Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis Club.  We truly hope that everyone has a safe and happy holiday season!  Looks like some fresh snow for the holidays..and the cross country track has a fresh track set as of today.  If we get the 4-6" they are calling for tonight we will hit it again tomorrow.  I will update the blog from here on out every time we are able to groom, so keep an eye on the blog for updates.  There are still a lot of elk hanging out on the course so keep a sharp eye out  and thank you for leaving your dog at home or keeping him/her leashed while on the track.  Have a great holiday and blessing to you and yours.

Andy

40 or so elk hanging out on #14 tee complex

Brrrrrrr....

This morning was the coldest so far this year..we had -24 on our weather station and there was a little breeze which made for some seriously cold conditions!!!  We got an inch or so of snow over the weekend so we groomed the trail today.  The elk herd that is hanging out on the northeast corner of the property has done some damage to the track and is really beating up the fairways and we are working to keep them off the greens as best we can.  We don't want to have to haze them..so we are keeping our fingers crossed that they move on soon.  There are probably 120-150 in the group today out on #2/4/7 area so if you venture out on the cross country track keep an eye out and your dog leashed..please!!  The rest of the herd is across the road north in the Bar B Bar Ranch area.  There are also the mom and two yearling moose hanging out on the south side of Spring Gulch Rd/behind the shop on #10.  I also encountered 7 deer on the back nine/west side of the property while out today.  In addition if you keep a sharp eye out on the cross country track on the far west side of the property by Serenity Ranch you can tell how active our resident coyote group has been recently..getting after the voles.  What a great time of the year to check out the wildlife.  Pics below are from #4 and the native area between #2 and #4.

Looking south down #4.

They are on the move...this is about 1/2 the herd..the rest are out of the pic heading across #3.

We're back....



Mama moose outside the shop..getting her 'minerals' for the winter!?!

 Season's Greetings to everyone,
After a fantastic summer/fall season the Operations team here at JHGTC took some time off in November to "recharge" and spend some much needed time with our families.  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving..we have so much to be thankful for this time of the year.

We were able to get our first lap around the course and pack the cross country track.  It is definitely early season conditions with only 3-5" out there.  The track has been beat up pretty good over the last week as our resident elk heard moved through headed toward the refuge.  Last night there were between 500-600 north of the course by the Bar B Bar ranch and up towards the airport.  The majority of those came across the course and left their mark on several fairways and even a few greens..ouch!  Just part of the program here as there is a designated migration route that bisects the north end of the property.  Most of the heard has moved through but we always have a few that stick around and set up residence along with the deer, moose and coyotes.  No wolves yet this year but we will keep our eyes out.

We have put our signage at all the entrance points to the cross country track and we ask that everyone be respectful of our rules regarding the cross country track and access to the property.  A few highlights for those of you who intend to use the track:  It is free to the public and we encourage anyone that would like to use it to do so.  We do not "police" activity on the track so remember that you are skiing at your own risk when on the property.  DOGS MUST BE LEASHED AT ALL TIMES..no exceptions to this rule.  Travel is restricted to the cross country track and we ask that you do not create "boot pack" trails around the course as this can affect the turf in the spring when we come out of winter.  If you choose to snowshoe on the course please stay on the outside of the track or just adjacent to it so as not to destroy track conditions. 
Our primary focus in the winter is to have as little impact on wildlife as possible as they are extremely vulnerable during the winter months, maintain the quality and integrity of the turf underneath the snow while allowing the public an opportunity to experience the outdoors.  Thanks in advance for ahereing to our policies.

I hope everyone has a great holiday!!  Keep your eyes out for more updates regarding wildlife and cross country track conditions.  A reminder as well with the -20 degree temps if you live around the golf course it's a good idea to run some water at night to keep pipes from freezing.

Andy Erskine, GCS 

Great Grey Owl nesting boxes

I mentioned in my last post about spending time with the Girl Scouts building Great Grey Owl nesting boxes.  They had a great article in the Weekly about it and a good picture on front of the Tuesday Daily.
Even though it wasn't specifically geared towards the golf course, I learned some really interesting facts about their nesting habits, egg laying, fledging of young, etc. that will come in handy out here.  Side note as well..my oldest Ruby (10yrs) is one of the girl scouts and Annabelle (5yrs) is a 'daisy'.  They were a big reason I was able to get in on the activity.  The Girls Scouts do a lot of great things in the valley and I am so proud of them all.  Here a few pictures I got from the activity.

Annabelle using a drill!!!



Brian from Beringia South talking about different traits of raptors native to our area.




Just outside the shop area..



Let it snow....

Woke up to 4-6" of snow this morning on the course.  We were able to get greens, tees and fairways sprayed with chemical over the weekend.  In addition we got tarps on the practice green, #11 and #16 before the snow came.  We plan on tarping the rest of the back nine at the end of the week when the snow melts and will see if we have time to tarp the front nine.  We also were able to deep tine the greens prior to the snow so we are in pretty good shape for winter regardless of the weather from here on out.  If time allows we will also spray the roughs before the first week of November.  That being said, everyone should stay off the course until the cross country track is in place for your safety and the integrity of our chemical applications.  You don't want to track the chemical into your house or have your pet come in contact with it.

I spent yesterday with the local girl scout troop and Beringia South environmental research group building Great Grey Owl nesting platforms to be put up down south around Fall Creek.  They are making 60 of them to be put up with cameras to observe nesting habits of the Great Greys in the area.  We have had one here at the golf course and I plan on building a couple of the platforms myself to put out here and see if we can get one to stick around.  They are great predators for our vole and pocket gopher problem on the course and we have fantastic habitat to support their livelyhood.  I will keep eveyone posted on the this effort throughout the winter and into the spring. 

Have a great day!

Andy 

Blow out update

To all the homeowners out there that are tied to the golf course irrigation system, we are going to begin blowout next week.  We originally planned on starting today and working through the weekend.  Based on the fact that there is no moisture in the foreseeable future and none of the grass has gone completely dormant we are going to push it back until early next week.  We will drain the system on Monday and begin blowing out Tuesday through Thursday.  We will be saturating the course with water over the weekend to hedge our bets on future moisture and get us through until everything stops growing.  If you have any questions feel free to contact the maintenance department at the golf course.

In addition, the animals are really starting to finally move around the course.  I watched a group of 7 nice bull elk spar on #1 fairway earlier in the week and there is evidence of mass movement around the course.  We have officially shutdown the everything on the south side of spring gulch road to observe the county's designation of natural resource overlay, critical moose habitat.  Thanks for your observance of the closures and we appreciate everyone's efforts to "give wildlife the right of way" as we head into winter.  Have a great weekend.

NEW OSPARY NEST INSTALLED THIS FALL ADJACENT TO #12 GREEN ON THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE PROPERTY

LAST WEEKEND FOR GOLF

 Looks like we will end the season with at least one decent day for golf.  It's 25 here at the course this morning so the first tee time will start around 10:30 or so, but it looks like we will have low 50's and some sunshine (maybe) today.  Tomorrow looks a bit unsettled so get out today!  We have been working really hard to get the course ready to winterize..the real work begins next week after we close on Sunday.  We will be tearing the course down and putting up signage to keep traffic off the course as we begin working with large equipment, doning some tree work and getting chemicals out for winter preparation. 

There has been a couple of great gray owls hanging out around the course and with the National Park closure we are seeing an increase in traffic on Spring Gulch Rd. as photographers get some pictures.  We are trying to keep them from paking in front of the "no parking" signs and stay off the course but it is a challenge..be patient and watch for them on the road as you travel through the property.

Please remember that the closure of the golf course for golf doesn't open it up for pedestrian traffic.  This time of the year is probably more critical than any with respect to wildlife, safety and our maintenance. So please refrain from walking on the course and remember Teton County has a leash law in effect and dogs are not allowed on JHGTC property unless they are assisting you in your travels.  We are not anti-dog here at JHGTC..we are just pro-responsible pet owner, pro-safety, pro-wildlife and pro-respect for other peoples property.

I look forward to seeing everyone around this winter..let's hope for a good 500-600" snow year and some great skiing..I'm ready!!

Andy Erskine, GCS