DRIVING RANGE DRAINAGE WORK COMMENCES

Mark Mejchar, our Operations Manager, in the mini-backhoe, and Assistant Superintendent, Bryan Bergner, with rake in hand, start the first of four drainage pipe installs. The first, pictured here, is on the driving range just in front of the renovated practice tee. Mark and Bryan along with the help of Second Assistant Superintendent, Zac Houfek and Nick Narlock, Assistant Operations Manager, will install 6 catch basins, connect them with 4" drain pipe, all of which, will intercept and collect rain and irrigation runoff water from the tee and target green and transfer it underground, into the city storm water drainage network.

The second drainage install will be on hole #6 in the left rough near the willow tree about 170 yds off the tee. Third, will be a Water Level Control Device and connecting pipe install between #5 pond and #4 pond just in front of #5 tee.  The final install will be on hole #11 on the fence-line to the left of the green. With these all in place by May 6 we will enjoy a full season of golf on much drier turf.

MARCH 19, 2011 A LOOK AT CONDITIONS

# 7

#15

#12

#7 green looking to #15

#8

SNOW GONE! GREAT SHAPE! SUN HEADING NORTH!

Put another Wisconsin winter in the books, we came through in flying colors! No snow mold, no winter kill! Our snow mold fungicides worked great and they were applied flawlessly by our Operations Manager, Mark Mejchar and Assistant Superintendent, Bryan Bergner.  Yes, the course is still very wet and frost is still in the ground and it might snow alittle next week but it sure was nice to walk all 18 holes and see grass again.

Most likely, it will be about 2 weeks before we open the greens, so if you come out to play the course backwards, as it is set up now with cups and flags in the tees, please do not walk over the greens as you make your way to the next teeing area, located about 25 yards infront of the green at a blue 3 foot tall wooden stake. Our greens are very soft and wet and if you walk on them now your going to leave depressions behind that will play havoc with your putting 2 to 3 weeks from now.

Here are a few photo's from my walk today.

SKIN CANCER! MAN UP! BE A LEADER!

If your family, friends and employees love the outdoors like I do, than they, like me, have a destiny with skin cancer. The only difference between us is I'm 60 years old, and likely, most of the people you care about are younger. I've had more sun exposure time, which means, I have skin cancer, Basal Cell Carcinoma and a precancer called Actinic Keratosis. The good news is, I was on top of it, have a great Dermatologist, Dr. David Crosby, and he removed the Basal Cell and treated the AK so it would not develop into cancer. I'm good to go.

So what am I saying when I say, Man Up, (term, not gender driven) Be a Leader, I'm saying your the person responsible for protecting your family, your friends and fellow employees and yourself. How do you do that? Here is one example; at Westmoor, protecting yourself from the sun is a part of our Safety Training Program and has been for 20 plus years, it's right up there with how to operate equipment safely. We explain what the sun does to your skin and that working and playing outdoors predisposes you to a number of skin problems and that protecting yourself early and daily prevents nearly all skin cancers. We supply sunscreen, a SPF 30 or higher, but most importantly, we the Fulltime Staff slop it on, yes we call it slop because we want to emphasize the amount, every morning and make it a point of doing it in front of our fellow employees. The fact that you, the Leader, are slopping on sunscreen in front of the people you are leading, has a profound effect on them doing the same. You, put a hat on, there is a good chance they will too.

Now you the father the mother the friend take that process home and start slopping on the sunscreen in front of them, family and friends, and you know what, they will do the same. You see, safety is contagious if ----, if you, The Leader, LEADS!!!

Of all the cancers that humans can get, skin cancer is the most common. In the US, skin cancer is increasing in all races.
How can we protect ourselves? Sun exposure is the most preventable risk factor for all skin cancers, including melanoma. You can have fun in the sun and decrease your risk of skin cancer.
Here is how to be Sun Smart:
1. Generously apply a broad-spectrum water-resistant sunscreen of a SPF of 30 or more. We say slop it on.
2. Wear protective clothing; hat, sunglasses, long sleeved shirt and pants if possible.
3. Use extra caution near water, snow and sand as they reflect damaging rays from the sun.
4. The suns rays are strongest between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm
5. Make sure you protect your children
6. Supplement your diet with vitamin D.
7. Avoid tanning beds.

To get the latest on sun-protective products that meet the criteria of the American Academy of Dermatology and to learn more about skin cancer go to http://www.aad.org/

15fwy 3/14. Will Mid-week 60dg melt it all? Most likely not but it will be nice to see grass.

DEAD ELM ON #6 REMOVED IN DECEMBER

This large dead elm on #6 was taken down in December. Its demise was a lightning strike that occurred in the summer of 2009. Whether a lightning strike will actually kill a tree or how long after a lightning strike will it be before a tree dies is really unpredictable. Arborists think many factors come into play; moisture inside the tree and in the ground at the time of the strike, intensity of the thunder storm and the overall health of the tree are just a few of the factors they mention as contributing to survival or death after a strike.

For this season, we will sod the stump hole with bluegrass and the area will remain rough as it was. In the future, when funds become available,  we will proceed with the plan of Golf Course Architect, Todd Quitno of Lohmann Golf Designs which widens the fairway 15 yards where the old elm stood this will make hitting the fairway much easier, but he also plays with your mind by extending the pond up to the site of the old elm also. Risk and Reward at its best on this short par 4. Quitno embraces many of the same design philosophies of the great, early American Golf Course Architect, William Langford, and hole #6 is one of the of five holes Langford designed here at Westmoor.

JERRY NELSON "IS" THE MASTER OF FLOWER POWER. HANDSDOWN!

Soft spoken, but a man with an extensive wealth of gardening knowledge, Nelson delivers the spectacular. He's the "Mailman" when it comes to consistent deliveries. Some landscape companies and master gardeners can talk a good game but fail in delivering a "knock your socks off display" year after year, not so with Nelson, you will be walking bare foot and be happy your doing it.You see, this is a year round deal for Jerry, if he's not speaking at a winter gardening conference in the upper Midwest, he is attending it, with a mission of attaining plant material and a design that will WOW his costumers. 
Having trouble believing me, well tune into his weekly radio Gardening show on WRJN AM 1400 out of Racine every Saturday morning from 7:05 to 8:00 and you will hear the Master at his best. Or take a garden tour at his home, he is a Master Gardener, you know, and in many gardening minds, he is the Master of the Master. He is also a prominent member of many gardening societies one being the Wisconsin & Illinois Lilly Society.

So last week, when I saw Jerry going over his plan for Westmoors 2011 Seasonal Displays, with our Horticulturist, Jim Hicks, I got excited, because I knew the "Mailman" was about to deliver once again!!

In the photo above, Jerry is on the left side and Jim is on the right. Jerry Nelson can be reached by calling his company, Classic Gardens, at 262-835-2530 or 262-951-1463 or emailing him at jerryn72@gmail.com