RAIN!!!!!! Over the last 48 hours we received right at 4" of precipitation. The rain came slow and steady resulting in minimal damage to the course. It had been over 34 days since our last significant rainfall, and the rain was sorely needed. We are open today and are not restricting carts to paths only. The rain did force us to reschedule our planet air and fertilization practices which were scheduled for yesterday. We are currently working with the golf shop to reschedule these important tasks with minimal disruption to play.
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| Rainfall as of 2:30pm on 7/15/13 |
One of the biggest and most important challenges facing not only Ridgewood, but the industry as whole is water. Water is arguably our most important natural resource. Issues such as: quality, availability, and cost have and will continue to become more critical to the game of golf. As such, one of our biggest goals this summer to is to develop a water management plan for Ridgewood. This plan will focus on drought conservation and defining our best management practices related to irrigation. To learn more about how we will develop this plan please click the link below:
Many of you are aware that we currently have a set amount of water allocated for irrigation on an annual basis and that in most years we do not have the option to purchase additional water. In order to make the best use of our water we must first develop a water budget.
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| A visual look at our water budget for this year. The New Budget is updated monthly based on previous months actuals. Note: July usage is month to date as of 7/12/13 |
I developed our water budget by dividing our water allotment (300 acre feet) over the 12 month contract period. Each month is assigned a certain amount of water based on historical usage and weather patterns. We then enter our actual usage for each month and re-adjust our budget accordingly for the remaining months - resulting in a total usage of 300 acre feet. It is also important to note that currently the elevation of Lake Waco is 5.28ft below normal, and that U.S. Drought Monitor places Waco in the
moderate to severe category. If drought conditions worsen we may face drought restrictions and ultimately a reduction in our current water allotment. For this reason, we will continue to focus our irrigation in high priority areas and make every effort to stay within our water budget.
Other Course News...
We have been very busy working on several areas of the course. The list and photos below will give a brief insight into what has been going on over the last couple of weeks:
- Repaired several irrigation leaks and problems
- Re-Aligning tees
- Spot weed control
- Shop improvements
- Topdressing sodded areas
- Planet Air on sodded areas and trouble spots on the practice putting green
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| Jacob and Jaime replacing sprinkler heads on 16 Tee |
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| Ropes and stakes are used to properly align tee boxes |
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| Taking advantage of a rainy day the crew rebuilt two picnic tables |
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| Completed picnic table |
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| Topdressing sod on #7 fairway |
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| Joe Nava topdressing sod on #3 |
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