2017 Season it’s a wrap

I hope you found sometime to come out and enjoy some December golf!!!  When you live in Aberdeen that does not happen often.  Monday the cold, wind and snow moved in.  Yes the greens are closed until spring.  What Mother Nature brings the rest of the winter is unknown, for now we are ready. 

One of the items we have been working on is our bunker rake this winter. We have installed all new rake heads and some smoother tires. The smoother tires will accomplish two things, first they will be less aggressive when raking the bunkers and second we have been using this machine to brush the greens and the previous tires left some marks on the greens.  I am sure we will see great results when put into use next year. 

Thank You for another great season!

If you have any comments please contact me. 

Looking forward to 2018. 

Ross

November course update

November has been a busy month for the maintenance staff. Started off the month with winterizing the course, finished that just in time for a brief cold spell. We then planted some trees on the south and east side of the driving range. This is a result of expected traffic increases along those roads. This should give us a good start to a buffer zone between us and the road. Expect more trees next Spring. 

We also started removing some of the dead trees on the course.  As weather permits we will continue through out the winter.  Shown below is a couple trees left of 7 that were dead. 

Now with the dry weather, we are experiencing, we are  out watering greens. I guess you have to be prepared for anything this time of year. Shown below we are using a water tank, sprayer and hoses off the Club House to water some of the most dry greens. 

I am sure hoping for some moisture soon. As this year has gone it could be dry for some time. 

This is the time of year we are planning for the next season. If you have any great ideas please feel free to share them with any of the staff or Board members. 

Wishing each of you a Happy Thanksging with Family and Friends!!

Ross

Irrigation Blow Out

Today is the day for the start of irrigation blow out. The plan is to blow out the irrigation system today and the well systems tomorrow.  

As for now the greens are still open, we will keep you informed if anything changes. 

I hope you found time to enjoy Fall’s beauty!!!!

Ross

Just About November

Yes the weather has definitely changes over the last week.  Some of our maintenance focus has changed from maintaining to getting ready for winter.  Most of that just involves making sure we have done everything possible to have green turf grass next spring. 

Last week we planted some trees around the driving range tee and chipping green.  We planted 13 spruce trees and will plant an additional 10-12 deciduous trees.  We are expecting more traffic in the area, this should get us started on a buffer area between us and road. 

Yes the greens are still open,  we did go out and lay the sticks down due to the high winds.  But when it warms we will put the sticks back in.  I am not sure how long the greens will be open, once the ground freezes up we will switch over to temporary greens.  Please respect your course and stay off the greens when they are closed.  Just another reminder to also stay off all frozen or frosted turf, walking or driving on it will damage and may even kill it.

Below is a picture of the temporary flag stick.  Most all the "temps" are located 50 yards in front of the normal green. 

Hope the fall gives us a few more golfing days.
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me.

Ross

Green Compaction relief

Aeration of greens is on the schedule for today.  We are using a 1/2" solid tine and top dressing with sand.  After top dressing we will drag and roll.  It looks like we may have to apply more sand as the week moves on.  This should give us some nice sand channels through the turf canopy providing some good air and water movement. 

Also on schedule is a slicing tine of the fairways.  We should finish this up be weeks end. 

And finally we are solid tining the collars and green sorrounds. 

Is has been a great fall so far, still time to enjoy your golf course.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Ross

Much Needed Rain

Officially 2.05" of rain received at the Golf Course over the last few days.  It was a much needed rain, not sure when the last good rain was.  There are some rough areas that have really been beat up by the dry conditions.  As the fall goes on there may be a need to reseed some of these areas, time will tell and we will proceed as needed.


This past week we started our soil compaction relief efforts.  The driving range tee has been solid tined and top dressed with sand.  This should help smooth the tee surface.  Tomorrow we plan on  moving on to the driving range and tee surfaces, the tee surfaces will also get a top dressing of sand.  Next week we will move on to the fairways and any rough areas.  Finally the week of October 9-13 we will be solid tining the greens, collars and approaches.  Again all this to help relief soil compaction, giving the turf the best chance to heal from the long summer of compaction and dry conditions.  If you have any question about our compaction relief program feel free to contact me.

Below are a few pictures of solid tining and top dressing the driving range tee.

Come out for some great fall golf.

Ross

Fall is Here!

Well the middle of September is here.  The leaves are starting to change and the cool mornings the last few weeks have been a nice break from the heat.  We are still on the dry side, but it looks like later this week we have a good chance of some much needed moisture.

As you know we had the USGA Agronomist on site late August.  We have received his report last week.  I have placed several copies of the report bye the GHIN computer.  We will also be sending out an email link to the report.  If you have nay questions or comments on his report feel free to contact me.

The golf course is in great shape right now, with the fall is also the time we will start compaction relief.  The first areas we will hit will be the tees, this will be accomplished with a solid slicing tine to provide compaction relief with minimal disruption to the playability of the tee surface.  From there we will move to the fairways, collars and approaches.  If you have any questions on our compaction relief program please feel free to contact me.

On several occasions I have seen foot prints left in bunkers. I have also seen where a golfer has exited the bunker on a steep slope, this will cause damage to the bunker and create soft unplayable sand conditions.  We do not rake bunkers everyday, we will touch up areas if needed.  Please enter and exit the bunker on the low side where the slope is not so steep, rake the bunker as smooth as possible.   As shown below I think I would have raked if they were my tracks!!!  The final picture is deer having fun, didn't expect the deer to rake their foot prints.  Thank you

Come out and enjoy some Fall Golf!!


Ross