Where did everybody go?

September is here! Where did summer go? It seemed like we were just gearing up for the BC Women's Amateur Championship and now most of our staff is gone back to school. The last few months have certainly flown by, we had the Sunshine Open and are currently getting ready for the Club Championships this weekend. We completed an aeration of our greens in the last week of August, giving them a chance to breath after a hot dry summer. We were able to over come many challenges this year, while some are still an on going battle.

Blower turbine helping to contain duck weed

 One challenge we were faced with this year was Duck Weed in our ponds. Duck weed, (lemna minor) is an aquatic plant that can double itself overnight. Over the course of a few days, a small problem can turn into a large one. In past years we have sprayed them with an aquatic herbicide successfully. However, this year with the hot weather and a late herbicide application, the duck weed went out of control!

Manually removing duck weed

The only option left was to manually remove it from the ponds. This is a very labour intensive task. The first step was figuring out a way to contain the duck weed in one area of the pond to make removal more effective. We tried pool noodles, floatation systems, and finally had success with our blower/turbine. Blowing the duckweed to one side of the pond made it possible to remove with rakes and skimmers. Leaving on the shore to dry is an effective way to kill duckweed as it needs water to survive. We followed this with another aquatic herbicide application to kill off any remaining duck weed. Finally, it was gone!

Greens Aeration, 1/4 inch tines, 2.5" spacing

We successfully completed one of our 2 planned fall greens aeration. August 25th we did the front 9 and completed the back 9 on August 26th. With limited staff, doing 9 holes a day makes things more feasible. There are many different pieces of equipment involved in this process and it is certainty a lot of work. We don't aerate because it's fun, and we don't do it just to mess up your golf game, we do it because it's the best thing you can possible do for your greens. For more information please click this link: USGA: Why do we aerate when the greens are perfect?

Anthracnose on the 7th fairway (yellow and brown areas)

We have been battling an Anthracnose outbreak on our fairways and in our rough all through the end of summer and into September. Anthracnose is a foliar disease on annual bluegrass where symptoms include elongated stems, chlorotic (yellow) leaf spots with small, black, spore-bearing structures (acervuli) in the center. It is caipble of causing wide spread damage when conditions in late summer are favorable. To fight this disease there are a number of fungicides registered for control. We have chosen a more envirnmentally friendly approach, applying fertilizer with high nitrogen to bring the plants through until fall when they can over come the disease naturally.  

Antrhacnose symptoms up close

 As we transition into our fall season we will struggle to keep up with daily mowing and course services such as cleaning the washrooms and filling the sand and seed containers. Our staff has gone from a peak season of 7 full time staff and 5 part time staff to 4 full time staff and 2 part time staff. Many golf courses face this challenge in September as seasonal jobs are usually filled with university or high school students. Please have some patience and keep in mind that we are trying to get as much done as possible.

"Best Golf Course in Kamloops"

We have some exciting news at the Kamloops Golf and Country Club. In case you haven't heard, we have been voted "Kamloops Best Golf Course" by the Kamloops This Week Reader's Choice Awards. This is a very humbling award to receive. Our Turf Care team has worked tirelessly this season and it seems as though the rest of Kamloops has appreciated our efforts.












Thank you to everyone who voted for our course and to our staff who have worked so hard this season. We had a great year this year, and we will certainly try to keep things "best in kamloops" right into winter.