Rain Rain and More Rain

Rain seems like it just won't stop this year.  I don't remember the last time I ran a full cycle on the irrigation system.  It is starting to get to a point where we have mushy wet areas,  I sure hope we dry out soon.  As much as possible keep your carts out of the wet areas, we try to keep them marked and on occasion we miss one.  Thank You 

With all the rain the golf course has been in great shape.  Most new seeded areas are filling in nicely.  Keeping up with the rapid growth rate has been challenging at times.  I think most of the maintenance staff are getting tired of wearing rain gear on a daily basis.

The minimum maintenance areas on the course are on their second year.  The first year we received very little rain, the areas grew very little.  This year they have gone to the other extreme, lots of growth and filled in.  We are monitoring the areas and may have to make some fine tuning to them.  If you have nay suggestions please let me know.  Your input is appreciated.

One project still in the works is installing the sand looking agri material on the driving range, we have the material on site.  This will give the visual look of a bunker and be very maintenance friendly.  If all goes well we start on this project in the next week or so.  

Below are few pictures of the Course.  Enjoy

The course is great come out and enjoy!

Summer Is Here

First Happy Father's Day to all Fathers!!!

Summer has finally arrived, Mother Nature has also provided a few timely rains.  The Golf Course is in great shape right now.  I hope you find time to come out and enjoy. 

We are now fully staffed for the summer, last one showed up last week.  With a full staff we should be able to keep up with the ever changing conditions of our weather.  Speaking of Staff have you seen the new Maintenance Staff Shirts?  The blue polo shirts help our M-crew look and feel like a team. Take time to check them out.  Even with the full staff we will occasionally miss some items that need attention, if you see anything please feel free to contact me.  Thank You

Last week we took down the last of our docks.  Seems the water levels are receding and we should be in good shape.  It's always a good feeling putting them back in the cart shed!  Shown Below is Mikayla and Maddie removing the decking.

A little foggy this Father's Day morning.  I am sure it will be a great day once the fog lifts.

Enjoy!

Ross 

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

The Melt is Here

Our Spring melt has started, it has been at a slow pace but progress is made everyday.

Wednesday we went out and checked the greens on the golf course.  What we found is some greens that the snow is mostly gone, others are still snow covered.  So we started clearing some drainage trails on the  snow covered greens.  This will acomplish two things.  First it will help remove excess surface water as the snow is melting.  Second it will also aid and speed up the melting process, this is done by exposing the grounds surface.  We may go back and cut more cahnnels as we see fit. 

As you cand see the drainage ways will melt off rather quickly.  The bottom photo is #11 green, the grass is mostly exposed and looks great. 

For now we will continue to monitor the course and take any necessary actions. 

And yes we will OPEN when new hole locations can be cut.  Soon??

Ross

Snow - When will Spring show up

Here we are in the Middle of March.  Yes Mother Nature has not been very kind to us.  This Is South Dakota the days are getting longer and things can change quickly.  I guess the main thing is we are waiting to see what the Spring brings, and being prepared for anything.  I am hoping that golf season will happen sooner than later.   

Last week Kenny, Matt and myself attended the SD Golf Course Superintendent's Association Conference and show in Sioux Falls. There were over 150 total attendees there.  It was a great three days with the main focus is on education, trade show and net working. At the show Kenny received Equipment Technician of the Year, a well deserved award for the many years in the Golf industry and job he preforms. 

Before you know it we will be out on the course again, in the meantime come out and enjoy some Sim golf. 

Think Spring!!

Ross