Ice Skating Rink

Over the past few years we have made significant improvements to the scope of our outdoor winter activities. Paddle tennis expanded from 2 courts to 4, we have invested in a more powerful snowmobile for pulling the cross country ski groomer, we purchased a larger and more technically advanced ski trail groomer and we continue to provide improvements to our skating rink.  

This year, due to the warmer temperatures, it's taken a few more weeks into December to have the skating rink ready for action.  One of the biggest improvements you will see is in the form of the night lighting.  We replaced some lights on court 4 of the paddle courts and utilized the old lights for the skating rink.  We hope you enjoy the improvement.  

Skating is open all day and into the night until 10pm.  Please be aware, if the temperatures rise above freezing we may need to close the rink to protect the ice from becoming damaged.  Also if you are using the hockey nets, please remove the nets from the ice and place them off the rink.  This will also insure we maintain quality ice through out the season.  With the late start to the outdoor skating season there are only about 6 weeks remaining before the sun begins to warm enough on a consistent basis where we can no longer maintain the ice.  So please come out and enjoy the limited season that we have this year.

 We had a great freeze and have some really good ice to skate on.

 The new lighting system for the rink. More powerful lights and better coverage of the entire rink.

Attention Turf Students, Now Accepting Applications

This is a first for me, posting an Internship opening on my blog, but what the heck, why not?  Every year Turfgrass students have the opportunity to work on our staff and learn valuable experiences, experiences that will hopefully, add to their viability in the job market down the road.  Our staff usually consists of 1-2 students from the United States as well as an International Trainee.

The Minikahda Club Grounds Department has been host to 8 trainees in the past 11 years.  Trainees have come from Scotland, South Africa, France, Germany (3) and this year we hosted a Trainee from China.  This is actually this trainees second tour to The Minikahda Club.  Hao Wang, aka Tony, first joined us in 2008 as a complete greenhorn, but we enjoyed Tony so much in 2008 and he enjoyed his experience as well so he came back to learn from us for a 2nd time.  International turfgrass students interested in an opportunity to learn here at The Minikahda Club or in the United States can contact Communicating for Agriculture, (www.caep.org) in Fergus Falls, Minnesota.  They can assist you with placement as well as the application process.  We really enjoy the experience the International trainees bring to our staff and it can become an excellent learning experience for both parties.  With the friendships I have made I also see it as a great way to set up my future world golf tour ;)

Turf students interested in a internship, please read the post below:

The Minikahda Club is a private, 18-hole, Donald Ross design golf course, entering our 114^th year of operation.  In 2003 the club finished a major restoration project that included rebuilding tees, bunkers, green expansions, and the installation of a new irrigation system.  Currently the club just completed a $1.2 million renovation of our practice facility and tennis courts.

Requirements:

Must be currently enrolled in a 2 or 4-year turf program.

Previous golf course experience

Interns will be required to obtain a Minnesota pesticide applicators license which will be paid for by the club.

Wage:

$10.50-11.50/hr

Benefits:

Meal-plan

Free golfing privileges,

Uniforms

Housing

Attendance at local MGCSA events as well as fees paid for MGCSA membership.

Excellent working environment

Quality learning experience

An opportunity to work at one of the finest country clubs in the country.

Interns will have the opportunity to gain experience in a majority of aspects in our maintenance operation.  We have developed an extensive training program that will allow the trainee to gain the practical experience needed to get a head start in the business.  You will have one on one opportunities with me as well as my assistants and have every opportunity learn as much about the business as you desire. 

The application deadline is January 15th, 2012

If you have questions regarding our program, please call me at 612-926-4167.

Cover letter, resume and references should be mailed or emailed to:

Jeff Johnson

Golf Course Superintendent

The Minikahda Club

3205 Excelsior Blvd.

Minneapolis, MN  55416

jjohnson@theminikahdaclub.com

The Golf Course is Closed

Sunday was the last day of golf for the 2011 season.  Our staff is now making our final preparations to prepare the golf course for winter.  The final snow mold fungicide applications will be applied to greens, tees and fairways starting today.  All golf course accessories will be brought in and stored and today we are hauling the greens covers to the respective greens.  We may begin covering greens as early as Tuesday.  There are still plenty of leaves on the course.  We will keep seasonal staff around this fall as long as we can in order to get the course as clean as possible as we head into winter.

Other work happening this week, Tim's Tree Service will be here for the next two weeks taking care of tree removals and our annual tree trimming.  Red Pederson Utilities is also here and will be installing a new 10"High Density Polyethylene mainline.  This pipe will replace the old cast iron mainline that goes from our main well to the mainline by the 18th green. This is going to be a very interesting process.  The process is called pipe bursting and they will literally pull the 10" pipe through the old 8" cast iron pipe which bursts the old pipe as they pull the new pipe through.  I will have more about this project as the week goes on. 

Driving Range Project

We nearing the end of the range project. Today asphalt is being laid for the cart path and the final lift will be applied to the tennis parking lot and the drop off area.  The tee has been dormant seeded and by the end of the week the final pallets of sod will be laid.  Of course there will be plenty of detail work that needs to be completed, but we will sign off on the majority of the work by Hartman Co.at the end of the week.  Final decisions on plantings will need to be made for the gardens at tennis as well as some retaining wall and brick paver work.  We will complete what we can this fall and the remaining work will be completed in the spring. 

This has been a wonderful project.  When completed the members will have a golf practice facility and tennis facility they will be extremely proud of.  Thank you to Golf Course Architect Kevin Norby, building architect Scott Newland, Hartman Golf Course Construction and Landscape Divisions, Doboszenski & Sons, Inc, Phehal Asphalt Company, StoneScapes, West Lake Landscapes, Tennis West, Jirik Sod, Plaisteds Co., EC Design, Red Pederson Utilities, Frazier Morris Electrical and Zeeman Construction.  This project has taken quite a team of contractors to complete.  Hartman Company was the lead contractor and did a fabulous job keeping this hectic project on schedule as well as working with such a large group of sub-contractors. 

There's no doubt we will have our work cut out for ourselves next spring, but the majority of the work is complete.  Now lets hope and pray for an early spring so we can get the bentgrass seed up and growing on the tee, fairway and target greens.

Driving Range Project

The Driving Range project continues to move in a forward direction.  The retaining wall is complete, the irrigation system for the fairway has been installed, plant material on the back slope has been installed as well as irrigation and prairie grass seed mix.  The concrete has been poured for the hitting mats and the foundation for the range house has also been poured.  The next major step is to seed the fairway with creeping bentgrass and sod the rough.  By the 21st of October the majority of the project will be near completion leaving us with asphalt work for the cart path, the parking lot by the tennis courts as well as some landscape work by the retaining wall and the tennis court area.  It's great to see the project nearing completion.  Contractors will easily be here until the end of October and probably into November, but at least the majority of the work load will be behind us.

 Concrete pad for hitting mats

 Kevin Hanson from Hartman Co. Irrigation Installation Specialist

 Irrigation installation on the range fairway

 Installation of the Tennis courts hydration system

 Completed lannen stone retaining wall by StoneScapes

Irrigation system pressurized! Now it's time to seed and sod.

Bunker and Tee Construction Projects

Our staff has been very busy the past few weeks completing the construction of bunkers on 2, 7 and 17 as well as new tees on holes 7, 9 and 17. I'm pleased to say these projects have been completed.  The bunkers, designed by Ron Prichard, have turned out quite nice.  The bunkers on 2 and 17 need to be reconstructed following the loss of American elm trees in both locations.  The bunker on 7 was an additional bunker placed on the inside of the dogleg, in order to make the hole more challenging for the lower handicap player. 

Hartman Companies was contracted to complete the shaping of the bunkers and install the drainage.  All of the finish work, the irrigation changes, the installation of the burlap bags, the rough grading and the sod work was all completed in house.  My main goal was to make sure the bunker shaper was able to construct the style of the bunker to look exactly like the other bunkers we built in '02-'03.  Even though Prichard has designed all the bunkers Hartman was not involved in the renovation and we needed to insure the new bunkers did not take on a look of their own.  I have to say Hartman did a great job as did our staff.  A special thank you goes to Assistant Superintendents Nick Folk and Rick Krause for their leadership with these projects.

Construction Update

Progress for the Driving range/tennis project continues to move in a positive direction.  Yesterday Tennis West signed off on the sub-grading for the location of the tennis courts.  Hartman Construction is now complete with that phase of their responsibility via the tennis courts.  Their efforts can now be completely focused on the completion of the sub-grade work on the range and bringing the tee surfaces to grade.

Topsoil has been removed and stockpiled and although we excavated more than we anticipated an estimated additional 1000 cubic yards will be required to complete the job.  Plaisteds Company has begun the process of hauling the additional topsoil required for the job.

Although the photos don't show it, we're really not that far from thinking about irrigation installation.  Sticks of PVC pipe have already been glued together and are now awaiting bringing the sub-grade to grade and shaping of the fairway and target greens.

Installation of the Lannen stone retaining wall has also begun.  Stoneworks Co. has begun installation and with only 3 days into the job, they are making excellent progress.  Footings and pouring of the foundation for the new range house will hopefully begin by the end of next week and construction of the building is slated to begin the week of October 3rd.

This job has required a lot of subcontractors due the various jobs required to be completed.  Currently we have as many as 7 contractors on sight and maybe an additional 2-3 will be required before the project can be completed.  Its quite the process to see it all orchestrated by Hartman.

Bunker Renovation

This past week our staff stripped and re-sodded four bunker faces.  Bunkers where turf was replaced was on two fairway bunkers on 5, the approach bunker on the left of 9 and the first fairway bunker on the right of 16.  The turf on these south facing bunkers was in tough condition thus forcing us to replace the turf.  Rooting of the sod will take a few weeks.  In the mean time the bunker faces will remain Ground Under Repair and will be roped off.  Please do not walk on the faces of these bunkers!  Once rooted properly we will then remove the rope.

 

Bunker on 9 prior to stripping

 Stripped bunker

Sod being laid

The sod consists of a majority of Creeping red fescue (varieties are Epic and Shoneline).  By placing a fescue blend on the bunker face we are placing a turf species that will be better able to tolerate the drought conditions which the south facing slopes natural will have.  This turf is also very consistent with the species of grasses that exist on the bunker faces surrounding all of our greens.  Additionally on these particular bunker we will not be allowing the shoulders of these bunker to grow to seed head height.  All of these bunkers will be mowed on a regular basis and will ultimately become a very dense stand of turf.

Course Projects

It's that time of year, the time when the grass starts slowing down and growing a little less, play begins to slide and we start gearing up for projects on the course.  West Lake Landscape was here this week to begin work around the 10 tee house.  The old timbers that surrounded the flower bed were removed and replaced with a lannen stone wall.  This was a quick and simple job for them and the end result is fantastic!  The look is consistent with other lannen stone work throughout the course.  The next phase will be to replace the old blue stone with red brick pavers.  That work is also scheduled to be completed this fall by West Lake Landscape.

Randy Boe from West Lake

                                        
Over the course of the next few weeks we will be working on multiple projects on the course.  The first one will be to replace some existing turf on a few fairway bunker faces.  The current quality and condition of the turf is less than ideal on the fairway bunker on 5 double bunker, the lower bunker on 5, the approach bunker on 9 and the 1st fairway bunker on the right side of 16.  We have sprayed and killed the existing turf and beginning next week will will strip the sod and replace it with new sod.  The most difficult aspect of this operation will be removing the sod from the steep faces.  Once removed we can then easily lay new sod.

Approach bunker on 9 where turf will be replaced

Future 7th tee

Other projects will be the construction of tees on 7, 9 and 13.  Our first job is to haul fill to raise the fill pads.  for the blue tee on 13 we need to raise the height a least 6 feet.  This we require close to 150 cubic yards of fill.  When complete the tee on 13 make this hole play to a distance of 603 yards.  Wow!  The tee on 7 will provide the players a slightly different angle to play this par 5 dogleg.  From a maintenance position it will provide us with an additional tee to move the markers and reduce the wear and tear on the existing white and blue tees.  The addition of the white tee on 9 will provide additional length as well as a slightly different position for players to position their shots to the fairway.  I really like this tee and I think both new tees on 7 and 9 will be a nice improvement for white tee players.

Future 13th tee

                                           

Bunker Work

String trimming of fairway bunker faces

The day after Labor Day our staff started the process of mowing the tall fescue from the bunkers.  Mowing of the tall fescue is a process that is typical fall maintenance practice.  For the next two months of the season all 99 bunkers will be cut on a regular basis.  Since some of the varieties of fescue growing on the faces have clump type growing habits, there are some voids that are visible on some of the fairway bunkers.

In an attempt to have the grass fill in theses voids we will be making regular fertility applications to the bunkers.  Applications of soluble fertilizer will aid with thickening the density of the faces and reduce the voids.  Over time we will create a thicker denser face.  This will not allow the ball to roll back into the bunker but it will provide a better lie and reduce the chance of having the ball settle into those voids.  Transitioning the bunkers for a whispy un-mantained look to a manicured look takes time and will not happen after one cutting or one fertility applications.  These transitions take time and patience will be needed.

Soluble applications of fertilizer

Regular mowing of bunker capes

A few bunkers have way too many voids and the application of fertilizer will not be enough to fill the voids.  On those bunkers we will strip and sod the faces.  We have identified about 5 fairway bunkers where we need to re-sod.  We are hoping to begin this process very soon.  The stripping of the existing turf will be the most difficult process, but the end result will provide a more consistent playing condition as well as visually more pleasing.

5 fairway bunker will be re-sodded

Driving Range Project

Last week we began our Driving Range and Tennis project.  The tennis courts to be replaced have been removed and demolition of the trees has begun.  Hartman Company is overseeing the construction of the range project and Tennis West will be overseeing the tennis project.  Many subcontractors will be on site for various jobs as well.

Once the tree removal process is complete the dirt work part of the project will begin.  Hartman is currently removing all the existing top soil from the old tee and stock piling it for use on the new tee.  The top soil from the the fairway will also be removed and set aside for future use.  A lot of changes are taking place at this time, but once the dirt movers begin, then you will really see the changes take place.

Sodding Green Surrounds

Over the years, since the course restoration was completed in 2003, areas next to the green edges have become contaminated with a mix stand of grasses.  Creeping bentgrass and poa annua have crept into the rough surrounding the greens.  If a players ball comes to rest in one of these grasses and not the bluegrass, they end up with a really difficult lie.  Our goal over the next week is to identify these areas and replace the contaminated turf with new bluegrass sod.  We also have some areas where the turf is quite thin for one reason or another and those ares will also be replaced with bluegrass sod. 

Family Tradition

Long-time employee at Minikahda, Assistant Superintendent Johnny Jarosz, has 27 years experience on the Grounds Department alone.  That doesn't include his years of service to the club, first as a caddie, then at the bag room and also a short stint washing dishes in the kitchen.  Minikahda is in his blood and quite frankly is the only place he has ever worked.  Now for the first time all three of his boys are working here at the same time.  Neal (20), Cole (17) and Seth (14) are all caddying at the club this summer.  Neal, an Evans Scholar, and Cole are highly qualified and skilled caddies who are highly regarded and frequently requested by the members.  Seth is in his 1st year and by the sounds of it, is a quick study.  I've got to say, its pretty cool to see these three young men out here working together.  I know Johnny feels the same way. 

Seth, Cole and Neal Jarosz

Should I Dare Say It...I hate sod!

Typically I try not to write a lot of opinions on this blog and stick to facts about what we are positively accomplishing on the golf course.  But I really can't help this one. I hate sodding on the golf course and I will try to avoid it when at all possible.  There I said it!  Sod is a quick fix in most instances and it has its place, but when it comes to greens or fairways the long-term success is difficult and sod needs to be managed for many years until it matures into the site.

Typically sod used on our greens either is harvested from a practice green or comes from our sod nursery.  Sod, no matter where it comes from, from my experience, is fickle for the first 1-2 years.  The roots tend to be shallow, extra watering is constantly required and all it takes is one day of heat stress and the sod can be lost.  Sod requires extra fertility as well as topdressing and aeration.  Hence it takes a couple of years until it establishes properly and blends into playing surface. 

Sod laid this spring on the 1st green.  Plugging of the dead spots will be required.

Sod laid this spring on the 1st green, took a hit this past week during the week of severe heat.  All it took was a few hours of heat and a lack of water and turf loss happened quickly.  Additionally sod that was laid last year on some fairway and approach areas has been struggling in the heat, despite additional aeration, fertilizer and fungicide treatments.  Even into the second year, with decent roots, Fickle! 

Sod laid in the spring of 2010. Struggling due to shallow roots, mower traffic and cart traffic.

August Newsletter Article "The Eagle Eye"

Since I just completed my August newsletter article for The Minikahda Columns, I thought I might as well share it on the blog.

Typical Minnesota Weather?                      

It seems every season in Minnesota we deal with extremes; extreme cold, extreme heat and this past month extreme dew points.  July’s weather was one for the records and thankfully the course made it through virtually unscathed.  Proper preparation leading up to the heat, backing off of unnecessary cultural practices such as mowing and rolling of greens and a careful watch of the plants was critical to the turf survival during that stretch of weather.  Proper application of plant protectants was also critical as dew points and temperatures reached record highs.  The weather provided ideal conditions for pathogens such as brown patch and pythium blight.  A perfect storm for disease pressure, fortunately our fine turf areas did not suffer loss from any of these diseases.

The Art Water Management

When to water? What areas to water? Do we water lightly or deeply? What will tomorrow’s weather bring? What does the rest of the weeks weather look like? What events are happening this week? Should we hold off water and wait? Do we syringe greens or do they need a little more to make it through the day? As you can see from these questions there’s little science involved when it comes to water management decisions and a lot more art.  Every day we ask ourselves these questions. I consult with our experienced staff and we make a daily decision before we head home.  Most of the time I think we get it right but sometimes we guess wrong (usually because I tend to lean conservatively with water giving the benefit to the plant that it can survive another day before we need to water it). 

The thing about water, once it’s down, it’s down. We can’t take the application back.  Our goal is not only to provide firm playing conditions, but we also want to maintain healthy turf with deep roots.  From a turf managers, prospective we strive to make deep infrequent irrigation cycles that will promote deep roots on our greens, tees, fairways and rough. Nightly watering may be necessary based on daily weather conditions, but I also feel it conditions the plant to require that type of watering.  By stretching the water cycles we can condition the plants to survive extended periods without nightly watering, mimicking conditions found in nature.  Do we need to water tonight?  That’s should be the ultimate daily question for all Greenkeepers.

Imprelis Herbicide by Dupont          

If you’ve been reading the papers (Star Tribune, July 23^rd, A Surprise Toll on Trees) you’ve probably seen some articles regarding the damage the new herbicide Imprelis has had on coniferous trees on golf courses and homeowners lawns.  We have not used this herbicide on the golf course and there is no concern for tree loss on the golf course do to use of this product. 

Fall Construction Projects

By now you know about the Driving range and tennis projects, we also have a few small projects on the golf course that have been approved for completion.  The left greenside pot bunker on #2 will be expanded to entire left of the green.  The right fairway bunker on #17 will be converted to a double stacked bunker (similar to the fairway bunkers on #5) and a new 600 yard tee will be added to the 13^th hole.  These minor projects are slated to begin this fall.  Hartman Companies will provide the rough shaping and the finish work will be completed in house by our staff.  Looks like we’re going to have a busy fall.

Taking it Easy

The next couple days will test our experience as turf managers.  Day temperatures in the high 90's and dew points in the 70's equaling heat indexes around 105-115, not ideal conditions for cool season turfgrass.  Plant protectants have been applied to the fine turf areas to protect the plants from diseases such as Brown Patch and Pythium blight. Reducing stress on the turf is a top concern so we will be reducing our mowing and rolling on greens, alternating mow and roll days and will be stretching our fairway mowing from 3 days a week to 2 days a week.  Mowing is one of the worst activities we can do to the plants during long periods of heat stress.  If there is a cultural practice we can control it's mowing, so we will reduce it as much as we feel we can and still provide the members with quality playing conditions.

Venting of greens surfaces will again take place next Monday and we will be monitoring and scouting greens, tees and fairways a little more closely during this brutal stretch of weather.  The good thing about living in Minnesota is, this will eventually end and a cool front will blow this out of here.  Until then we will be monitoring the turf and reducing cultural practices to the bare minimum. 

Invitational Week

This week is the club's Invitational Golf Event. As far as events at the club go, this is one of our Major's. Member/Member in August being the other Major. The weather over the past few weeks has produced a great deal of rain, high dew points as well as high temperatures. Based on the past weather as well as the forecast for upcoming days, heat index's reaching into the low 100's, even with this weeks "Major" on the schedule, we felt today was an ideal time to vent (aerate) the greens.

Earlier in the week when we walked on greens we could smell that the greens needed to be vented. We could smell the anaerobic activity taking place in the soils and the best cure for allowing gas exchange is to vent the greens. Roots need oxygen to survive and when oxygen is depleted reduction in root depth is greatly compromised. With as much poa annua as we have on greens, maintaining proper root depths throughout the summer months is critical to poa's survival and the quality and condition of greens.

Needle tine aeration "Venting"

Today's aeration began at 5am and the guys were finished with 19 greens by 11am. As you can see in the photos the needle tines that we use cause little disturbance to the surface and when followed by the rollers there is little to no evidence that greens were even aerated. Pretty good work to have completed 2 days before our Invitational and 3 days before and other 1-3" predicted rain event as well as 4-5 days in the mid to high 90's

The green following a roll.

Last Friday's Storm

Last Friday night straight line winds tore through the north end of the golf course. Damage was contained to holes 1, 15, 17 and 18 as well as to the driveway. Four trees were lost on the golf course, a Linden right of the dogleg bunker on 15, 2 maples on the left of 17, a Larch on the right side of 17, a large spruce from the driveway entrance as well as one of the your Princeton elm trees from in front of the club house. We also lost numerous trees along the pool slope.

Our staff was able to clean the bulk of debris on Saturday morning and made quick work of the damage. On Wednesday, Tim's Tree Service was able to grind the stumps, remove the stock pile of trees as well as remove some hangers in a few elm trees as a result of the storm. Let's hope this is all the summer storm damage we will see for the rest of the season.

And if you're wondering will these trees will be replaced? At this time there are no plans to replace the trees that were destroyed on the golf course. The only tree that is currently planned for replacement is the Princeton Elm. Replacement will not happen until the fall when it's safer for the new tree to be transported and planted.

Creeping Bentgrass vs Poa annua

Manage for creeping bentgrass or manage for poa annua? This is the ultimate questions that Superintendents ask themselves and is an industry wide topic. A topic that will probably never be resolved. Many say if you have poa annua manage it. Well we've had poa dominant fairways before and let me tell you they're really not that fun to manage. Now that we've been managing for creeping bentgrass, to me the answer is quite clear.

A perfect is example is on our fairways. I probe fairways quite frequently and one reason is I love looking at our bentgrass roots. They are DEEP! I on average I find our roots to be 12-18" deep. Deep roots equal less water, less fertilizer and all round healthier plants. Also by watering deep and infrequently we can provide firm playing conditions as we are able to stretch the length between water cycles. We also have less thatch on the fairways. We are able provide conditions that are adventitious for deep roots which also equals less fertility and that allows us to stretch our fertility applications and as a result have less thatch on the fairways as the roots are going deep and are not limited to the top 4 inches.

Our poa roots, on the other hand are shallow. Shallow rooted plants need to be babied and require a great deal more TLC. As you can see in this photo, poa annua roots are only 4" deep compared to the 12" roots of the creeping bentgrass. Moisture levels at 12" soil depths are very good. Right where the creeping bentgrass roots extend. Heading into the heat of the summer we can all sleep a lot better knowing if the roots are deep and healthy so will be the playing surfaces.

Powerade for Trees

Two weeks ago we moved a very large Sugar maple to the garden by the Grill entrance. The tree is a 9" DBH and was moved with a 102" tree spade. We've been looking for a tree for this location for quite some time. The timing was right this spring when a landscape architect we work with was working on a job where they wanted this tree removed. The tree was free and all we had to pay was the moving cost.

Ideally we would have moved a tree this size in the late fall or early spring. When we moved the tree it was fully leafed out. Moving a tree this size and fully leafed is extremely stressful to the tree. Additionally only 4 days following the move, temperatures reached 95 degrees one day and 103 the next coupled with 30 mph winds. Needless to say the tree was in shock.

Deep watering as well as what we like to call the "Powerade" mix for transplanted trees and shrubs will be applied weekly to aid the tree through the transplant process. The "Powerade" mix is a mixture of Seaweed extract, Fish Hydrolysate, Humic Acid, Micro-nutrients, Yucca extract and Mycorrhizae. There are numerous benefits to the plant from all of these products and hopefully by applying these products to the roots we can help power this tree through the transplant stress and successfully transition into its new home.

Thankfully the weather has also been cooperating with timely rains, cloudy days and some cool night temperatures. If we can successfully get the tree to survive the summer, it stands a good chance of surviving the the move, so keep your fingers crossed.