Turf Talk

The maintenance team has been working diligently every day to maintain the course in top condition. Our goal is to deliver outstanding playing surfaces throughout the year and we are preparing for another challenging summer from a climate perspective.

As it gets hotter and drier, water management becomes a priority to keep healthy turf. 

Some of the things we are doing are as follows:

• Increased usage of wetting agents to hold moisture in the fairways.
• Increased amounts of plant health products that will help with limited water supply.
• Moisture meter readings daily on the greens to determine exactly how much water is required for optimum greens condition.
• More cultural practice to help with water penetration and oxygen get to the root zone. This is “venting”, done regularly.
• Hand watering of greens. Hot spot watering of fairways, often done during the day.

The supply of water at Highland Pacific come solely from wells, reservoirs and our upper lake on Highland #4. This lake has been used extensively for a couple of years now and is becoming more important during drought periods which have become more commonplace in recent years. Last year we used enough water to lower the lake 12 feet which was the most H2O ever drained from this location. This year we have moved the pump to the deeper end which will allow us to use significantly more water than in the past. Our goal is to ensure the driving range stays healthier and that we have enough to ensure great playing conditions on the course.

As our wells are our main source of water it is critical to maintain them at a high level at all times. We have purchased new spare well pumps for every well we have. If a well pump fails we can replace it very quickly and keep the course operational.

Enjoy your rounds of golf and please remember when you see a maintenance member out watering this is for the health of the course and that we are not tapping into the municipal supply. We use water according to our water usage plan and conserve as much as possible. 

With any questions in regards to our water use please contact me at geoff@highlandpacificgolf.com.