Jim mowing 3 green

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous this week. There have been frost delays daily, but that is a small price to pay for playing golf in the sunshine in the middle of January on the Oregon Coast. The course is really playing nicely right now. The forecast is showing plenty of sunshine, so come on out and enjoy a round during this fabulous stretch of weather.

Jerry slicing 18 fairway

This week the greens have been mowed and rolled, and are rolling great. We changed hole locations and moved tee markers multiple times this week. The collars were mowed. The bunkers were raked. Fairways on holes 3, 7, 9, 10, and 18 were sliced. We have exposed some more stumps on hole 4, and will be removing them soon. We are continuing to work on our MSDS audit during frost delays.

Hole 11

I have been hearing great things about the food at Tavolo, which is the restaurant at Sandpines. I can't hardly make it through the clubhouse without hearing about how great the food is from one person or another. Chef John is fairly new at Tavolo, and already he has been impressing a lot of folks with his creations. I have included the new Sunday Brunch Menu and Thursday night Karaoke Menu below to give you an idea of the type of food being served.

12 green getting some sun

It has been nice to see the sun today. The extended forecast is looking really good. Lots of sunshine, but a little cool at night. There will likely be some frost delays in the near future. Once the frost is gone however, the sunshine should make for some great golfing weather.

This week, the only mowing that took place was on the greens. The greens and approaches were fertilized.. We also changed hole locations a couple times, raked bunkers, raised a few low sprinkler heads, edged some more cart paths, removed a couple of stumps on hole 4, initiated our annual material safety data sheet (MSDS) audit, installed slicing knives on our pull behind aerator, and installed new 150 yard markers on the par 4's and par 5's.

New 150 yard marker on hole 7

14 green soaking up the sun this morning

The weather has been fantastic this week. Clear days this time of year tend to begin with frost delays, which was the case earlier in the week. However, today is the nicest day of the week, and play started on time. The high temperature for the day has reached 58 degrees so far (with no wind), which is just right for golfing.

Jim cutting 2x2's for traffic stakes

The frost delays earlier this week allowed us to complete some tasks in the shop. We worked on making more traffic stakes for the golf course, which are particularly important this time of year. We have also been prepping the rough mower decks for painting, which will make them last much longer. The rain gauge was cleaned up and had new batteries installed. Chain saws were sharpened. Bags stands for the driving range were stripped and painted.

View of hole 17 from behind 10 tees (zoomed in slightly)

On the course this week, the greens were mowed on Monday and rolled today, hole locations were changed daily (with the exception of Thursday), bunkers were raked, cart path edging was continued, cart paths were blown off, approaches were fertilized, tee divots were filled, and traffic stakes were moved as needed.

View from 7 green looking north

Thankfully, the weather forecast is looking pretty good for the next couple of weeks. I have a feeling there are many folks that have been waiting for some better weather to get out and play some golf. Looks like the wait is over. Come on out and enjoy a round.

Toro Workman in the shop for service and repair

This week, the greens have been mowed twice and rolled once. The grass growth has really slowed down, which is typical for this time of year with the short days and cooler temperatures. The bunkers were raked twice (except for those that are below the water table). We made some more progress on the cart path edging again this week. Traffic stakes were moved in order to vary traffic, which helps to minimize turf damage caused by maintenance equipment and golf carts. The power issue at the fuel island was resolved this week. We had been using a temporary solution in order to fuel equipment. A broken wire ended up being the cause of the problem. Peterson has the Toro Workman in the shop for servicing and repairs. Some of the items being addressed include: shift and brake cable replacement, corrosion removal, corrosion prevention, chassis cleaning, and brake system flush.

Buck on hole 13

This week on the course: the greens were mowed, cart path edging was continued, a few dangerous trees were removed, needles were blown off greens, branches and other tree debris were cleaned up, Ropes to control traffic were put up on holes 7 and 12. In the shop, Peterson has been working on replacing bearings and seals on the rough mower.

Steven cleaning up tree debris on hole 3

Tuesday, the annual Sandpines Christmas Party was held at Holiday Bowl. Its always fun to watch lousy bowlers (like me) and great bowlers (like Don Sloto) show their stuff. We enjoyed great company and food, which are the ingredients for a great party. Thanks Michael and Nancy for putting on a great party again this year.

Andrew rolls a beauty

Jerry mowing 8 green

If you were golfing at Sandpines on November 6th or 7th, you may have noticed a film crew out on the course. They were shooting video footage for some brand new Nike rain gear that has not been released yet. Most of the filming took place on the 7th hole. I was able to get some pictures of the filming process, but was asked by the producer not to post them until now. It is unclear whether or not the footage will be used in an actual television commercial. The main purpose of the shoot was to provide training materials for the Nike sales team to communicate the advantages of their new product. As I understand it, the product will hit the market sometime next year. If you see a commercial for Nike rain gear over the next year or so, take a close look and may just notice that it was filmed at Sandpines. There is more involved in the filming process than I would have imagined. It takes more people and time than I would have guessed. The pictures below give you an idea of what the filming process looked like.

Friday night, my wife and I hosted the annual Sandpines agronomy staff Christmas party. We look forward to the party every year. It gives me a chance to thank the agronomy staff for all their hard work throughout the year. It has become a tradition that I put together a slide show of pictures I have taken throughout the year and play them on a loop on our television. I think the guys really enjoy it. It also gives us a chance to show our spouses what we encounter out on the golf course. We also enjoy a potluck style meal with good food and drinks. The white elephant gift exchange always provides a lot of laughs, which we can usually thank Steven for. Below are a couple pictures from the party.

Three weeks ago I was contacted by Cameron Healey, the publisher for Golf Today Northwest. He asked if I would be interested in writing an article for the December edition of the digital publication. Cameron thought his readers might enjoy an article from a different perspective. I thought it would be a great opportunity to answer one of the most common questions I receive from golfers this time of year. Click on the link that follows to see what I came up with. What Do Golf Course Maintenance Staff do in the Off Season?. I used some screen shots to give you an idea what the article looks like below, but I encourage you to use the link above to check out Golf Today Northwest for yourself. The article I wrote can be found on page 44 and is continued on page 53.