The Humboldt Golf Club (HGC) opened its front nine to golfers on April 27, a few days earlier than anticipated. But with wet weather following shortly thereafter, the back nine remained closed to play until early this week.
HGC general manager Russ Neufeld noted the conditions on the front nine are quite good for this time of year. The front nine is the newer half of the course, built in 2000.
Golf course superintendent Glenn Wildeman noted that the front nine is better designed for drainage than the original (back) nine, with sand-based greens that feature a weeping tile-like setup underneath. The greens on the original nine are soil based, and therefore drain much less quickly.
Also, because the trees have yet to mature on that half of the course, the front nine is more exposed to the sun and wind, making fairways dry quite a bit faster.
The snow tends to stick around a lot longer on the back nine because it is shaded a lot more by the trees, Wildeman added.
"There are still a few snowbanks around (on the back nine)," he said. "There's some water in the lower spots on the course, and we'll try to get that pumped off as much as we can. Actually, it's quite a bit drier than I thought it was going to be."
A few groups of golfers braved the blustery course conditions last Thursday and Friday. Fortunately precipitation was minimal, and Neufeld said the winds - which reached gusts of up to 60 kilometres an hour on Friday afternoon - were quite welcome.
"They could aid the drying process some," he noted.
Meanwhile, Wildeman was working with his crew to get the greens and bunkers on the back nine ready for play. The club puts a sand topping on the greens each fall in order to provide insulation and protection from the sort of conditions that can lead to excessive winterkill.
That sand topping must be swept away and the greens cleaned before they are ready to receive golfers, he explained.
Wildeman said the greens fared this past winter very well, with an absolute minimum of winterkill.
He is also hopeful that fairways will be ready for cart use within the next week.
That, of course, will depend as much on the weather as anything.
"The cartpaths are still pretty muddy right now," he said, adding that his crews were adding gravel to try to shore up some spots.
"But it's still hard to put gravel onto mud," he said. "Some of that just has to dry up on its own."
