If the weather is going to continue being unusually warm, I will continue writing about it. I did notice a few golfers on the course today enjoying the warm weather. The course is soft from the continued melting snow, but for January, the conditions for golf are not horrible. If you want to come and play the rest of the week, we do ask that you stay off the greens.
We have fielded a few questions about how this mild winter will impact the golf course. As [.....]
There are many projects happening at the clubhouse this week in an effort to be ready for regular business soon. All these pictures were taken today.
The remaining HVAC units are going on top of the clubhouse.
Painting has started on the new ceiling in the Pump Room.
New carpet is going down in the fireplace room.
New carpet is down in the Grill on the Green.
New hardwood is going down in Club 21 by the doors, but I did not get [.....]
We received at least 8 inches of snow yesterday. The hills are ready for sledding, a cross country ski track is groomed and the ice is ready for skating.
[.....]
We are not giving up on the ice rink yet. We put down the first grooming layer of the season today. This is nothing more than a light layer applied with a hose and nozzle. We are hoping to do this twice tomorrow. After that, we think it will be ready to skate on.
Here is a quick look at the 10-day forecast. The rink should be ready for this weekend, and we are hoping the rink does not melt too much with the sun and warmer [.....]
I have uploaded a short video of the ESA burn that was completed last week. This will give you an idea of the process used on all of the areas on the course.
[.....]
The crew spent this morning cleaning the parking lots and sidewalks of the biggest snow of the season. We received about 5-6". There was wind with the storm that created some deeper drifts. This storm also brought with it the coldest temperatures of the season, with near 0 degree F expected for tonight.
The ice rink will not be ready again this weekend. It is still not frozen through. Once it is frozen through, we will need a day to groom the ice smooth to be ready [.....]
The recent warm and dry weather did give us the opportunity to revisit the ESA(Environmentally Sensitive Area) burn that was unsuccessful in early December(ESA Burn - Fail). During the first attempt, there existed too much moisture for an effective burn to be completed. Leaves and vegetation at the edges of the ESAs would light, but the fire would not carry towards the middle of the areas. The smoke in the pictures from the post in December shows the amount of moisture that was still in these areas.
[.....]
The new ceiling tiles are being put in place in the fireplace room and the hallway. The cutouts for the lights were made first so we would be able to get lights back on in the room, then the full tiles were put in place. The pieces that need to be trimmed will be done this week.
A few other projects are being done while the ceiling tiles were down. The track the ceiling tile sits in was painted, and a few lights were moved around. Also, [.....]
We will be working on a few projects in the clubhouse over the coming weeks. Changing out ceiling tile like we did last year is the first project being tackled. This will be done in the room with the fireplace, and in the front hallway. The ceiling in the Pump room will be done by a contractor later this month. After the ceilings are completed new carpets will be installed by the fireplace, in the Grill on the Green and the from hallway.
The Ballroom is being [.....]
I suspect the majority of superintendents in the Chicagoland area are happy to watch 2011 in the rear-view mirror. This past season is not one that we want to revisit too often, so I will do it with just this one post. Here is a video of clips and pictures that will take you through what we did this past season, and some of the information that is on the blog about it. The video is long, but it was a long season. The subtitles refer to a blog post and the date it was posted for more information. The posts are also listed in the order they appear in the video at the bottom of the post.
[.....]