Flag Sticks

After the record warmth our weather has been more normal like, although the wind factor is seeming to be higher than normal. 

The Golf Course Is in great spring shape, not much winter kill or desseccation. All fine areas of turf have been mowed twice now, we will start to get on a more regular schedule as the weather warms and the growth is more regular. 

With the cooler/windy conditions we have taken the time to refurbish our flags sticks.  The process includes cutting off the bottom ferrule and top post, we then will epoxy the new ones on. This process is typically done every two-three years. New for this year we are trying a product called Vinyl Gaurd. It basically is heat shrinking a vinyl coat over the entire flag stick. This will give it a bright white look and very easy to keep clean. We will see how this product holds up in out South Dakota conditions. 

Below is a picture of heat shrinking the Vinyl Gaurd on one of our flag sticks. 

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

See you on the Course!!!

Ross

March Update

What a March it has been!!!  Record warmth has lead to an early start to the golf season.  Even allowing carts on March 11. 

All the tees, fairways, greens and collars have been cleaned up and mowed. We will continue cleaning up rough and native areas as the weather allows. 

On Tuesday we started to fill the irrigation main lines, by Wednesday mid morning the main lines were all fully pressurized. Due to the dry/windy weather we used the irrigation system to hand water the greens. The sand based green are always to first to start drying out. Next week we will start going through all of the valves and heads to see  if we have any issues there. 

Looks to be a cooler weekend and warming into next week. Hope to see you on the course!! 

Ross

Golf Course Open

Today the golf course will open. At this time no carts will be allowed due to soft conditions on the course. We will keep you updated as conditions change. 

The weather looks to be good through the weekend. Come out and enjoy some early spring golf. 

Any questions or comments feel free to contact me. 

Ross

Course Update March 4

Since the last update we have had some cooler temperatures. Our greens are now only thawed out to a 1" level, as shown in the picture below. We will continue to monitor and keep you updated. There looks to be a warming trend heading our way next week, maybe the golf season is near!!!

If you have the itch to get out and hit the ball around please use the temporary hole locations, thank you. 

We will see you on the course. 

Ross

Golf Course update February 29

It looks to be an early golf season if this warmer than normal weather persists. I was out checking frost levels in the greens on Saturday. Most of them were thawed out 2-4 inches, the general rule is we must be able to change the hole locations before we open the greens, which is 7 inches. This gives the green some time to start firming up before allowing traffic/ damage to it.  I also went out and checked the greens this afternoon, they were froze softly in the 2-3" range and frozen solid after that. 

The rest of the week looks to be warming towards the weekend. We will keep you updated if progress is being made. 

In the meantime the temporary greens are open on the front nine.  Come out and use on the warmer days!!!  Of course no carts allowed!!!

We will see you on the course!!!

Ross

February Update

Well here it is the last week in February. Our weather has been a little warmer than normal and adequate amounts of moisture. 

The last couple of days I took the time to walk the course. I am very happy with the way the golf course looks at this point and time of winter. There is very little snow mold or any turf damage for that matter. We will see what happens the next few weeks!!

The picture below is a common site on the golf course right now. 

Next week Kenny, Brian and I will be attending the South Dakota Golf Course Superintendents Association annual meeting. There will be some valuable education and trade show opportunities there. The speaker line up this year includes Chris Tritabaugh from Hazeltine, John  A Jenson a motivation and communication expert, Tony Koski of Colorado State University, Eric Watkins of University of Minnesota, Wade Merry of South Dakota Golf Association, Tom Ryan and Adam Bragee of the Minnesota Golf Asociation.  It looks to be a great show. 

It's looks to be an early Spring!!!

We will see you on the course SOON!!

Ross

February Course Update

Here it is the middle of February already. The days are getting longer, the sun seems to have a little more heating power. The recent warm weather has melted some of our snow pack, we still have about 60-70% of the turf grass areas covered.  The turf grass that was exposed looked to be in very good shape, no evidence of snow mold or desseccation. We will just wait and see what the rest of the winter season brings. 

The last month we have focused on tree removal and working on equipment. This will continue until spring arrives. 

Golf season is not to far away!!!  If you have any ideas for your golf course please contact me. 

We will see you on the course soon!!

Ross