Drought etiquette

The City of Folsom in conjunction with the State of California has mandated a 32% water reduction for our potable water use and 25% reduction in our ground water use.

Please use caution by keeping golf carts out of any 'brown' areas in the rough. Red and white stakes mark the entry and exit points from the cart path to the fairway. After entering the fairway, please remain in the fairway until you reach the cart exit signs and exit at that point to the red and white stake and onto the cart path. Please remember, ALL PAR 3's are CART PATH ONLY as well as hole number 5 and 10.

Number 6



Number 3



Number 8


By reducing water in these "out of play" areas we will be able to meet our 32% water reduction and be part of the solution to reduce water consumption in large turf areas in California.

Thank you for your cooperation and enjoy these fast and firm conditions!

Rodney Muller,
Superintendent

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Bunker Project Resumes in 2015

Weather in December postponed our bunker project until recently. We will be working on hole number 14 green-side bunkers until completion.





Please treat any bunker under construction as "ground under repair" and please avoid walking in and around the construction area.

Thank you

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Location:E Natoma St,Folsom,United States

Water Well Improvements

The final stages of the additional well and electrical component upgrades are happening today. The next two weeks will consist of tuning the new system to operate efficiently for irrigation water production.
It's a much more sophisticated system than the old. The new well will be using a variable frequency drive (VFD) motor and a water level transducer to regulate water flow during low groundwater events. The original well will still use a motor saver that cuts power for a specified period of time under the same circumstance.
Both wells were fit with flow meters for monitoring well production.












This is a major improvement and will aid ERGC in reducing City water use during our peak irrigation season.

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Bunker Renovation Progress

The ERGC maintenance crew is hard at work. 5,000 sqft of bunker renovation this week.









11 fairway left and 12 green-side.

When you see the maintenance staff on course, please tell them how much you appreciate their hard work.

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Location:Empire Ranch Golf Club

Much More Than "Adding A Little Sand"

We have started work on one of six more bunkers to be renovated. Here is a good photo of how much a bunker edge can change through regular maintenance and play.

This is number 10 green-side bunker. The original bunker lip was located by cutting back the sand/turf layer until the soil lip was found.



I marked on the photo to illustrate the the first step of our renovation- establish the original footprint of each bunker.

Again, each bunker will have Klingstone liquid spray-on liner, new drainage, sand and minor sod work.

Thank you

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Location:Haddington Dr,Folsom,United States

Water Well Improvement

Over the past three weeks we have been working on a project to restore an old water well. The well will help supplement the existing well that fills our irrigation lake at the entrance of the golf course.
This week, the lake-fill line was located and tapped. A four inch line was installed from the tap over to the well head.





The disturbed areas will be back filled and graded for sod and seed.
I'll post more as the project nears completion.

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Verti-cut clippings

Vertical mowing on greens helps remove much more material than regular mowing. It is more aggressive and is usually done bi-weekly during peak growing season.
How much more material is removed? This picture is material from 9 green, small putting green, 1 green and 2 green.  Generally, normal mowing produces 1-2 pounds of clippings per green.

Clippings from 4 greens

Verti-cut blade unit

The benefits?  Vertical mowing removes excessive leaf-tissue, thatch and reduces grain.  It promotes healthy turf and healthy turf needs fewer inputs like fertilizer and water.

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Location:Empire Ranch Golf Club