Rain / Native Areas

        The course is wet and soggy.  Over the past weekend we received 1.65" of rain, now the last two days we have another .88"  That's a total of just of 2.5" for the last 5 days.  Yes we will dry out quickly but really need some warm and drying weather to show up soon.  

Over the last two years we have been instituting some “no mow or minimum maintenance areas”.  Most of these areas are out of play. By not mowing we will help eliminate some costly maintenance and allow the staff to focus on other items that really need attention.  In some areas this will provide a nice seperation between holes.  We are not sure if we will just let the areas go or mow at a higher height of cut.  With all the moisture we have received this spring these areas are growing.  Please keep all cart traffic out of all tall grass areas, most of the areas are marked with pink flags or red penalty stakes.  As shown belown the cart tracks looks terrible!  Contact me if you have questions about our minimum maintenance areas.

We will see you on the course!
Ross

Mid May Course Update

Just when we thought it would warm up and dry out, it stays cold and wet.  I sure hope this pattern changes soon.  I hope you have taken advantage of the few nice days we have seen this spring. 

The golf course is looking good.  The greens do have a golden/brownish look right now.  That is a combination of few things.  First is we applied a growth enhancer to the greens, this slows the upward growth and encourages root growth.  Second is the cold weather is causing the plants to not uptake the nutrients like normal. And finally is we a bit of anthracnose happening.  This is a fungi that loves the cold wet weather.  So we need this weather to warm up and get some good growing weather.  As recommended we are treating with liquid nitrogen forms and fungicides on a 7-10 day pattern.  This should help us get through the stress period until it warms up.  This does not effect play, just don't have the lush green color.  This is what most of the greens look like as shown below, this is #13 green.   

The old bunker on #17 and the driving range bunkers were all seeded 2 weeks ago.  Seed is just now starting to germinate.  When we seeded these areas we used a combination of blue/ rye/ fescue grasses.  What you see germinating right now is the rye grass, soon the fescue will germinate with the blue grass coming up last.  Please stay off all new seeded areas until the grass is well established. 

Recently we installed 150 markers on all the cart paths on the par 3 holes, shown below.  This will give you a quick reference for approximate yardages.  Let me know what you think. 

We will see you on the course!!

Ross

Maybe spring will show up soon?

It's now May, we had a few good days of golf.  Now hoping the weather will straighten out and there will be many good days to play golf!

The golf course is actually in great shape.  We have very few winter kill areas to seed.  This is a good feeling after the severe winter.  The creek levels have also gone down, as of this morning there are only two crossings with water over them.  The light rain should not effect us much and I anticipate the levels to continue to drop.  With the warmer weather I expect the grass will start growing more consistently,  we will be out keep your course fine tuned for a great golfing experience.  If you would happen to see anything that is in need of attention please let me know,  there are many acres of  turf and we on occasion can miss items.

Over the next week we hope to be seeding the area behind 17 green, and the former bunkers on the driving range.  Once the seed is established, on the old range bunkers, we will be adding a agri material.  This will give us a visual of having a bunker there with the ability to pick up the range balls in a timely manner.

A beautiful sunset over the dike system on #17.

Hope to see you on the course!
Ross