No signs of spring yet

As we reach February winter is still in full force here at JHGTC.  The prior couple of years have seen below average snowpack and warm February temperatures, even a couple of rain storms last year.  No sign of that...yet.  The snowpack at elevation is just under 100% YTD but with the cold temperatures this winter the snow has really held on and piled up.  We are currently under about 24" on the course which is what we would hope for this time of year. We typically end the season with 30-36" when we start blowing greens off the end of February or early March.  In addition, the snowpack is consistent throughout with no significant layers, ice, etc.  It's powder all the way to the ground, good news for the greens.  The only negative drawback from an agronomic perspective is that the voles don't have any resistance in their travels under the snow, so we are keeping out fingers crossed with respect to vole damage on the course..only time will tell.

Now that we are closing in on spring we've started ramping up our hiring efforts, getting budgets in order and laying the ground work for a great 2016 season of golf!  The cross country track is holding up well, albeit a little soft around the edges.  The wind blew early this week and the snow really set up on top so it didn't groom out as well as it has been.  That being said, it's still in good shape, the views are fantastic and the mom and twin moose that were born on the course 2 years ago have set up residence again.  Last seen on the north end of the property near holes #2-3.  Please be vigilant as you use the track as mom is still pretty protective of her young.  Don't forget that all users are required to pick up an arm band at the clubhouse in order to access the property.  Members are free of charge and guests arm bands are $100 for the season.  We've had mixed results with this and are not policing this with a great amount of effort as this is this first year we've implemented this policy.  Next year we will police and enforce more aggressively as we will have a year's worth of precedence behind us.  I wanted to thank everyone that is utilizing the track for adhering to our policy and staying on the track.  This year has been a great success from that perspective.  We are still having issues with users not leashing dogs while on the course.  We have been very patient with this and have tried to educate folks we see on the track with dogs off leash regarding skier safety and negative wildlife interactions.  If we can't get a handle on the problem we may have to consider enforcing the membership documents which state that "dogs are not allowed anywhere on JHGTC property unless assisting you in your travels."  We have chosen not to enforce this policy in the past in order to allow the local community a place to exercise their pets in the winter...responsibly. Dogs are still not allowed on the property between April 1st and December 1st.  We will be ramping up our enforcement efforts as the season goes on and next year violators will lose access privileges, so thank you in advance for leashing and cleaning up after your pets.

Volunteer opportunity.  We will be participating in the annual "moose count" in partnership with Nature Mapping of JH towards the end of February.  Volunteers spend a day or two in areas all over the valley counting and logging moose numbers and activity.  If anyone is interested in participating please feel free to reach out via e-mail and I can help coordinate participation around the golf course.  aerskine@gtlc.com

Have a great rest of the season and let us know if there's anything we can do in the mean time.

Andy

Mom and twin yearlings on #7

"When does the restaurant open...I'm hungry!"