Pump Station

Unfortunately, the pump station was affected by the storm last Sunday which prevented irrigation for two days. One of the components of the system, the Variable Frequency Drive, that controls the 3 pumps had an electrical short circuit that prevented the pumps from running.

In the short term, we were able to use one pump manually to water the greens early in the morning before maintenance work began.

However, due to the high heat during the day and lack of irrigation, some areas on the fairways have been affected by golf cart traffic. The turf was literally so hot that when a golf cart travelled across it, the weight of the vehicle crushes the cells within the plant and causes die-back.

Fortunately, our pump station contractor was able to over night a new component from Texas and the pump station was up and running by Friday night.

The turf will soon recover and be uniform again. To help the maintenance staff, please keep golf carts off any dry looking turf to help prevent this from happening again.

Sunday Storm

Sunday afternoon a fairly significant storm rolled through Copperleaf. Over 1" of rain fell during the event; however, several trees were blown over and a lot of debris scattered throughout the course. The staff were out early this morning removing branches and fronds in preparation for the days play.

Road Work Continues

The road project is continuing along as scheduled. Foxtail Creek, Jasmine Lake, Wisteria Point, Sago Point, and Copperlake Drive have all been completed. The photos above show work on Carraway Lakes Dive this morning. The asphalt is being applied at an average depth of 1", and is not only smoothing out the road surface, bujt ensuring a long life span.

Storm Front

These photos were taken by Neil Johnson, our Irrigation Technician, 2 weeks ago. This impressive storm added 2" of rain to the course and helped our recovery from the drought in June.

Road Project

  

The road project has begun in earnest this week. The milling of the road edges will take approximately three days to complete. This provides an area for the new asphalt to join with the existing curb with a smooth transition.

Tuesday, the contracted company, Ajax, began patching the various low spots throughout the community. The end result will be a smooth and level surface before the final asphalt application.

Wednesday, Ajax plans to commence laying the final lift on the arterial roads. This process will take several days with completion of Copperleaf Blvd anticipated for next week.

As always, be careful driving to and from your homes over the next two weeks. There are literally dozens of trucks and other machinery working throughout the property.

Your patience and understanding is much appreciated as we continue to provide continued improvements to Copperleaf.

Milling Machine on Stillwater Cay Lane

Evidence of the thin original asphalt is easily visible throughout the Community

Mole Update

It has been several days since any activity has been seen on or around the hole 12 putting green. Riaan Potgieter, our Assistant Superintendent, was vigilant during the week with monitoring activity and using measures to control the nuisance pest.

However, the Mole returned last night and in fact tunneled through one of the metal traps. Fortunately it remained in the rough area and did not venture out into the surround or putting green. This is becoming very frustrating for all involved. We will continue to look for measures to remove the Mole from the area on Monday.

The green surround will be aerified on Wednesday and the green surface appropriately repaired during the week.

I appreciate everyone's patience and interest in this adventure.

Damage on hole 6 green

Unfortunately there was some damage to the green on hole 6 on Saturday. Although it is not clear exactly what happened, it does appear to be a divot from a golf club next to the cup. Debris was scattered across the green from the action.
The damage was notified to me Saturday afternoon and was repaired first thing Sunday morning.

I apologize for the inconvenience.

Mole Patrol

For those of you staying at Copperleaf over the past month, you may have noticed quite a bit of activity on hole 12 green.
Unfortunately we have been dealing with a very persistent Florida Mole that has been tunneling into the putting green looking for food and leaving behind quite a mess.

We have been trying all sorts of methods to catch and remove the Mole including coming in at 1 am to see if he moves and dig him up, shards of glass in his tunnel to deter him, smoke bombs, bait laced with poison, Mole traps and even chocolate flavored laxatives!

Unfortunately nothing is working at this stage. However, we will not give up! The sleeves will be rolled up this week in a 'shock and awe' offensive to finally rid the Mole from the area.

Stay posted to see how we do.