OPENING DAY

All three nines will be open for play starting Friday, April 10th. While renovations continue on the South course, certain holes that have active construction going on may be closed for the safety of our staff. We thank you in advance for your understanding. Hopefully we will see you Friday!

Cart Path and Parking Lot Edging

As with all problems, there is always a solution. We recently found a great solution to keeping cart paths and parking lots edged frequently and with great quality.  Please enjoy the video below which shows how we are able to accomplish edging all the cart paths and parking lots efficiently and much more frequently.

Range and Short Game Areas: Opening Saturday April 4th

The practice facilities will be opening Saturday, April 4th. The range will be "mats only" until further notice. The golf course will likely be opening next week but the day is still TBD. Please stay tuned for updates.

Covers Removed - Course Update

As of yesterday, all greens covers have been removed from the course and everything is healthy.  We cut #1 North green and will be putting first cuts on everything else over the next week.  The staff here have done an outstanding job already getting the course cleaned up and things are almost ready.  The weather, although wet, is starting to cooperate and the frost is coming out of the ground. Currently I'm targeting to have the courses open by April 10th. Please stay tuned for updates and follow @wcccgrounds on twitter for more course conditions related information.

#1 North green getting its first cut in 2015

Spring 2014 vs. Spring 2015

Our turf conditions this year are looking to be much healthier than last year coming out of winter. Last year's turf loss at golf courses in the Detroit area was due to solid ice formation that lasted over 75 days, essentially suffocating the turf. This winter we took a different approach for winter maintenance on greens by removing snow frequently to reduce ice formation during freeze/thaw cycles. Removing snow, even with its apparent benefits of reducing ice formation, is not a silver bullet. Turf grass can still be killed by other winter stresses.  

When removing snow in the winter, there can still be turf injury from extreme cold temperatures, desiccation of exposed turf to wind, or mechanical damage from equipment used to remove the snow. Removing snow through the winter is a hard decision and one that needs to be timed correctly for positive results.  With this said, our new program appears to have worked well for us this year. Below is a comparison photo taken 1 week apart from last year and this year.  We are continuing to clean the golf course up and are looking forward to welcoming members and guests back soon.

2 North on 3/25/2015

2 North on 4/3/2014

Golf Course Conditions - Spring Update

As we start to see the signs of spring  with weather changing and the Masters tournament being only a few weeks away, our staff is back at it and getting the golf course ready to open. Although the temperature is rising, the course is still a few weeks away from being ready to take traffic of golfers, not to mention that frost is still in the ground.  While it seams thawed at the surface, many areas are still frozen just a few inches down and some areas even have snow remaining.  

Our main staff returned yesterday and began the process of raking the course, picking up debris from the fall/winter, and finishing up remaining tree work. With weather being the final determining factor, I anticipate opening the courses in the first few weeks of April.  As you return to playing golf this spring we will still be finishing renovations on the South course. While we are finishing up those projects this spring, the South will be open with the exception of whatever hole we are working on. This is for the safety of our staff as well as efficiency of completing the work and we thank members ahead of time for your understanding.

1 North green after removing the cover on 3/24/15. Looks great!

I'm very happy to say that our turfgrass looks healthy coming out of winter this year and we should have a great season ahead.  Please check back frequently as I will post updates as we determine when the course is ready to open for the 2015 season.

Course Conditions Update

Warm afternoons are coming our way next week and our staff has been preparing the greens for a safe melt.

Heavy snow has been removed from the greens all winter with only an inch or two left on the surface for insulation from cold temperatures. As afternoon temps warm up, melting of this layer will occur.

Current turf conditions on greens look healthy. This picture was taken on 3/2/15 on 2 North green below the permeable cover

Channels are cut around the greens and off the green surface to facilitate water movement away from the green. If re-freezing occurs, it will be off the green surface.

Range Tee Expansion for the new "Jason Guss Golf Academy at Walnut Creek Country Club"

Starting in the 2015 season, Walnut Creek Country Club is excited to announce that members will now be able to take advantage of an outstanding new program to improve their golf game with the "Jason Guss Golf Academy at Walnut Creek Country Club".  With this new program starting, a bigger range tee was needed so lessons can be taught at all times no matter how busy the primary range tee is during the season.  To accomplish this, the range tee was expanded by over 25% with the addition of 10,000 sq. ft.of teeing space!  In total, we added over 1,300 cubic yards of fill soil to expand the tees.  Below are a few pictures including descriptions of the process. The anticipated opening date for this area is May, 2015.

Expansion area was planned in 2014

Snow was removed to create a frozen haul road through the center of the range to allow access for the large trucks hauling soil. Although it looks damaged from above, the brown color in the picture is merely soil that was tracked over the ice road. The turf remained untouched.

Paint lines then detailed the expansion area

Five trucks hauled soil for two days - Each truck weighing approximately 70 tons fully loaded hauled 40 yards of soil at a time until over 1,300 yards of fill soil had been hauled on site!

The fill soil was continually graded using a bulldozer between loads

Aerial photograph showing the new range tee expansion. In the spring, the surround will be sodded, range tee top seeded, and irrigation/drainage installed.

Kevin Kretz Named Superintendent of Timberstone at Pine Mountain

Congratulations to Kevin Kretz, Assistant Superintendent at Walnut Creek for the last two years, who has accepted the position of Superintendent of Timberstone at Pine Mountain Resort in Iron Mountain, MI. Kevin did an outstanding job while working here and has been instrumental in the changes we have made in the past few seasons. Please feel free to reach out to Kevin and wish him well as he takes his career to the next level! Best of luck Kevin, and thank you for all of your hard work!

Winter Work Update

Many wonder what the grounds maintenance crew does in the winter during the freezing cold temperatures and snow on the ground. The answer is that we suit up in warm gear and tackle projects that would either be a disturbance to golfers during the season or projects that require frozen ground. For the last month and a half our Assistants have been tackling a lot of tree work involving the removal of dead or dying trees, and pruning others we plan on keeping for health, aesthetics, and better playability.  To do this work, heavy equipment is used on the course and it's best to have the ground frozen so no unwanted damage occurs to the turf. In addition, rock walls are being constructed on 4 West and 5 South which will match the walls already constructed on the course. Having the ability to tackle these projects in the off season with our winter staff provides a better experience for members all season long. 

Assistant Superintendent Kevin Kretz hand pruning 

Pin Oak prior to pruning

Pin Oak after pruning

Frozen grounds makes it ideal for the use of heavy equipment on the course during the winter to properly care for the trees

Removing unhealthy trees in the winter reduces the risk for damaged to the course or injury to members and guests during strong summer storms

Insect damaged trees and dead/dying trees are removed for safety and aesthetics