April 2013 Weather Summary

April 2013 was a cold and wet month. It was more like the April we had in 2011 than last year. This year we had 5.41 inches of rain. Compare that to last year (2.04 inches) and 2011 (4.86 inches.) The maximum daily rain was 1.03 inches (April 11th.)  Leslie Park had 18 days with at least a trace of rain, while 11 days had over a tenth of an inch.

The average temperature was just 45.3 degrees. The high temperature recorded was 76.5 (18th) and the low temperature was 22.3 (3rd.) Eight days had low temperature below freezing.

The highest wind speed was 39 mph, which happened on the 18th. The average wind speed for the month was 5.3 mph.

Back 9 Open

After a cool and wet spring, we have now decided to open the Back 9 at Leslie Park Golf Course. There are areas that have bare soil and are marked "Ground Under Repair." If your ball goes into these areas, please do not hit from inside the ropes. Pick up your ball and drop it at the nearest point of relief outside the roped area. There is no penalty for this. Also, please do not hit from the sodded areas. Treat this the same as the seeded areas.

Enjoy the weather and be aware that work will still be progressing during open play times.

More Sod (Bluegrass)

Anderson-Fischer came in this week and laid bluegrass sod behind the four rock walls near 10,12,17 and 18 greens. This will enable those areas to be playable much sooner than if we had seeded the rough there. Unlike the fairway sod that was laid last week, this sod is the normal 18 inches by 36 inches.

The design engineer checks out the sod on #10 and calculates the area.

#12 green is to the left in this picture looking back toward the tee.

#17 green.

A close-up of the seventeenth green.

#18 green, looking back toward the tee.

The view from behind the green.

Duck Nesting Tubes (Revisited)

In early March, Leslie Park Golf Course hosted some 4th and 5th graders from the Ann Arbor Learning Community to help us build some mallard duck nesting tubes.  Early this April we mounted the tubes on some of the water features here at the golf course.

An early morning canoe paddle.

Attempting to put in the mounting post.

Getting the tube to the post.

One of the tubes from #17 green.

A curious couple looking for a new home. (The female is on top of the tube.)

A video of the two ducks checking out the new digs.

Traver Creek Project Update #11

Anderson-Fischer brought some of the bentgrass sod for the fairways early last week.

The skid-steer with the attachment for laying big roll sod. Big roll sod is 30 inches wide and 100 feet long as opposed to the usual 18 inches wide by about 3 feet long.

The guys pulling the sod tight against the last roll on #14 fairway.

A short video demonstrating the process.

Rolls of sod waiting in the staging area.

As soon as the sod was laid out, we needed to get water on it. It is still dormant (hence the brown color) but water and warm temperatures should help to bring it out.

#11 fairway. Note how wide and flat the landing area is now.

#11 from the green. The areas that are bare soil now will be rough and will be seeded later.

The area between the north pond and Traver Road was hydroseeded with native prairie plants.

This blueish area on #12 was hydroseeded with a rough mix. The straw mulch blankets were put down after seeding with native wetland plants.

March 2013 Weather Summary

March 2013 was quite different from 2012.The high temperature this March was 61.7 degrees (March 10th). Compare that to 2012 where we saw 10 consecutive days with high temperatures above 70. The average temperature for this past month was just 33.2 degrees. The average temperature for March 2012 was 49.8. There were 5 days where the high temperature did not get above freezing and 26 of the 31 days had low temperatures below 32 degrees. On March 4th, we recorded the lowest temperature of the month at 11.6 degrees.

Leslie Park Golf Course received 0.78 inches of rain. The most on one day was a scant 0.31 inches on the 11th. Only two days recorded more than a tenth of an inch of rain during the month of March.

The highest sustained windspeed was 30 mph, on the 19th. Average windspeed was 4.8 mph.

Project Update #10

The weather has finally started to turn and work on the Traver Creek project is progressing nicely. The spoil areas are starting to be finished and prepped for seed. The seeding of some areas should begin on Saturday. The contractor added a rock wall to the left of #18 green. This will give the hole some relief for shots that go long on the finishing hole.

The new berm along Traver Road get power raked.

With the delay in spring warm-up, the opening of the back 9 of the course has been delayed for two weeks. We are now targeting Friday, April 12th. 

Soil temperatures are just under 40 degrees. There is also frost about 4 inches down. This frost prevents the water at the surface of the green from draining. This means the surface is very soft and any traffic on the greens will rut the surface and ruin the smooth surface we work all year long to perfect. We are hopeful that the front 9 will be open be the middle of next week. Huron Hills is open, however, so feel free to play at our sister course. Call 734-794-6246 to make your tee time.