Updating Tee Markers

One of our indoor winter projects each year is to go through our golf course accessories and give them a fresh coat of paint or stain, if needed. Here is a short video of an older set of tee markers getting a makeover. 

- Chris Habeger

Water Balance

Generally, when agricultural professionals and enthusiasts discuss the weather, they're not just making small talk the way two strangers sharing an elevator ride might engage each other, but rather are having a discourse about an important topic that is integral to their lives and a determining factor for how they manage their plants or crops, often on a daily basis. For them, there are two words that are commonly used when referring to current conditions or weather patterns: either wet or dry and there are two key components that affect these conditions: precipitation (rain + snow) and evapotranspiration (evaporation + the water used by plants). After determining values for each of these, we can find and track the water balance. Here is a graphical representation for our local water balance from April 2012 through November 2013:

The vertical blue lines along the bottom of the graph indicate precipitation events (+) and the vertical red lines indicate evapotranspiration (-) due to high temperatures and/or low humidity. The upper portion of the graph shows the deficit (red) or surplus (blue) of water with the green line representing the water balance.

          From the graph, we can see that the 2012 growing season was off to a good start, but drought conditions developed and created a water deficit which lasted into the spring of 2013. The good news is that a water surplus trend was started and continues.

- Chris Habeger

Informative USGA Videos

Here are a few short animated clips from the United States Golf Association explaining some of the techniques used on golf courses.



Watering For Healthy Turf

Making A Great Putting Surface

Repairing Ball Marks

- Chris Habeger

Bunker Renovation 2013



       The bunker renovation project for the Alvamar Members' Course began in late April of this year. As of August 1, we have completed work on the bunkers of holes #6, #8, #9 and #10. This renovation includes removing old sand, inspection and repair of existing drainage, reshaping of the bunker edge and lastly, adding a fabric liner and white sand.