Course Vandalism

Some time during the evening of April 16 trees and branches were cut down on the 12th hole. I must say we are disappointed with this act of vandalism which affects the look and integrity of our golf course.

Course Update March 24, 2013

Here's a few pictures of the course taken today. As you can see, still a fair amount of snow on several holes. Turf looks in good shape. Stay tuned for further news.

2013 Spring at the Salmon Arm Golf Club

Here's a brief update of course conditions Mid March on our golf courses. So far everything is in  great shape, with a fair amount of snow left on the fairways and some tees. Greens snowblowing has been ongoing, over the past few weeks prior to and after the March 12 snow storm, which dropped an additional 10-12" on our snow removal operations. As of March 18, the greens are clear of snow, and seem to be in excellent condition for the time of year. The bentgrass is in particularly wonderful shape. The courses should be in great shape when we open. Too soon to nail down definate dates but within a few days of the snow leaving with drying turf conditions needed prior to opening.  Heres the latest prognosis on opening dates: Heritage course; beginning of April. Champions - mid April.

#4 Green. March 16, 2013, looking good.

16 green bentgrass under emerging from the snowdrift. Ready to play outta the gate. You can still see the late season 1" x 12" deep drill holes, they were to allow any meltwater to flow into the greens drainage system to reduce ice formation on the green surface.

16 green March 18, 2013, turf condition is great. 

#15 Green surrounds and #18 hillside; still some snow to melt. 

Removing the tarp system from 17 green, looks good underneath this green as well. The pipes are utilized to keep a constant flow of air underneath the tarp during the winter to prevent turf asphyxiation.

#17 green, after tarp removal.

Branch clean up needed. Perhaps a good volunteer task? Through the next months we will celebrate our member volunteers. Volunteers are welcome to help us get out courses ready, tee sign lettering & staining, course clean up, bunker preparation, the list goes on. If you are interested leave your name with the administration office at 250-832-3667

Thanks, and we look forward to a great golf season.

Turfcare Dept.

Venting 17 green

March 2, 2013
Blowing air into the whirlybird device to introduce fresh air under the tarp system and remove any undesirable gasses. So far no signs of any gas build up has been noticed. All signs point to a probable positive outcome of this system we are evaluating on 17 green.

Fall Preparations for Greens Winter Survival

It's been a busy few weeks since the last posts. The Turfcare team has been preparing the golf courses for winter and I am happy to say we had the time to perform all the work we had planned to do. Over the next few posts we will show you some of the new procedures we have undertaken that may help to improve our winter survival of our greens.

Winter survival can be debated as our Golf Courses’ biggest hurdle to ongoing turf quality. The condition of the greens in the spring has a very direct impact on quality putting surfaces for the upcoming season. With that in mind we are evaluating some new procedures on our golf course that may help to improve our winter survival of our greens. These are as follows:

On greens #7, 9, 10, and 11 we have installed a product called Enkamat in the low areas, which traditionally tend to accumulate ice in some winters. Enkamat is made up of plastic strands; these are intended to increase the air entrapped in any ice that may accumulate.

On #17 we installed a covering system that may help improve the winter survival of the green. The covering system consists of three components:

1. An impermeable cover that prevents water from getting underneath and forming ice on the green.

2. An insulation layer that protects the turf against excessive cold and provides an air space between the cover and the green.

3. A ventilation system for the turf plants to allow proper metabolic processes to continue under the cover through the winter. The ventilation system will help reduce the toxic buildup of gasses produced by the turf plants underneath the covers. Although grass goes dormant in the winter, it continues to respire and produce C02 and other byproducts of normal plant life. If allowed to build up under the closed system that the tarp produces, theses toxic gasses would certainly kill the turf by the time spring arrives.

The ventilation system consists of perforated big O pipes placed underneath the tarp; these provide air exchange both in and out from under the tarp. An intake pipe encircles the green and exhaust pipes are spread out in several locations throughout the green. The exhaust pipes are connected to a whirlybird roof air exhaust device. As the whirlybird turns it pulls air out from under the cover. This system has proved effective at other golf courses to keep greens well ventilated and prevent toxic gas accumulations from underneath covers.

Other procedures we have undertaken:

We have removed sod at the drainage points on some greens to improve the speed at which melting water moves off the greens. By doing so we may minimize the amount of ice that may develop on these greens. The sod will be replaced in the spring.

We have installed a barrier on #11 green to divert melting snow water from the surrounds away from the green.

Lastly, another procedure we have performed is a drilling of the greens in traditional ice formation areas to improve the ability for melting snow water to flow into the green and possibly drain away rather than pooling on the surface to form ice.

It is our hope that these techniques will prove beneficial in improving our winter survival of the poa turf, which is the most predominant species of turf on our golf greens. Winter survival is critical for good golf greens in the spring.

Once we have data from these techniques we will be able to best recommend the techniques which we may need to perform and install in the fall on an annual basis moving forward that will improve our greens winter survival.

                                  #11 green with Enkamat and snow melt diverter.

A new product called Enkamat is being tested on #7,9,10,11 greens to evaluate its potential to minimize ice damage.

A close up of the Enkamat, the staple is an inch long. 

                                Drilling drainage holes on #16 with the drill and fill.

                                   Removing sod to improve meltwater flow off the greens.

Rootzone on 3-11 Champ

This is a sample of the Rootzone that we are replacing from the 3-11 greens on the Champions Course with the drill and fill. It is too coarse to promote good healthy greens. To date we have drill and filled 7 greens. We will be drilling and filling 5 more this fall. The benefits of the drill and fill are better drainage and root development. The drill and fill removes and replaces the sand in a rootzone to a depth of 12"

Weds Oct 17.  Drill and fill 8 today.

I cheered when Rich Mori showed up in the lunchroom at our 7 am daily meeting yesterday because I knew I would be spared Drill and Fill tender duty on 11 green. Richard almost singlehandedly loaded almost 3 tones of sand into the machines hoppers for injecting into the green as well as ensuring any partially fill holes were topped up. The day earlier I was the sand tender on 9 green and I can tell you it wasn't easy work.
On 9&11 so far we have been using a larger 1" drill bit instead of the 3/4" drill bit we used on 3,4,5,7.
The pro of the bigger bit is more volume of extraction, the con - the procedure is slower and uses more sand, due to the slower operation the hole we are working on may likely be a temporary until 1PM at the earliest. We intend on drilling 8 today and depending on how we feel about the cleanup and playability of the 1" hole we will decide which green to do the next day, and with what size drill bit.  Tuesday,we completed the drill And fill operation on 11 green by 5:30PM, the rainy weather postponed the work until about 11AM, whereupon the skies cleared and the procedure was underway after a 3.5 hour delay.

Cleanup of old root zone on 11 green, rolling to follow.

Our fall volunteer program is still ongoing, Rich, John Campbell, Gary Moores, and D''Arcy McLeod have ben helping work towards helping us complete our various fall projects. If you are interested in helping us with some aspect of work on the course or around the facilities show up roughly around 7:10 -7:30AM at the Turfcare Department or if another time suits you email or contact us.  We would be happy to put you to work. Have a great day.