Another shot

of the snow taken off the 15th and 17th grrens.

Glacier removal

They say that the glaciers are receding but the glacier on 15/ 17 green just wasn't receding fast enough. So John and I spent most of the day doing more snow removal. The two main reasons that I like to remove the snow at this time is to expose the ice that has been on the surface of the green for 45 days now. The second reason is so that the greens will dry off and this will reduce the chance of more winterkill through crown hydration.

Merlins

Once again the Merlins are the first birds back into the territory, although I did see one in January and it may have been around all winter. These small falcons have been around the course for years now and generally nest near the 18th green.

back 9

And the back 9!

I should be able to hit some greens in regulation now....

Forward tees

A new feature of the course this season will be the addition of a new set of forward yellow tees. These tees will be perfect for beginners, some seniors and basically anybody that might enjoying playing a shorter course. Here is a shot of the routing on the front 9.

Snow Removal

Here is a shot of the 18th green where we have been removing the snow with the Bobcat. You can see the layers caused by alternating snow and melting events. This drift is about 2.5 feet high and there are some drifts around the course that are 5 to 6 feet high. Mother Nature is going to have to take care of those ones.

Impatiently waiting.

Yes the course is still closed, but the good news is that the 8 days of snow, that felt like 3 weeks, has finally ended and the spring melt begins again. It is conceivable that we may open with the practice green still covered as it is currently under 3 feet of snow and that snow is like low-grade cement. Even the Bobcat skid-steer has trouble moving the snow....more details tomorrow.

Patiently waiting

Another wintery day at Woodside. A week ago it looked like we were well into our spring thaw and with a reasonable 14 day forecast we had thoughts of opening in a couple of weeks. However Mother Nature didn't buy into our plans and in a couple of days the melt will begin again, hopefully in earnest.