Bunker Maintenance

Today is a "Bunker Maintenance" kind of day. With the help of some more seasonal staff on board we are going through all the bunkers today. 

Checking sand depths and adding sand where needed, weed eating all edges, raking all edges and cleaning out any debris. This will be a day long project for a crew of 4-5 workers. 

The maintenance staff does a good job of noticing most items that need attention on the golf course.  There are times where we may miss something, if you notice any items that need attention on the golf course please feel free to contact me. 

Summer weather looks to be here. The golf course is in great shape. Come out and enjoy the beauty of MC3!!!

Thank You!

Ross

Top Dressing the green approach.

This week we top dressed the approach area in front of all the greens. The process involves applying a heavy application of pure sand, this will help keep these areas more firm/playable throughout the golf season.  We will try to top dress the approach area at least once a month throughout the growing season. 

The greens recently have been in a funk, they are brownish looking and just not doing much at all. The playability has not been affected just color and not looking a healthy green color.  This is a result of the cooler/ freezing temperatures last weekend, the brownish blotchy look is just the different cultivars of grass being effected by the frost. With the warmer temperatures the last few days and an application of liquid nitrogen they are on the rebound. We will continue to monitor and keep them heading the right direction.  They are getting more color in them every day. 

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

We will see you on the course!!

Ross

Course Update May 14

Here we are mid May. The golf course is in great shape. Over the next two weeks the remaining season staff will be on board. This will allow us to start fine tuning the golf course, making you golf experience even better.

Thursday we were able to get out and lightly top dress the greens for the first time this year. This will help smooth the green surface, add some green speed and help with thatch management. As the season goes on we will try to top dress and least every other week. 

Over the next two weeks we will be looking at performing compaction relief on the tees and greens. This will be accomplished with a 1/4" solid needle tine. There will be a very low impact on the playability of the golf course, in fact most golfers will not even notice. If you have any questions about this process or any maintenance items please feel free to contact me. 

We will see you on the course!!!

Ross

Carts / Green speed

The end of April has definitely given us our April showers!!  As May arrives we look to be drying out a little and the temperatures getting more normal like. 

As I drive on the course I am noticing a number of areas next to the cart path that are worn to the point of being bare dirt. As shown in the picture below. This is a good representation of how much carts damage the turf and compact the soil. Please when you are driving your cart keep all 4 tires on the cart path!!!  The bare area shown is just from plain lazy drivers, remember this is your golf course and please help take care of it. 

I recently have heard a few comments about green speed, or lack there of. This time of year it is important to allow the turf plant to be healthy and not abuse it too much. The plant is in the process of building roots to help it survive the rest of the season. Just a few years ago we pushed hard early in the spring and had to deal with a severe case of anthrocnose. Basically it's fine line to run and we error on the side of plant health till at least the middle of May. 

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

We will see you in the course. 

Ross

Much needed moisture!!

It looks like Mother Nature is going to provide some much needed moisture this weekend.  It has been some time since we have received any moisture, and our daily dosage of wind has really dried the course out. 

If you are out enjoying a round of golf and see something, anything that looks out of the normal, please feel free to contact me. No matter how much my staff and I are out there we will miss things on occasion. We just want to keep the course as good as possible. Thank You in advance.  

The golf is in great shape, for the middle of April. I'm hoping this great start will continue right through the entire season. I hope you take time to enjoy your course. 

We will see you on the course!!

Ross 

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