Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses

Bay Oaks Country Club is in the process of becoming a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.  The press release below outlines the program and our club involvement.  Thus far we have applied for certification in the areas of: Wildlife & Habitat Management, Chemical Use Reduction and Safety, Water Conservation and Water Quality Management.  Listed here are a few of the things we have done to further our environmental conservation efforts:

- implemented minimal maintenance techniques on out of play areas, including shorelines

- 30 min environmental conservation classes with Jr. Camps over the summer each week

- installed a Garden with the help of the Bay Oaks Garden Club

- performed a bird survey with member and non-member help

- ongoing wildlife survey

- designated wildlife habitat areas on the golf course

- recycled old tires

- implemented recycling program for Golf Course Maintenance in addition to the recycling taking place already at the club

-fertilizer applied through the irrigation system to the golf course which is much more efficient than granular applications

-mulching tree debri for use on site

-leave dead trees standing where not a safety hazard to provide wildlife habitat

New Triplex greens mower

We received a new greens mower today.  Now we can rotate our old greens mower to a tee mower.

Frost!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was our first frost delay of the season.  For frost to form the three c's have to come together.  Cold (near freezing), calm (little to no wind) and clear (clear sky).  When frost forms on the grass, the cells of the grass plant freeze.  Any traffic that impacts the frozen grass plant causes the frozen cells to burst thus killing the grass plant.  This is why we delay golf until the frost has melted away.  Thank you for your patience on frost delay mornings as we are protecting our golf course for all to enjoy.

Is Summer finally over????

After a beautiful week of warm fall weather, Mother Nature decided it is finally time to cool us off and bring us a touch of winter.  Along with the 20MPH winds blowing across the golf course today, we had 1.15 inches of rain overnight bringing our YTD total to 53.5 inches.  As usual that amount of rain has our bunkers washed out and flooded so we are busy repairing them today.  Good news is, with the strong winds the golf course should dry out quickly.

On another note, the sink hole repairs were finished just in time last Tuesday.  An hour after the sod was put in place we had .75 inches of rain.  As expected the repairs are holding up perfectly.

Sinkholes repaired just in Time

We recieved .75 inches of rain yesterday afternoon bringing our total for the year to 52.35 inches.  It has been a dry fall so it was nice to get the rain.  The sinkhole repairs were finished up yesterday as well, just in time for it to rain on the new sod.

Sink holes

The sinkholes on holes #2 and #4 are almost repaired.  Both were caused by corrosion of the corrogated metal pipe that was used for the drain lines.  In both cases, seperations of pipe joints helped to cause the sinkholes also.  Once the repairs are complete on both holes they will get sodded at the same time.

#2 sinkhole before repair

#2 sinkhole after repair

#4 sinkhole before

#4 sinkhole, drain box and drainage piping exposed

concrete drain box removed, 6 pipes entering, 2 pipes leaving

24" corrogated metal pipe, joint smashed and seperated, big hole for  dirt to fall into

36"x24" ADS plastic tee installation, new drainage

36inch stack rising to finish grade, ready to connect incoming pipes

deep hole, inside of 36inch stack

Herb Garden

We are currently preparing an herb garden adjacent to the halfway house.  Once it is complete our Bay Oaks Garden Club will take it over and grow fresh herbs and possibly vegetables down the road for Chef to use.  Below are some pictures of our progress.

The area tends to hold water so we drilled drainage holes through the concrete wall to allow extra water to escape.  The 2 inch gravel layer below the soil acts as a drain to keep the soil from staying overly saturated.

spreading gravel drainage layer

We used a mix of native topsoil, organic garden mix, sand and mulch to form the soil used in the garden.

soil mix being placed over gravel

soil mix spread and ready for irrigation installation