FLCC Course Maintenance

Posted: 18 Nov 2021 03:38 PM PST

Just before the big leaf drop. Ginny has her hands full with leaves at the clubhouse.

We've been blowing and mulching leaves almost non-stop for the past couple of weeks. Until this week the challenge has been manageable, but that is changing quickly. For the next several weeks we will be outmanned by mother nature. In my first few years we had numerous areas to blow leaves for mulching or vacuuming. Today we really don't have anywhere to stage them as we are surrounded by homes. We do the best we can to keep them out of the key areas of play without putting them on neighboring property. We then either mulch them with our mowers or vacuum them up. The vac takes a long time and is generally not a big benefit until most of the leaves have already fallen. Our arsenal of leaf weapons consists of a tractor blower, two turbine blowers pulled with carts, 8 backpack blowers, 3 rotary mowers, a small vacuum, and a big vacuum. We also have a couple of chainsaws, which do really well at eliminating leaves. Depending on wind direction, ground conditions, frost, golf schedule, and upcoming forecast we will select as many of those weapons as possible to fight the problem. We have more tools than staff so it's never possible to use everything at once. On a windy day we do the best we can, but sometimes it's just not possible to keep things clear.

All our guys take an oath to never blow a leaf onto someone else's property. They get sick of us saying it every morning. Those of you who live on the course have the same leaf issues we do and I understand your frustrations this time of year. I wish we had the manpower, time, and equipment to provide leaf removal service for everyone, but as you can see from the course we are clearly overwhelmed. Please do not blow your leaves onto the course and make sure any hired help understands this as well. Thanks to golfers and neighbors for your patience with leaf season!