Practice Putting Green with the Tarp Off

This picture was taken April 1st just after the tarp came off.  It is the practice green by the first tee.  Amazing how green the grass looks!  Looking forward to hopefully opening Friday, April 19th.  We will keep you posted on our facebook and twitter.  Pray for nice weather.

Mule Deer

As part of our new Audublog we will be profiling a number of the wildlife that we see around the golf course. I thought it would be best to start with what is probably the most common animal seen around the property, the Mule Deer.

The Mule Deer, pictured above with twin fawns, are usually seen on a daily basis at D'Arcy Ranch. This animal is commonly found all over Alberta in open forests and wooded river valleys. Its coat is tan in the summer and gray in the winter. Key field marks include large ears and a black-tipped tail. Mule deer feed mostly on shrubs, twigs, and grasses. Males shed horns between January and March. They are essentialy a solitary species, but often form herds during mating season and over the winter. They are not a very aggresive species, but like any wild animal should be given their space when you come into contact with one, especially if they have young.

Michael Roberts
Assistant Superintendent

Credits: Kavanagh; Nature Alberta - An Illistrated Guide to Common Plants and Animals

Visit From Edison School

On Friday Feb 8 we had the pleasure of hosting the Grade 3 class from Edison school here at D'Arcy Ranch. As part of our Outreach and Education program within Audubon, we have been working with the Edison School over the past 2 years to provide educational opportunities to students.

The main topic of this site visit was wildlife. There was a small picture presentation made to the students about some of the wildlife that we see in and around D'Arcy Ranch. From there we went on a hour nature walk where we focused on animal tracking. We were able to pick up tracks of many different species including Deer, Rabbits, Coyotes and we think a Cougar, and did end up seeing a Mule Deer.

Our walk ended with the class checking the Bird Nest Boxes that were constructed and placed along the left side of #1 last year by the grade 9 class. As you may or may not know, Edison School is also responsible for the maintenance of these boxes. Our investigation of these boxes showed us that we did NOT have any inhabitants last year, but that is probably a result of the timing of placement, late June last season.

We really enjoyed our time having the students here for a couple hours and are looking forward to having some of the other classes here in the near future.

Assistant Superintendent
Michael Roberts

Congratulations to our Hole in One Golfers

Every Year we celebrate our Hole In One golfers.  They have a chance to win a trip for 2 to Hawaii compliments of Tier One Travel.

Congratulations to the following for their Hole in One

• Norman Aubee - hole 14
• Cheryl Borisenko- hole 6
• Gord Canavan- hole 6
• Gavin Carscallen- hole 6
• Ken Doerksen- hole 14
• Greg LaRochelle- hole 3
• Ed Moss- hole 14
• Jeff Petersen- hole 3
• Glen Raine- hole 6
• Don Richardson- hole 12
• Ronald Scott- hole 3
• Fred Tuffs- hole 3
• Matthew Vacy-Lyle- hole 6
• Russ Wood - hole 12

Coming To a Close

This has been one of the best summers for weather and golf that I can remember for along time, but all good things must come to an end. We are approaching our final weekend for 2012 golf season and although we are closing the golf course our work is far from over, it will become a race between us and mother nature to get the course put to bed before the snow blankets the landscape for the several months. In preparing the course for winter we will do a number of things such as blowing the water out of the irrigation lines, applying our winter snow mold protection on greens, tees and fairways, topdressing greens and tees, putting covers on the greens, verticutting and aerating tees and fairways, bring in all the accessories, winterize the washrooms and if the weather is still cooperating we will work on projects such as drainage, cart paths or paving. This is a critical time of the season and it is very important that we are able to do what we can to protect the golf course over the winter months. It seems that there is never two winters the same and because of this we continually modify our methods through advancements in technology, trial and error and networking with our peers to get ideas on what we may do to improve our program. Once the course is put to bed we will monitor the course over the winter for things like snow cover or lack of and ice hoping that mother nature will be kind and allow us to come out of winter with minimal damage and have an early opening.

Welcome

D'Arcy Ranch Golf Club is located just minutes south of Calgary, and is a must play course if your in the area.  This pristine 18 hole public course provides tree-lined ravines, escarpments, slopes and water - a style and presence of national stature with unending challenges.

The 2013 season is upon us as the grass is getting greener by the day and the maintenance crew has been hard at work in preparation for golfers.