Thursday, November 23, 2023

When Autumn Leaves Start To Fall

Another consequence of the record rainfall we experienced with last winters rain season and the associated deep soaking of the native soils, was a continued healthy response from our Oak Trees. This is a welcome result, as years of drought have taken their toll on these trees. Combine this with the nice fall weather we have been having and the Oak's are holding onto their leaves a little longer then certainly the recent past. That's all about to change as temperature's continue to decline and the inevitable rainy and stormy weather starts to transpire.

We are coming up on December and these Blue Oaks continue to hold on to their leaves.

These tow behind turbine blowers are used quite a bit in our daily operations but never as much as in the fall when the leaves start to come down. The task of removing them from the course is not without its challenges as we get reminded every year by a phone call from sleep deprived neighbors that sound carries farther on cold mornings then it does when the temperatures are warmer. This puts us in a bind as we can't get started with the loud blowers and sweepers prior to 7:00 AM October through April.

Excerpt from the Placer County noise ordinance.

We are blessed with two each of sweeper and turbine blower so we can get some leaves picked up, but will inevitably need to work around member play. Wet weather stalls this process as well as this equipment is heavy and can do some real damage when it is wet. GCM personnel are trained to bounce around to stay productive and out of Members way but there will be times when coexistence will be essential.

Continued Progress Members Green #17

Between normal maintenance practices we have been working at new Members Green near #17 tee. The installation of this green during our renovation in 2021 left many loose ends to take care of, which we started on last year at this time but had to readdress our efforts to tree cleanup and drainage installation following a series of intense winter storms. We now have made some good progress on the area by cleaning up existing trees and exposing rock formations. Additionally, we have been adding some irrigation, re-grading the DG cart path that used to service the Tournament tees on #15 as well as some drainage & sod repair in the area. We still have some good neighbor tree planting to do and further cart path work putting the finishing touches on this area making it much more inviting to get away from the flurry of activity at the Clubhouse and peacefully practice.

We always look forward to the Fall & Winter season that allows for more non-routine activities. It's rewarding to expose the natural rock formations associated with our golf course evidenced by the native area across the cart path behind #14 green. This area is associated with the area near the new Member Green and Native area on the left-hand side of #17.

Here is the re-purposed path we built years ago the lead up to the old #15 Tournament Tees. Next, we need to install drainage to mitigate rain washouts and add a turn around and parking area at the top of the hill which will service both #15 Tournament Tees and the Turkey Cove Members Green.
We have been working in this area for a while as the work is time consuming and has the same noise restrictions mentioned above.