May Course Update

The Golf Course is looking good.  Most of the seeded areas are starting to germinate, should establish and fill in quickly when the weather warms back up.  We are also getting closer to being fully staffed, this is allowing us to mow everything in a more timely fashion.

The weather the been on the cool side, and not much golf happening.  This is allowing the Maintenance Staff to accomplish a few different items.  First we were able to get the Intermediate cut in, this was a three step process of mowing at different heights of cuts and blowing the clipping debris.  Now that is is in we should be able to keep up with the mowing of it .  

The second item is we were able to quad tine the greens again.  We weren't schedule to do this till June but decided with the weather and lack of golfers it was a good time to get done.  This was also a three step process.  The first step is to lightly top dress the greens.

The next step is the quad tine the greens with our Toro 648 aerator.  With this setup we end up with 1/4" hole every 2". this will give us plenty of compaction relief and allow oxygen and moisture to enter the soil profile.

The final step is to roll the greens two different directions.  This will work the sand into the profile and also help close to hole slightly.  Shown below is our older triplex roller, we also have a newer roller with a vibratory system, that help work the sand into the profile even better.

This has been a good system of compaction relief for the past few years, once complete most golfers might not even notice it was done.  If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me.  We will see you on the course.

Ross

Seeding has begun

With the warmer current weather and extended forecast, we are finally warm enough to start seeding our winter kill.  If everything goes as planned we hope to be done by tomorrow.  Our over seeding program is accomplished through two different application forms. each for different areas on the course.

First is for around collar and apron areas.  This accomplished with the use of our Toro 648 aerator.  We have installed a mini tine system that punches lots of small holes in a short amount of time.  Once the holes are there we simply spread the seed over the area.  As shown below making lots of holes.

The second application is for the bigger fairway type areas on the course.   This is accomplished with the use of a tractor mounted slit type seeder.  The seeder will make a small slit in the soil, seed is then dropped into the slit.  With this machine we will go over each area two different directions.  Below is a picture of the tractor and slit seeder.

Again we hope to finish seeding by Thursday.

The weather looks to be great we will see you on the course.
Ross

New Equipment

Well the weather has not bee very conducive for golf the past few days.  These freezing nights may not be the best for the trees that are budding, time will tell to see if there is any damage.  For now we look to be alright, but tonight we are forecast to be in the low 20's just have to wait and see.  I hope this weather straightens out and returns to more normal like.

The past week we received a couple pieces of new equipment.  A new greens mower and utility cart. The greens mower is a TriFlex 3300 from the Toro Company, many upgrades to give a better more consistent quality of cut.  The utility cart is from Club Car, nothing fancy here just time to upgrade from our old 2001 model.  It's always nice getting new equipment Thank You!

With the weather conditions being cold and the ground temperature not warming we have not started any seeding of winter kill areas on the course.  I am hoping to get started next week if the weather straightens out.  At this time we will also start the sand n seed program for the year.  Please remember to always replace your divot if possible, when filling divots with sand n seed please do not over fill.  See my Blog post from April 20 for more information on divot care.

We will see you on the course.
Ross

Divots / Sand n Seed Mix

With golf season in spring swing I have received a few questions about the sand n seed mix and when we will start using it.

We will start using sand n seed mix when two things happen, both have to do with the weather.  First we need the ground temperatures to to into the 50's.  Current ground temps are in the 40's, just need some more warm weather.  Once in the 50's it will give the seed the best chance of germinating, also will help protect the seed if we do have some cooler evenings.  Second we need to not have less of a chance of a hard freeze, if we do get a hard freeze hard we will lose any germination that has happened, resulting in having to reseed.  If you have any questions on this please contact me.

So please replace your divots!

Below is a a link on proper divot care, please take the time to read. You may need to copy and paste in you internet browser.

http://archive.lib.msu.edu/tic/usgamisc/ftg/2017-04-07.pdf

Thank You We will See You on the Course

Ross

Spring Season Update

The season is up and running.  For the most part it has been a normal spring with mixture of some warmer days an some cooler.  As of the today the ground temperatures are in the middle to upper 40's range.  Typical good grass growth does not start until we hit at least 50.

If you have been out enjoying your course I'm sure you have seen a few smaller areas in the fairways that may need some attention, some may need a push of extra fertilizer others may need to be reseeded.  This will be addressed as the ground temperatures warm up enough to germinate the seed, I am hoping for that in a week or two.  The photo below is of #1 fairway.

I have taken a few questions on when the sand n seed program will begin.  This will take place as the ground temperatures warm, until then please replace your divot.  I also have noticed many ball marks on the greens, the spring of the year they may be hard to see.  Please take the time to find your ball mark and repair it, it is not the job of the golfers behind you or the maintenance staff.

I have noticed many home owner carts driving down and across fairways when going to and from the Club House. Please do not drive on or across any fairways when going to and from the Club House! Cart traffic is one of the biggest causes for compaction on the golf course, this leads to many turf issues.  So use the cart paths as much as possible, in fact you can drive all the way from #3 tee to the Club House on the cart path.  If you have any questions or need further explanation please feel free to contact me.

We will see you on the course.
Ross

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