Fairway Drainage & Traffic Control

 Fairway Drainage

Last week we received 1.5" of much needed rainfall here at GBGC and lets hope we get more as we move into the rainy season here on the west coast. The amount of rain in a short period time exposed some drainage patterns on the golf course that needed immediate attention, namely the very front portion of #4 fairway. There are, and will be other areas that will need surface drainage installed which is very normal for new fairways that have undergone the renovation and turf conversion ours have. 

Trenching for drainage on Monday 11/14/22. We trenched and installed 300' of surface drainage which involves trenching a 12"- 6" deep trench,  6" wide, remove the soil, add 1"-2" gravel, install 4" perforated drainage pipe tied into existing sub surface drainage system, bury with gravel 1" from top of trench, add sand to top, replace removed sod.

We dont point out enough one of the main issues with all turf at Granite Bay is we are growing grass on top of, in many cases, a decomposing rock. This photo illustrated this realty. The white area is a granite rock that we had to saw through to install the drainage. These type of conditions exist through the soil profile here at Granite Bay.

The finished product after sod replacement and some sand topdressing. Members playing the course had some fun with this drainage work as well as we dident quite finish the 300' of drainage on Monday, so we moved all tee blocks forward 100 yards onto a flat spot in the fairway on Tuesday and Wednesday  so we could finish the work and stay out of everyone's way.

Traffic Control

I know we all wish it were not so, but  reality is golf cart traffic  is hard on a golf course. Therefore is is incumbent on golf course maintenance to develop and execute a golf course traffic control plan that fits the club and protects the turf. Our goal is to elevate our current traffic control protocols in the coming months so we can further protect the course from golf cart traffic.

I would like to thank all of the members who are diligent in following the cart traffic rules we have in place such as entering and exiting through the traffic gates and staying on the cart paths when the hole is closed. During the recent seeding of the course we used signs indicating holes that were cart path only with very good success. Most members and guest abided by the restrictions and we had a successful rough seeding in part because of it. 

Restricting cart traffic on two holes for a week at a time is a traffic control measure we have contemplated doing for quite awhile. We started this past week with cart path only restrictions on #'4 & #17 using the multiple sign approach used for seeding to inform players.  Par 3's are a no cart traffic zone already, so by  adding the additional two holes, members will be able to use carts on twelve holes on the course at any given time and theoretically every par 4 & 5 hole will get a break from cart traffic for one week out of six. The plan is to restrict cart traffic on one hole on the front nine, and one hole on the back nine for a week then rotate to two more the following week. We'll see how it goes.

We are committed to the 2 hole rotating cart traffic closures using multiple signs along paths to inform members, therefore will be updating our signage in the near future.

Ropes and stakes are a big part of traffic control. Additional changes in the traffic control arena is we are gravitating toward these 12" stakes rather then the 18" previously used. 

Gates for entering and exiting the the golf hole will still be used.