About 52 years ago when Craigowan was built, people with great vision planted trees to line the fairways and greens surrounds to change what was essentially a field with some elm trees on it, into a park-style golf course.  We are the beneficiaries of what must have been quite a task, planting literally thousands of trees on the property.  We could debate all day whether or not the trees were of good quality or if they were planted in the right places...it doesn't matter because back then any tree was a good tree if it was affordable and easy to plant.  We also did not maintain golf courses the same way in the 60's as we do today...trees could be planted close to greens sites because we were not stressing the turf as we do today, with crazy low heights of cut and extensive day-to-day traffic and maintenance.

The species used on the course were of low quality by today's standards, but like I said if it could grow fast, species such as willows, soft maple. pine and poplar were perfect for what was needed.  The sheer number of poplars trees planted must have been staggering.  For newer members to the club, you would not know the number of poplars that once lined #17, #14, #11, #12, #18, #1, #5, #9 and in other places as well.  Our staff have probably removed 50 over the years, with the Army Engineers doing in another 30 back in 2001 and the tree contractors taking out 50 last winter.  We still have a great deal more, but they have reached the end of their life span, at least on this property.  Most of the poplars on the course are in serious decline if not dead already and we are systematically removing the worst ones when the opportunity arises.  It is a major job to take down just one of these massive trees however more are disappearing this week near the bridge on #18.  In this case we can drop them in the natural areas so that there is less clean up required.

It seems we've been adopted by another cat this winter, who is quite at home climbing all over the equipment as Mark works on it.  We now have an all-time record population of cats hanging around outside as well these days...

The mild winter weather has been continuing and the fellas have been working on the course most days.  We've been tidying up the trees on both sides of the laneway coming into the club and also around the 7th green.  Yesterday we worked around the bottom of #18 using the pole saw and chipper.  Next week we are hoping to drop some larger trees including old poplars.

Administratively it has been very busy.  Much of January was spent working on our IPM audit.  New rules and regulations have created a much more onerous task of record keeping and learning how to use the pdf forms and website provided for the IPM desk audit and future site audit.  Second Assistant Jay McMillan has been very active in this process as well.  All 840 golf courses in Ontario are dealing with this right now and using the IPM website we can actually view what each golf course used in the way of pesticides in 2011.  Our 2011 pesticide report is currently posted in both locker rooms and in the Pro Shop.  All golf clubs in Ontario beginning in 2012 must host annual public meetings to brief neighbors and the general public on pesticide usage on the golf course.  In our case this will probably happen in November.

I have been late with blog postings due to the IPM audit and a new computer (and Windows 2010).  Anytime a computer update happens there is a new learning curve for how to navigate the programs.  I am also using a new phone and subsequent program to take pictures, hopefully better than previous.

Welcome to a new year at Craigowan.  If you regularily keep up with this blog you have seen the work completed this past fall with the weather being very accomodating.  The benign weather is continuing and Jon, Jay and Al are using the opportunity to burn the dump behind #5 tee which is totally full with brush.  Our resolve to improve the health of our green sites is continuing with more tree removal this winter.  The worst shaded greens have become #7, #11 and #15 and we will be helping with that situation.  We will also be removing some more poplars in a few places around the course this winter.

This week the guys dropped a 6-pronged beast beside the 7th green, a shade contributor for sure but with plenty of other trees around, it won't be missed at all.

Winter hasn't arrived yet and the weather has allowed us to continue with outdoor work, specifically the range path.  The fellas were busy the last couple of days loading in the gravel into the base of the path.  The total cost of this project will be negligible in that the cost for the materials will be offset by the amount of reusable topsoil that was liberated from the path site.  This topsoil will be used to complete tee decks on #2 and possibly elsewhere in 2012.  It appears that the path itself will be ready to go come spring with another day of hauling and grading.

The drainage contractors removed their equipment this week and are doing service work on it, but are counting on returning in the winter to do the drainage work on #11 if possible.

Adding up the amount of rain over the last week, the total is over 5 inches, including a 3.5 inch deluge on Wednesday.  This put our on-course projects on hold maybe for the rest of the year as much of this work involved trenching into the soil.  With the course now officially closed for the season, the remaining staff members are removing the rest of the accessories off the course and preparing for winter maintenance including equipment repairs and accessory painting.

Jay and I attended a seminar yesterday in Waterloo put on by one of our good suppliers, Ontario Seed Company.  More than 300 people were in attendance and the speakers all hailed from the U.S., speaking about many new products that have come into the Canadian market in the last couple of years.

The drainage contractors, TDS, were on site on Monday to set up for their work on the 11th hole, however the weekend rains and the looming forecast prevented anything but a play-it-by-ear response.  We will need some considerably good weather to permit anything to be completed in December, however they will keep some of their equipment on site just in case.