In follow up to our communication sent out in September, the golf course maintenance team will be utilizing scheduled Monday course closures as endorsed by the Greens & Ground Committee and approved by our Board of Directors. The purpose of these closings is to accomplish significant projects that otherwise cannot be done on half day closures or when the golf course is open. The following dates are the scheduled course closures through the end of the year:

  • October 21
  • November 4
  • November 18
  • December 9
  • December 23

On Monday, October 21, the team will be overseeding the practice tee, the front entrance of the clubhouse and the back tee on #12.  Once these areas are overseeded, the grass takes time to grow in which requires consistent irrigation every hour to keep the seed coat wet. The practice tee will be watered every hour, utilizing the first 15 minutes of every hour, between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm. Members can find the watering schedule displayed on the tee for their reference. Additional projects will include a solid tine process on the greens, verticutting, topdressing and rolling of the greens as well as contracted tree removal.

In accordance with our new master plan, our design architect team and maintenance staff will continue to prepare the golf course leading up to the renovation. The process was started by removing trees as well as the removal of any problematic trees. Tree removal will continue this fall and winter. Last fall, the process of spraying out the out-of-play areas on holes 1, 3 and 10 began. The process continued this summer by spraying additional areas. No additional areas are planned to be sprayed out until the renovation date gets closer, but in the meantime the process of exposing white sand in sprayed out areas will continue. The equipment necessary to complete this project will be rented and our members will see this process complete sometime this fall.

Looking ahead to the fall of 2020, the tentative renovation timeline includes the spray out or killing of the old turf that is to be renovated. These areas are sprayed out in order to limit the amount of old turf that may come back through the new turf. In order to diminish the impact of “brown” areas, the turf will be pigmented “green” as much as possible until the golf course closes for renovation in early 2021.

Throughout the golf course preparation process, member experience and course conditions continue to be top-of-mind. As always, we strive to exceed expectations as we prepare and look forward to the golf course renovation.

Please note that all estimated dates are always dependent on weather and conditions. Any updates or changes will always be communicated through email and through the club’s blog found at staging-bgrmsantarosa-stage.kinsta.cloud. As always, if we can assist in answering any questions you may have, please do not hesitate to reach out to our club Superintendent, Kelly Barker at kelly@santarosaclub.com.