One month down and two to go as winter marches along.  We continue to proceed with our winter maintenance knowing time is getting short.  We finally experienced some milder weather this week that allowed us to open the back nine albeit on temporary greens and tees.  Unfortunately it doesn't look like the mild temperatures will last.  It is January after all!

 

It sure is nice to see some winter golf but we must wait for frost to burn off first.

 

 

The fifteenth hole this morning covered in frost.  Our crew has almost finished clearing the growth from around the lake.  The fourth hole is complete.

 

 

Pruning is taking place throughout the course.  Here Erik works on a willow oak near the sixteenth green.

 

 

Lots of branches to chip!

 

 

The crew continues to refurbish course supplies.

 

 

More sanding!

 

 

Oscar working on a triplex mower.  All the hoses are being replaced on this unit.

 

 

Daffodils beginning to emerge and a sure sign of things to come.

Good morning from a very frigid golf course.  Most of our work has moved indoors during this extremely cold period.  There is plenty to do as we prepare for the coming golf season.  As stated before this is a very busy time for our mechanic Oscar Garcia and his assistant Francisco Carranza.  Currently they are spending the bulk of their time performing preventive maintenance on our fairway mowers.  This involves replacing bearings and seals in the cutting units and then sharpening the reel and cutting bar.  We also replace all the hydraulic hoses after so many years of use to prevent possible failures.  Hydraulic hose failure means dead grass and I am sure you have seen the results when this occurs.   This season we are replacing all the hoses on our third mower and it is a big job.  Thirty-four hoses are carefully labeled and removed.  The old hoses are taken to the hydraulic hose fabricator and new hoses are then made to order.  The new hoses are actually better than the original and we have yet to have a failure!    

 

Yep its cold this morning.

 

 

A fairway mower without hoses and reels on the lift.

 

 

Hoses on the way to the shop.

 

 

Winterberry looks great with snow.  This plant is actually a deciduous holly.

 

 

The crew did a great job with the snow on Tuesday.  Here is our new plow and canopy on our Kubota tractor.

 

 

Francisco running the John Deere loader.

 

 

One of the last snow events for our 1989 Ford F250 plow.  Twenty-five years makes it an antique!

 

 

The rest of the crew shoveling.

 

 

Oscar sharpening fairway cutting bars.

 

 

Hazard stakes being prepared for the upcoming season.

 

 

Preparing broken tee boxes. The move to plastic tees was awesome and may make these obsolete.

 

 

An impressive Nellie Stevens holly in front of the clubhouse.

 

 

Some snow fencing added to discourage sledding onto the fifth green.

 

 

Several cedars were removed to reduce a shade issue on the twelfth tee.

 

 

Quincy enjoying a snow day.  He has had several seizures and is back on medication.