Not Quite Yet!

After the warmer than normal February, March has turned back to normal winter conditions.  Over the next few days it looks like our snow cover should be gone.  I hate to say but last year at this time we were doing our spring cleanup cut on the fairways, tees, aprons and greens.  Each year is different and we will get the course open as soon as we can, this year's opening may be more of the norm than last year.  Generally speaking the course will open to walkers when the frost is out of the greens enough to cut a new hole location.  This gives the turf grass a chance to firm up slightly, walking on the mushy wet ground is very hard on turf plants as they break dormancy and can even cause fatal damage.

Show below is hole #8 on Saturday March 18.

The maintenance staff has the mowing equipment all ready to go.  We are now working on benches, ball washers, garbage cans and all course signage.  It is always nice starting out the season with a fresh new look on everything.  When possible we will be heading out on the course and start spring cleanup, hoping that will happen soon.

If you do want to hit the ball around the temporary hole locations are open, for now please stay off the putting surfaces until the course officially opens.

We will see you on the course soon!

Ross

Ice no More

Thank You February for being one of the warmest I can remember.  The warm temperatures melted all of our snow and ice.  What will the rest of the winter will bring is unknown, but for now we are in good shape.

One of our focuses during the off season; is addressing the inconsistencies of our collars and approaches.  We have some varieties of grass in these areas, this gives us a bit on an inconsistent playing surface.  In the past we were using our bunker leaf rake attachment to help stand the grass up before cutting, this marginally worked.  So this winter we modified one of our old bunker rake attachments.  The result is a new broom/brush attachment to go on our existing machine.  As shown below the new attachment, with broom heads, will have the  same working width but should stand the grass up even better for a more consistent final product.  There may be some final modifications, after a quick demo looks to work really well.  We may even look to use on other areas of the course including the greens.

Think Spring!

We will see you on the course soon!

Ross

The Warming Trend Continues

Doesn't really feel like the middle of February, but we will definitely take the warm weather.  The next 7 days also look good with the warm up continuing.

The golf course has really changed over the past week.  Most all the greens are clear of any snow and ice.  The fairways have improved some, but still have ice in the low areas.  If the forecast hold true we should get the ice areas in the fairways to a minimum.  The picture below is of #1 fairway this morning, 2-16.  

As you can see grass starting to show and ice areas continuing to shrink.  This should improve dramatically over the next week. 

With the forecast in the 50's I'm sure some are starting to think about golf.  For now the greens are closed, if you decide to venture out, Please Use The Temporary Greens on the Front 9.  A word of caution the course is extremely wet right now.  In fact most holes have 3"+ deep water on the fairways. So walk at your own risk!!!   

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Ross

Greens/ Ice and Warm Forecast

It looks as though we will finally get a break from the cold winter we have been dealing with.  The next 10 + days looks to have day time highs above the freezing mark.  This will be a welcome to assist in melting some of our ice we have accumulated on the golf course.  I hope the forecast remains true.

I took a tour of the course this morning.  There grass is starting to show in many areas out there.  I am hoping by mid week we will have most of the ice off the green surfaces.  To do this we may have to remove some of the deeper snow on a couple of greens, but most of the greens will melt off on their own.  As shown in the picture below of #13 green, there is many areas where the grass is showing or will be showing soon.  The melting will accelerate as more grass starts to show.  The fairways still have ice in some of the lower/draining areas.  The ice is fairly thick in spots, we will monitor to see if any actions are needed or possible here.  What will happen from here is unknown, for now spring doesn't seem too far away.

#13 Green February 10 AM

If you have any questions of comments please contact me.

Think Spring!!

Ross

January Course Update

January has arrived, I can honestly say it has been a cold winter so far.  I am also not very impressed with the 1.25" of rain Christmas Day!!  The weather has dictated for us to focus on snow removal and working on equipment for next year.  I am hoping the weather will break, this would allow us to get outside some time soon.

The rain in December was definitely not a welcome event.  With the ground froze there was not any place for the water/run off to go.  So as a result we do have some ice on the golf course.  Most of the ice is in the low areas on the fairways.  The good news is most turf grass can survive 90 + days under the ice, that would put us to the end of March.  We will wait and see what will happen the next few weeks to determine if there is any mode of action needed to help alleviate any ice stress.  We can always hope for early spring and Golf Season!

#17 Green January 12

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me.

Looking forward to Spring and the 2017 Golf Season.


Ross

Winter in a Big Way!

The winter season has decided to show up in a big way.  After a mild and rainy November, December is here and Old Man Winter has showed up also.  The golf course was in great shape going into the winter.  One of the main factors going into to Winter is we need the ground to freeze before receiving large amounts of snow, that has now happened this year.  This should put us in good shape, what will happen from this point on is unknown.

With the cold/snowy weather most of our time is spent maintaining equipment is the Maintenance Facility or plowing snow.  Currently we are working on our large area rough mowers, theses two mowers take the longest of any other piece of equipment to do the off season maintenance.  Winter is also a good time to keep up on education, on Monday Brian and Kenny, our two assistants, attended a workshop in at the golf course in Pierre.  There was a group of thirty equipment managers, assistants and Superintendents.  The main focus was on off season maintenance and the maintenance practice for newer style reels and bed knives.  These one day workshops can be very good value and learning tool.  Other education experiences this winter will include State Pesticide Re Certification,  regional Turf Conferences and Golf Course Superintendent Association meetings.  There is always great value getting together with others in the industry, hearing new ideas / concepts others have tried is always one of my favorites whether they have worked or not.  

The Holiday Season is near I hope you find the time to relax with friends and family.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Ross

Winter Arrives

How quickly the weather can change around here.  Nice golf weather on Wednesday and now today winter conditions with a brisk North West wind.  Really only received about 2-3" of snow.  Not sure what the total amount of moisture was, but we will take it.

The snow is nice to get, but not ideal when the ground is not froze.  It is always ideal to freeze up the ground before you get a substantial snow fall.  When the ground freezes it causes the the turf grass plant to go dormant, once dormant you reduce the chances of snow mold dramatically.  As it looks right now most of the snow will melt off next week, this will put us back in good shape going into winter.  We will continue to monitor through the fall and winter.

Please remember the greens have been closed for the winter.  If you want to come out hit the ball around please use the temporary hole locations.  The temps are marked with an orange flag, most of which are 50 yards in front of the normal greens.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me.

Thank You for a great 2016 Gold Season!!

Ross