Winter Prep

It is starting to feel like the winter season may be here.  Forecast is for a few days in the 40's then who really knows what will happen.  This season has definitely been a trying season.  From spring flooding to wet conditions most of the year.  Everything seemed to be a battle.  Through it all the course was in great shape, I hope you enjoyed it. 

The last two weeks we have been preparing for the winter season.  The irrigation,wells systems and restrooms were blown out and ready for colder weather.  Greens were treated with a combination of Fungicide and anti desiccant, followed up by a heavy top dressing of sand.  This will give us the best chance of greens grass in the spring.  Leave chopping and blowing has been on going, I hoping by the end of today we should be done.  Temporary greens have been installed, for now the regular greens are open.  So yes the course is winter ready.

 These cold morning have created some great morning views. 

If you have any ideas for next year please let us know.

Thank You for another great golf season.
Ross

Not what we were wishing for

Well the snow has hit us.  Not sure of the exact totals, but we do have some accumulation on the ground.  The forecast looks to warm and get back to golf season soon.

Last week we were able to start our compaction relief program.  This year we are using a slicing tine on the fairways.  This style of tine allows us to go down to a depth of 8".  We are also using this program in the rough and cart traffic areas.  As shown below it is a tractor mounted machine.

We also started the collars and approaches last week.  The process is a little different here, we are trying to alleviate compaction and also build up the sand content.  By adding the sand it should help firm these areas up.  We start with a heavy sand top dressing.  Then we us a walk behind unit with 5/8" solid tines.  As shown below there is a good amount of sand that will be worked into the holes.  With any luck we will use the same process on the tee surfaces this up coming week. 

If Mother Nature allows we are planning on leveling and reseeding the tee surfaces on #4.  This tee area is one of the worst for bent grass contamination.  The plan is to get all the work done this fall and seed in the spring.  We will keep the current tee open as late as possible, then switch over to a variety of temporary tee areas.  The hole will remain open and very playable through the whole process.  If you have any question or comments please feel free to contact me. 

Thank You
We will see you on the course.

Ross

Enjoy some Fall Golf!!

Sometimes Mother Nature gives us a little break.  That was the case with our deep tine aeration.  The weather was perfect, even had a bonus .5" rain helped get more sand into the holes.  As shown below 3 days after completion the greens were back to normal playing conditions. 

         The rest of our compaction relief program will start happening as time allows.  We will be using our slicing aerator on the tees and fairways; this has the capabilities or going down to a 8” depth.  On the collars and aprons we will use a tradition ¾” solid tine machine; this along with a heavy top dressing of sand should give us some good results.  There will be very minimal disruption to playability.  If you have any questions about our compaction relief programs feel free to contact me. 

The golf course is great right now.  I hope you make time to come out and enjoy some Fall golf. 

Ross

Deep Tine Aerating Greens

Monday, September 16 we will be Deep Tine aerating our greens

Deep Tine Aerators penetrate deep into the soil to maximize water percolation, stimulate root growth, and improve air flow to the root system.

Please excuse the short term disruption to normal playability.

This is a much needed procedure with many needed benefits.

Thank You

Keeping up with The changing conditions

This year has been a year of ever changing conditions.  There has been a big variety of weather extremes, at times we are just hanging on to keep up.  The last few weeks everything has seemed to settle some, it definitely shows in the course condition / playability.

As shown in the pictures above there has been a good run of great playability the last few weeks.

As September approaches we will start looking into our compaction relief program.  Through the Fall we will be reliving compaction of all greens, tees, fairways and some of the high traffic rough areas.  Most of the practices we use cause very little disruption to you as the golfer.  I am not sure of the exact timing of these events, we will make every effort to keep the disruption to a minimum.  If you have any questions regarding the compaction relief efforts please feel free to contact me.

Enjoy!!

Ross

Tee Surfaces

Have you noticed the yellow spots on the tees?

It is a result of a herbicide we sprayed to help eliminate the bent grass contamination on the tee surfaces. It also controls crab grass and some broadleaf weeds. It may take 2-3 applications to totally eliminate the bent grass contamination. We will then start the process of seeding a new stand of blue/rye grass. Yes they may look a little funky at times, during this process, but should not effect playability. 

It’s never a good time to control. Heading into fall will give us the best chance to establish our new seed. 

As shown in the picture the yellowing areas are bent grass and crab grass. 

While out mowing on Sunday morning I hit something in the collar on #18. Yes it was a quarter!  This time I was lucky and did no damage to the mower, other times we have damaged the mower and had to grind the reel and bed knive. As shown below the quarter did not fair so well. 

Please pick up your ball marks. 

We will see you on the course. 

Ross

Range Bunkers Complete

This morning we finished the "visual" bunkers on the driving range.  It always rewarding to complete a project and see the final result.  Below are a couple of pictures of the process.  The final result will be very maintenance friendly, still providing the visual of a bunker. 

Cutting out the sod to a depth of 3"

On this particular bunker we had to cut out a mound to give us the proper look we desired.

It's that time of year we start to lose some of our seasonal staff members.  This year I had a great seasonal team.  There were many days where the working conditions were less than ideal.  This place is nothing without the dedication of all of the employees.  If you get a chance make sure to thank them.  Below is a picture of most of the maintenance staff 2019.  THANK YOU!!

Enjoy your course!
Ross