Photos in the dead of winter

Last week, I was driving around with a volunteer who helps me cut down invasive shrubs during the winter. He remarked about how green the course was, for February. Forward to today. I have been organizing the photos on my computer when I took a second look at some of the photos. It struck me just how GREEN things really are in the summer. Right now, things are kind of monochrome. Mostly brown and white. The green that we see is really a greenish-yellow. Here are some photos to brighten your day. Every day is one day closer to opening day!

#4 green, looking back toward the fairway.

#7 green, in the fall of 2011.

#9 fairway, early morning.

The weather station, with native indiangrass in the foreground. I love the blue sky contrasted with the green grass.

Bumble bee on some Joe-pye-weed

Blue-flag iris in the native plant garden on #12

Lilac Cherry blooms. (Thanks to reader J-Law for pointing it out.)

Cherry blooms between #6 green and #5 fairway.

Pear orchard behind #7 green. Native redbud tree in the foreground.

#8 green.

#13 fairway.

January 2012 Weather Summary

It is the middle of the month and I have forgotten all about my monthly weather summary.

The high temperature for January was 55.1 (Jan 31st.) The low was 0.7 degrees (20th.) The average temperature was 30.9 degrees. Yes, the calender said it was January. there were 10 days where the high temperature did not get above 32 degrees. 27 days had low temps below freezing.

Leslie Park got 1.76 inches of rain. 0.75 inches on the 17th alone. 9 days had a trace of rain and 5 days had at least a tenth of an inch.

The highest windspeed recorded was 33 mph on the first day of the year.  Average speed was 4.9 mph.

Finally!

Today I received word that Leslie Park has completed all of the necessary work and documentation to become Michigan's 11th golf course designated as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.

I began this process when I started at Leslie Park two and a half years ago. Golf courses and environmental principles don’t have to be opposing forces. I hope this certification will demonstrate our daily commitment to environmental stewardship.


The city of Ann Arbor and Leslie Park Golf Course are committed to environmental stewardship every day. We appreciation Audubon International’s recognition of our efforts.




From the press release:

LESLIE PARK GOLF COURSE RECOGNIZED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EXCELLENCE




ANN ARBOR, MI – Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012 - Ann Arbor Parks & Recreation is proud to announce Leslie Park Golf Course (LPGC) has achieved designation as a “Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary” through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, an Audubon International program. Scott Spooner, LPGC Course Superintendent, has led the effort to obtain sanctuary status on this course and is being recognized for Environmental Stewardship by Audubon International.

“I am extremely proud to add this mark of distinction in the industry to our achievements. Scott has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the environment and to both the quality and care of Leslie Park Golf Course since he was hired. I am excited we received this honor and commend the staff for their efforts to make this come to fruition over the past two years,” said Ann Arbor Parks & Recreation Manager Colin Smith. Smith also acknowledged the collaborative work of golf course staff and Ann Arbor’s Natural Area Preservation (NAP) Program staff for their cooperative efforts in achieving this status.

“One of my favorite parts of the certification process has been the community outreach. It’s great to be able to show our community that golf courses can be good stewards of the environment,” said Scott Spooner Superintendent, Leslie Park Golf Course.

Leslie Park Golf Course is the 11th course in Michigan and the 960th in the world to receive the honor. Additionally, LPGC is only the 2nd course in the state to be certified in Audubon’s program and the Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program.

“Leslie Park Golf Course has shown a strong commitment to its environmental program. They are to be commended for their efforts to provide a sanctuary for wildlife on the golf course property," said Jim Sluiter, Staff Ecologist for the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Programs. “To reach certification, a course must demonstrate that they are maintaining a high degree of environmental quality in a number of areas,” explained Sluiter. These categories include: Environmental Planning, Wildlife & Habitat Management, Outreach and Education, Chemical Use Reduction and Safety, Water Conservation, and Water Quality Management.

The Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, endorsed by the United States Golf Association, provides information and guidance to help golf courses preserve and enhance wildlife habitat, and protect natural resources. Golf courses from the United States, Africa, Australia, Canada, Central America, Europe, and Southeast Asia have also achieved certification in the program.

For more information on golf and the environment, visit www.golfandenvironment.org. In addition to golf courses, Audubon International also provides programs for businesses, schools, communities, and new developments. For more information, contact Audubon International, 46 Rarick Rd., Selkirk, NY 12158, USA, (518) 767-9051, e-mail them via the Internet at acsp@auduboninternational.org, or visit their website at www.auduboninternational.org.


Ann Arbor has 114,000 residents, spans 27.7 square miles, and is frequently recognized as a foremost place to live, learn, work, thrive and visit (www.a2gov.org/parks). To keep up with City of Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation information, subscribe for e-mail updates (www.a2gov.org/subscribe), follow us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/a2parks) or become a city fan on Facebook (www.facebook.com/annarborparks). The city’s mission statement reads: The city of Ann Arbor is committed to providing excellent municipal services that enhance the quality of life for all through the intelligent use of resources while valuing an open environment that fosters fair, sensitive and respectful treatment of all employees and the community we serve.

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Traver Creek Streambank Stabilization

The City of Ann Arbor (which owns Leslie Park Golf Course), in partnership with the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner's Office, has proposed a streambank stabilization project for Traver Creek, which runs through Leslie Park. This project will be financed through the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's State Revolving Loan Fund. There is an opportunity for up to 50% of the cost of the project to be forgiven depending on the level of environmentally sound practices utilized during restoration. The funding would come out of the city and county stormwater budgets over the next 20 years. The city of Ann Arbor is at the forefront of municipalities in the state of Michigan in using stormwater funds to proactively manage water courses to positively effect stormwater quality during high-precipitation events. What this means is that the city uses these funds to ecologically manage surface water instead of just fixing broken or damaged sewers.

The goals of the project are functional (by improving stormwater infrastructure), ecological (sediment removal, phosphorous reduction and habitat improvement) and recreational (improving aesthetics on the golf course). The golf course will be partnering with the city water quality manager and the county's water resources office as well as Ann Arbor's Natural Areas Preservation Division and the Huron River Watershed Council to make sure that this project meets the environmental goals that have been set forth.

The Spicer Group has been brought aboard to develop a plan and assess the hydrologic, hydraulic and geomorphic conditions that occur on Traver Creek. If all goes according to plan, construction will begin in November 2012, with major construction completed before April 2013. A major consideration for all parties involved is to impact golf as little as possible. Although the construction will be complete, it could take up to two full seasons before Traver Creek and the habitat surrounding the creek areas fully mature. During the first season, most of the banks will be populated by grasses whose primary purpose is to hold the soil in place while the perennial native plants take hold.

It is important to note that at this point, no plans have been finalized, so it is nearly impossible to know what the final project will look like or involve. A write-up of the proposal that was brought before the Ann Arbor Parks Advisory Committee was featured in the Ann Arbor Chronicle.

Below are some photos of the erosion and overflow problems that we have seen. You may remember a similar, though much smaller scale, project from the Summer of 2010. You can find out more HERE. I will keep you updated on this exciting project as we know more.

December 2011 Weather Summary

Happy New Year!

I apologize for not having any updates for December. Things are slowing down and I have had some much needed time off.

For December, the high temperature was 56.6 degrees, on the 15th. The low temp was 10.4 (Dec 10th.) The average temperature was 34.7. 23 days had low temps below 32 degrees, while 4 days had high temperatures that not get above freezing. The average temperature for the year was 50.0 degrees.

With all of the cold weather in December, we still got 2.51 inches of rain. That brings the total rain 2011 to 41.79 inches. The month had 12 days of at least a trace of rain and 7 days with over a tenth of an inch.  For the year, we had 133 days with at least a trace of rain and 82 days of a tenth or more. We had 7 days with over an inch of rain for 2011.

The high wind speed was 30 mph (15th) with an average of 4.0 mph. The highest wind speed recorded for 2011 was 42 mph on November 9th. Average speed for the year was 3.7.

November 2011 Weather Summary

I noticed an interesting phenomenon this morning while checking the course. In 90% of the bunkers, the snow had melted except over the underground drainage lines. This allowed me to get a visual on where these lines are located. The nice thing about that is it could allow me to find the beginnings of the drainage lines. When constructing bunkers, the drain lines will often have a "clean-out" at the beginning of the line. These "clean-outs" allow someone to easily flush the sand and silt that accumulates in the drainage over time. This may improve the speed at which these bunkers drain rain away.

Here you can see the herringbone pattern of drains in the bunker on #14.

A similar pattern on #12

On #7, I painted a yellow line on the snow to help me trace the drain to the end.

Speaking of rain, we received 4.77 inches of it in November. This brings our yearly total here at Leslie Park Golf Course to 39.42 inches. We had 10 days with over a trace of rain and 8 days with over a tenth of an inch. We had 2 days with over an inch of rain. Those days were the 22nd and 29th.

The high temperature for the month of November, 2011,was 66.4 (The 8th of November) and the lowest temperature recorded was 18.1 on the 18th. It got below freezing on 7 of the 30 days, but the daily high was always above 32 degrees.

The highest wind gust was 42 mph (Nov 9th.)

More Fall Projects

#11 is the scene of most of our projects this fall. You may remember that we built a new tee already. (You can see this tee here)

On the left side of #11 near the green, there has been a continual problem with an area of peat mixed with clay. This area holds water and is impossible to mow and also causes some unfair lies. Here is the area in 2009.

The area in August of 2011.

I went in and removed the peat and clay areas with a backhoe and replaced it with pea-stone. We put in catch basins connected to existing drainage.

We then covered the pea-stone over with about a foot of soil and graded it out to a gradual slope that forces surface water into the catch basins.

This is after we got 1.27 inches of rain last night, hence the puddles.

In the spring, we also had a large issue with standing water on the right side of the fairway, about 250 yards from the green. The water would come out of the woods and collect in a hollow near the tree line. We had so much rainfall this spring that the water would overflow and flow across the fairway. This created a huge mess and cart traffic had to be routed through standing water to play the hole. Earlier in the fall, we put in a catch basin in the hollow and we are now working on connecting the catch basin to existing drainage near #13 tee.

We will be working on trenching across the fairway next week. 

On a different note, today is the last day for golf at Leslie Park for the year. As a reminder, our sister course, Huron Hills will be open until the snow flies. It has been a good year and I hope to see you out on the course in 2012!