Inside work

Inside work has begun here at the Ridge! With low temps and snow falling two days this week, we decided to stay in and stay warm. As you can see from the photo below, Jose and I used our artistic abilities to paint new tee markers. Tee markers received two coats of paint if needed and then a clear coat to protect from weathering. Meanwhile Uriel spent the week disassembling and sand blasting ball washers.

These past few days we have been blessed with a few warmer temperatures. With that we were able to get out on the course and accomplish a few tasks other than tree work (Front 9 completed). Surrounding our tee features are clumps of pampas grass. These tall grasses are easy maintenance and only need cut back once a year. Usually this process takes place in late winter as to enjoy the plumes for as long as possible. It is now time to start preparing for the upcoming spring season. We have retrieved all ball washers and tee markers to be refurbished or remade. The tee markers have been replaced by the old satellite balls until March. Unfortunately there will only be two sets of markers on the course at this point but feel free to hit from your respected tee box. 

Goose Problems

Every winter golf courses run into one problem that no one can seem to solve. Geese. Canada geese can be considered one of the biggest nuisance pests to not only golf courses, but many parks and suburban areas with ponds or lakes. Because these giant birds are federally protected, superintendents are forced to come up with creative ways of keeping geese off their courses. Many courses around the nation use dogs to rid their facility of any unwanted birds. Occasionally we will bring our German Shepard pup Letty out to do the job. Unfortunately she is not able to be here every day with us. Rarely do just one or two geese show up and invade an area, they come in masses. When a large gaggle of geese take over they can excrete a large amount of waste and cause turf damage. It is not pleasant trying to putt on a green with all of that in your way. In order to reduce this problem, we have decided to rope off holes 11 and 12. The idea being that the rope will hit the geese in the chest and will stop them from creating any further problems on the greens.