Happy Holidays

Not much for snow so far this year, temps have now warmed to above average.  The Golf Course is in good shape and ready for the winter season, if it ever shows up.  If you decide to come out and hit the ball around please use the temporary hole locations on the front nine.  We would also like you to make sure the temperatures are above freezing, much damage can be done walking on frozen or frosted turf plants.  ENJOY! 

With the good weather we were able to remove the bunker behind #17 green.  The area has been rough graded.  Next spring we will have to finish grade and seed.  This will be a much needed improvement to this area, allowing us to maintain and grow some good grass.  The extra dirt from that project was hauled to fill in the driving range bunkers.  This area also is only rough graded, next spring will will finish grade and seed.  The plan is to also add some white agri material to give the same visual effect as a bunker, while allowing us to maintain and pick the balls. 

When not working in the shop we managed to get outside and remove some trees.  There is not very many on the list this year.  Our target for this year is unhealthy trees; whether they are cracked, dying or just not growing the right direction.  Below is a couple of pictures of our staff and the tree work. 

Have Happy Holiday Season with Family and Friends!!

Ross

Bunker Project / Temporary Hole Locations

Due to the cold weather, frost setting in the ground, we have closed the greens and moved to the temporary hole locations.  If the weather warms and you feel the urge to come out and play please use the "temps".  Also at this time there is no cart usage allowed on the course, driving on the frozen turf will damage the plant and may even kill it.  So if you come out enjoy the walk.  Thank You, if you have any questions please contact me. 

Even with the cold weather we started the work on removing the back right bunker on #17 green.  There were several issues with that bunker, and felt it was time to remove it.  We removed a major portion of the dirt and have the area roughed in, as shown below in the before and after pictures.  We will finish grade and seed in the spring.  Now we have a big pile of the excess dirt to deal with.  The plan is to use the dirt for several other little projects as Mother Nature allows.  This may include redoing the bunkers on the driving range, making them more maintenance and ball picking friendly. 

The Maintenance Staff would like to Thank all Our Members for another great season.  We appreciate your support, and are looking forward to 2019!!  If you have any great ideas or suggestions on how to improve your golf experience please let use know. 

Thank you

Ross
 

Is The End Near???

This week is rather busy for the Maintenance Staff.  We will be in the process of putting the finishing touches preparing the Golf Course for the winter season.  Below is a list of some of the main items we address before winter, there are many other little items not listed.

On the schedule for today:
- Spray our greens with a mixture of fungicides and anti transparent, this will help protect the putting surfaces from snow mold.
- Winterize the two restrooms on the course.
- Top dress tees and collars with sand.
- Continue to chop and blow leaves.
- Cut temporary green holes
- Remove fountain from irrigation pond

Tuesday:
-Winterize irrigation system, typically takes about 12 hours.
-Continue to top dress tee areas

Wednesday:
-Winterize well systems.
-May start bringing accessories in, depends on forecast.

Thursday:
-Winterize Driving Range Building
- Apply a heavy coat of sand on the greens, this protects the crown of the turf grass plant.

We will keep the greens open as long as the weather permits, at some point we will switch over to temporary hole locations on the front nine.   There will be more information to follow.  For now come out and enjoy your golf course.

Below is a picture of a Demo rough mower we purchased.  Fall is a great time to get a good machine with some very low hours on, and also a very good price.  If you ever want to check out some of the equipment we use on the course feel free to stop down to the shop.  If the weather allows you may even take it out for a drive.

We will see you on the course.
Ross

Compaction Relief

Last week was a complete wash, this week we were back on schedule to complete our compaction relief.  Greens and fairways were on schedule for this week.

On the greens we went with a 3/4" solid tine.  This provided an adequate hole to get sand into the soil's profile.  The process went like this; top dress heavy with sand, aerate, drag in the sand and finally roll the green's surface.   All this to keep the green's surface as playable as possible. 

The fairways we used our new Terra Slicer, as shown below.  It has many slicing blades going to depths of up to 8".  We currently have it set to depth of 6", this provide good compaction relief while not totally tearing up the playing surface.  With the good weathe we will be done with all fairways areas by Friday. 

If you have any questions or comments please contact me. 

We will see you on the course.

Ross

SNOW

Our first snow of the year has arrived.  It also has basically rained on and off all week.  After the long dry spell I was wondering if we would ever get adequate moisture this year.  The snow should not hurt anything, just delay any course maintenance and golfing this week.  Fun Times!

It was originally planned to start compaction relief in the fairways and roughs this week, now we will start when Mother Nature allows.  Next Week?  The plan was also to start greens aerification, now we are looking at next week.  Please be patient as these are much needed maintenance items. Once the normal weather returns we will finish in a timely manner 

I am hoping the snow will melt off soon,  the Golf Course will then be open for some great fall golf!!

We will see you on the course.

Ross

Frost

This weekend we have the possibility for our first FROST of the year.  This is  a friendly reminder to Please stay off all turf areas when there is FROST present.  If you walk or drive on frosted grass you will damage, or even possibly kill the turf plant.  The plant could take from days to months to recover.  Check out the following link to the USGA website.  http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/course-care/our-experts-explain0/frost-delays.html 

The Golf Course is in great shape, come out for some beautiful falls colors and great golf!

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

We will see you on the course.

Ross

Compaction Relief

It is the middle of September already.  Fall golf is in full swing.  It is also the time of year to start our compaction relief on the Golf Course.  This week we started on the tee surfaces.  We are using a new machine we purchased earlier this year, it is called the Terra Slit.  The machine basically makes a slit in the ground to depths of 8", our older machines on were only capable of depths up to 4".  After the compaction relief we have now mowed to minimize the disruption of playability.

Next week we plan on solid tining our collars and aprons.  This will be done with our traditional style aeration machine.  Again providing compaction relief with a minimal disruption of playability.   Once that is complete we will move on to the fairways.  On the fairways we will be using the Terra Slit machine, trying to get the maximum depth in the compaction relief process.

And finally we will move on to the greens in early October.  This year we will do a 3/4" solid tine, this will provide a good opening to fill with sand.  We will top dress the green, with sand, and drag in filling the holes.  This will accomplish compaction relief and sand channels will allow the green surface to breath going into the fall and next growing season.

If you have nay questions on our compaction program please feel free to contact me.

Hope you make time to enjoy the beautiful fall!

Ross

#saveyourturf

Golf Carts are the #1 cause of compaction on the Golf Course.  Compaction causes weak, thin, unhealthy turf. 

#saveyourturf Follow the signs and use the cart path when going to and from the Club House.

Please use the blue highlighted paths going to and from the Club House or any other time on the course.
#saveyourturf 

Any questions please feel free to contact me

The best part of the golf season is here. #playgolf

Ross

Mid August Course report

Despite the crazy weather we have had this year, the golf course has had some really good playing conditions the last two months.  If you haven't been out lately you have definitely been missing out!!  Now Fall is approaching and some of the seasonal staff has started the process of heading back to school.  This is normal for this time of year, the remaining maintenance staff will continue to do everything possible to keep the golf course in great playable shape. 

One of the areas that every golfer can improve on and help save time for the maintenance staff is in the bunkers.  There are several areas not raked each and every day.  WE do not mechanically rake the bunkers on a daily basis.  So take the time and do your part by raking the tracks in the bunker.  Here is a link to the proper way to rake the bunkers from the USGA   http://www.usga.org/videos/2013/03/05/usga-course-care-video--bunker-etiquette--english--2203345161001.html  There are many other great Course Care videos on the USGA site, take the time to check them out. 

We will see you on the course.

Ross

Pro Am Week

Here it is Pro Am week, and of course the rain decides to show up this week.  This is one week I always hope stays on the dry side.

Below is common sight this morning, this is the bunker on the right of #18 green. Yes bunkers are washed out after the 1.25" of rain last night.  Most of them are not too bad, but we always have a few that require some extra attention.  Some shoveling of sand , adding sand or just some extra raking is what ever it takes to get them back in great shape. 

Just want to take a moment to say a big Thank You my staff for the great job and effort they have been putting in this year.  They are a great team to work with and be a part of, accomplishing many of the detail items most golfers don't notice.  Thank You!!

Good luck to all Pro Am participants!

We will see you on the course.

Ross

July Course Update

Here we are July already and the Pro - Am is just two weeks away.  Even with the drought the golf course has been in great shape.  This has been a year of adjusting to the ever changing weather conditions, what is normal any more.  Conditions change daily and we just try to keep up.  I hope you have found time to come out and enjoy your course.

One of the items we are dealing with is some contamination of bent grass on our tee surfaces.  When we installed the tees they were a blue / rye grass mix, through natural processes there is some undesired bent grasses encroaching on them.  The middle of June we did a trial on the front nine, basically we applied a chemical to help eliminate the bent grass without hurting the blue or rye grass.  There may need to be some fine tuning and more applications made to totally eliminate the undesired grasses.  The good side of the chemical is we can reseed with new grass right after application.  As shown below the bent grass is not looking too healthy after the first application, this is one of our most contaminated tee surfaces.  We will wait and see how aggressive we want to be trying to eliminate the undesired grasses.  If you have any comments or questions please give me a call. 

Bunker raking, or lack there of, continue to be an issue.  The maintenance staff does not rake the bunkers every day.  We will go through and touch them up if needed.  Ultimately it is the golfers responsibility to to rake the bunker. 

Four Basic Rules for Raking the Bunker
-Always enter and exist the Bunker on a not so steep area
-When raking please leave there area as smooth as possible
-On the lower edges please push the sand towards the center of the bunker 
         This prevents sand build up on the low side
-When finished Place the rake with the head in the bunker and the handle along the edge

We will see you on the course.

Ross

What all happens in a Day

What a welcome to some rain the last week.  Most all the rough areas have a green tint to them, not growing much but at least look like there is a little life in there.  Even with the rain we are still under severe drought status.  It will take more timely rains to get us back to a more normal moisture situation.  So please continue to use extreme caution in where you are driving your golf cart; utilizing the carts paths as much as possible and please no unnecessary driving on the golf course. 

So what exactly happens in a day with the maintenance staff.  Well here is most of the tasks we will accomplish for Wednesday; change cups move tee markers, change all practice green cups, brush greens and aprons, double cut greens, roll greens, spray greens, mow tee collars and aprons, touch up bunkers, drag fairways(as shown below), mow fairways, mow rough, garbage, change coolers, clean restrooms, fill sand n seed, fertilize and water flower pots, cut up a downed branch, push mow and weed eat the Club House area, spray weeds with the hand sprayer, check irrigation in the parking lot area, monitor the irrigation and pump house, check moisture in greens and hand water if needed, and various other small items I may have missed.  As you can see many tasks to complete to keep the golf course in great shape. 

Above is a new item we purchased this year.  It is called The Dew Draggin.  We will use it to drag the fairways before we mow them.  This will knock the dew off the plant and also stand this grass up for a better cut.  

Summer is here I hope you find time to enjoy your course.

Ross

RAIN !!!

I think that was the driest / hot I have ever seen the Golf Course.  We were on the verge of having some serious issues. The last few nights was the most we have ever irrigated in the last 21 years.  But now we have received some much needed rain, .32" in the rain gauge.  This definitely give a slight feeling of relief. 

An email went out last night to the member about golf cart driving and etiquette.  Even with the rain these rules still apply.  Carts are the number cause of turf damage on the golf course.  Here are a few general rules; stay on the path when going to and from the Club House, keep all four wheels on the path, scatter your driving patterns when the cart path is not available, and just remember any driving you are doing on the course you are causing damage.  See below for cart damage pictures. 








With the heat and dry the golf course has been a little slow in filling in.  Now with the rain I expect many of the thinner areas to fill in, most areas were seeded but did not establish.  We may have to reseed some of the areas again.  This week we are also scheduled for our second application of fertilizer, with a good release this will also help fill these areas in. 

We will see you on the course.

Ross

Growing Season Is Here

The grass has really started to take off, with a little moisture all areas of the course are growing well and starting to fill in.  Yes we did have to ever seed a few areas on the fairways and tees, but nothing too major.  Most all the smaller areas will fill in rather quickly. 

Lots happening on the maintenance side of the golf course right now.

This week we planted more trees around the practice facility.  This will complete the first phase of trees to go in that area.  Again the purpose of the trees is to give us a buffer zone between the course and the road.  Check them out, if you have any other tree ideas for the course please let me know. 

Our new greens/ collar brush arrived.  This tool was put to work right away, as shown below.  The brush will be used to help stand the grass upright and then we will mow it.  This will give a us the best chance of having a good quality cut, helping control any grain in the plants growth.  I am sure you will see noticable improvment. 




Over the last couple of weeks we have also added sand to the bunkers.  We only add where sand is needed, most areas we like to have 3-4 inches of sand in the hitting areas.  Every time we add sand I get a few complaints about having plugged lies in the bunkers.  Yes this is common as it takes some time and moisture to help firm any new sand up.  I wish I had a better answer than that but it's just part of the process.  When going through this process we may miss an area that is in need of sand, please let me know if you hit the liner or see any liner showing.  Thank you

Our tree guy finished up grinding the big stumps early May.  We have cleaned up all the grindings, we are now in the process of filling the holes with dirt and seeding.  All the new seeded areas will be marked with pink flags, please do not drive or walk through any of our newly seeded areas. 

Most of the rest of the time we are just trying to keep up with the mowing.  If you have nay comments please feel free to contact me. 



Come out and enjoy your course!!!

Ross

May is Here!

Yes it is officially May, our weather has seemed to level out and be a bit more normal for now. To think just two weeks ago there was still some snow on the ground, hard to imagine that now.  

The last 10 days have been crazy to say the least. With the dry weather our main focus has been to get the irrigation up and running, it has been a bit of a challenge. First we did have a couple of leaks, which is normal for the amount of frost we had in the ground this winter.  Second there was an abnormal amount of hard water deposits to flush out of the line this year, basically we removed the guts out of each head and flushed until they run clean as shown below.  Thank you to the maintenance staff for a couple of days of flushes my lines. The good news we have been up and irrigating since last Friday night.  Yes there are few problem heads we are still working on, but for the most we are functional. 

The Golf Course continues to greenup and improve everyday. Starting next week we will also be getting on more regular mowing schedule. Hope you find time to come out and enjoy your course. 

Ross

Golf Course Open

Yes the golf course is open, at this time walkers only. There is still frost coming out of the ground in areas. This causes the surface to be mushy and not stable. Until everything firms up no carts will be allowed. Hope you find time to enjoy the beautiful spring weather. 

With late arrival of spring it has put 2-3 weeks of spring work into a very shortened amount of time. Some items on the course will not be addressed until the frost is out, others will take some time to get caught up. If you see anything that may need some attention please let know. 

If you are out on the course please make sure to do you part in repairing ball marks, fixing divots and raking  the bunkers.  This morning I already found a bunker not raked. This is just lazy. Please respect the course and the other golfers that play the course. 

We will see you on the course. 

Ross

WWTCO

WWTCO When Will The Course Open?  At this point I am not really sure.  I would like nothing more to be open and have carts out.  Mother Nature right now has a different idea.  I am hoping that this weekends storm will be the last one, as the temperatures warm next week we can than proceed with getting the Golf Course ready to open.  Not sure what date that will be, but we will open for walkers as soon as week can change the hole locations.  What this does is it allows the greens surface to firm up slightly, giving it a firm enough surface to allow traffic and not cause any damage.  As the rest of the course dries and firms up we will allow carts.  I know the patience is running thin, but please be patient. 

In the mean time the maintenance staff has stayed busy fine tuning and cleaning everything getting ready for when the season starts.  One of the projects completed this week was a new door installed on the pumphouse.  The old door was falling apart and long over due for a replacement. 




Everything, and everyone, is ready for the season!

I hope to see you on the Coure real soon!

Ross

Welcome to Spring

Yes it is officially spring, now we are just waiting officially for the 2018 golf season.  I know everyone, patiently or impatiently, is waiting to get that first round of golf in.  

Before that snow hit the golf course looked to be in great shape.  Once this snow melts of I would assume it to be about the same. As in previous years we will open the course when the frost is out of the greens enough to put in new hole locations. We need a good 8” of thawed ground to accomplish this. We will kept you informed as near the official season. 

Above is Ottis and I out on a little course inspection tour.  

If you really feel the urge to get out and hit the ball around, we do have temporary hole locations on the front nine.  They are typically located about 50 yards in front of the green. No carts are allowed for this, come out for a little walk and enjoy the spring air. 

As always if you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me. 

Thank You and we will see you on the course soon!

Ross

Spring

I am sure starting to enjoy how warm that sun feels.  Just hoping the temperatures continue to warm and melt some of our snow.  Not sure of any timing of the golf course opening, but we will keep you informed as the season nears.

This week Kenny, Matt and myself had the opportunity to attend that State Golf Course Superintendents Association meeting down in Sioux Falls.  As always and great meeting featuring speakers, trade show and various types networking.   This year we had four main speakers: Mike Vogt a Golf Course Consultant talked on the important of measuring success and ways of improving your success, through labor allocations and various other ways.  Michelle DaCosta is a PH.D from U of Massachusetts Amherst, she had two great presentations on minimizing winter injury and strategies to enhance summer stress tolerance.  John R. Fulling is the Superintendent at Kalamazoo CC, he is the treasurer on our National Board, his talked mainly focused on opportunities within the National GCSAA Association.  Our final speaker was Jared Hoyle from Kansas State University, his two talks were based on Managing Native areas and new herbicide options.   As you can see many great learning opportunities here, giving us a chance to re focus heading into a new season. 






WE WILL SEE YOU ON THE COURSE SOON!!
If you have any comments please feel free to contact me.
Ross

New Assistant

I would like to welcome Matt Kiefer to our team.  Matt will be our Assistant Golf Course Superintendent.  He is from the Webster area, A NSU Graduate and has been around Aberdeen since.  I am looking forward to starting the season with Matt on our team. 

Tree removal on the course is all but done for the winter.  There is still some stump grinding to accomplish.  We will continue to work on the trees around the driving range as weather permits.  When out cutting trees we remove a small cottonwood tree west of #7, no it was not the big cottonwood tree.  Upon cutting we found out why the tree was not healthy, also not very safe.  As you can see below most of the trunk is rotten inside.  Not sure of the cause of this, just glad it is gone. 

March is here and I am hoping the golf season is not too far away!

We will see you on the course soon. 

Ross

Snow!!

We finally received a good snow, 4-5” of cover. Yes it is always a little worked to plow the snow, but this is what we we have been waiting for all winter.  Despite the lack of snow cover the golf course looks to remain in good shape heading toward spring. 

Now we are dealing with some colder temps, all is good. 

Tree removal is wrapping up for the season. We still have a few smaller trees to address, that with stump grinding should get us in good shape going into the golf season. 

Days are getting longer and the sun has more intensity!!

Spring will be here soon!

Ross

Starting out the New Year

Here we are in the middle of January.  Last week we were out cutting down dead trees in 30 degree weather.  Now Today a projected high -5.  So yes taoday we are working in the shop.  What will next week bring?

The golf course is in good shape right now.  The only concern right now is the lack of snow cover with these extreme temperatures.  Under conditions like this you can get some desiccation on the exposed turf plants.  The exposed plants basically freeze dry out, not giving them much of a chance for survival.  We do treat our greens for this with a heavy sand topdressing and a anti-desiccant.  As stated before currently everything looks to be in good shape. 




Last Fall we hired a company to come in and take down 10 of our bigger cotton wood trees that are dying out.  They have all their equipment on site, now waiting for Mother Nature to provide some normal like weather. 

Do you have any great new ideas for the new season?
Please Share.


Ross

Happy New Year.

Happy New Year from the Maintenance Staff At MC3. 

Wishing each of you a Happy and Prosperous year. 

It’s a mere -29 out this morning.  

We are thankful to have a small blanket of snow protecting  the course.  What will the New Year have I store for us this year??

All The Best in 2018!

Ross