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