs in spring and it is also keeping the sand on a clean solid surface to avoid contamination.
Weather dependent we expect that we can complete the work remaining in bunkers in about 21 working days. We are hopeful that we will be able to resume this process sometime in April next spring. While we can expect some work to continue once the course opens we are confident that this process will be completed well within the projected time line in advance of the end of May.
