Welcome 2021

I sure hope you enjoyed the course opening in December.  Now here we go with 2021.  The winter so far has been manageable, with the aid of some timely snow cover and moisture.  Now we are in January with highs in the 30's, I am not sure what we are in for the rest of the winter, so far so good.  As shown below we have some nice snow cover on #8 Green.

Late in the Fall we were able to purchase a slightly used sprayer.  We have been in the market for one for some time.  Our old model was a 2003 with a smaller tank and older technology.  The new to us has many nice features including; bigger tank, a separate rinse tank, clean water supply, hydraulic boom assist, a chemical mixing tank, diesel engine, a six stage pump with newer sprayer technology.  Thank you to the members for their support.  This allows us to make much needed capital purchases like this.  

The maintenance staff is in the process of preparing all the equipment and course ready for the 2021 season.  When the weather allows we will go out and accomplish some much needed tree work.  If not we will be working in the shop, preparing  the equipment for another season. 

Even though the course is covered in snow, come out and enjoy the golf simulators or some of Chef Jerry's great food.   

Thank You

Ross

2020

Mother Nature has really had us on the move this fall. With the early snow fall, record lows.  The next week turned to record warm temperatures, now more normal like. I am happy to say the course is fully winterized and ready for winter. 

With that we have made the switch over to temporary hole locations. These “temp” holes are about 50 yards in front of the normal green. If it is nice out and you want to get out, please use the temporary hole locations on the front nine. 

The maintenance staff has started to clean equipment and getting ready for all the service work that is needed. That along with tree work and snow removal we will stay active this winter. 

This year has been a grind of a season. The course was in great shape all year.  It is only possible with efforts of the maintenance staff. THANK YOU to the maintenance staff for making the season successful. 

We are gathering any thoughts on next year. If you have any suggestions please feel free to contact me.  

Thank you for a great 2020 Season!!!

Ross

October 2020

October was one heck of a month.  We started out by finishing up our tournaments for the year on October 4.  The following week we hit the compaction relief. Greens, tees, collars, aprons, fairways and cart traffic areas all received some sort of relief.   This year we hired a contractor to come in and deep tine our greens.  We went to a depth of 9", this will give us some good channels in the soil profile allowing air and water movement.  As shown below.

The above photo is of a green on the left and the collar on the right.  Both the areas received a heavy top dressing of sand to fill the holes.  This will also provide a more firm playing surface.  

On October 19 the forecast really went crazy.  Predictions of snow and cold.  This left our focus on winterizing the course.  The irrigation and restrooms were fully blown out. This would be the earliest I have ever winterized the irrigation in my 23 years here.  I am still hoping to get back on the course.  There is leave cleanup, tree work and would sure like to get a heavy sand top dressing on the greens.  I am sure some would like to get a round or two of golf in also.  At this point who knows what 2020 will throw at us next?    

We are always looking to improve your course.  Let me know if you have thoughts.

We will See you on the course?

Ross 

Tee surface contamination

As our tee boxes age they have started to get some bent grass contamination. We try to keep the bent grass out. There is a chemical called Mesotrione to help us with that.  

Over the next few days you will see the grasses start to yellow. The bent grass should turn a whitish color, while the blue and rye grasses will yellow and recover to a green color. We may need to apply another application to get the desired results.  There will be areas that will require some seeding to get desired grasses established. 

If you have any questions feel free to contact me. 

We will see you out enjoying some great fall golf!!

Ross

Fall Compaction Relief

 All of the sudden it's the middle of September.  We have had a busy season, and some extra cart traffic.  This has our Golf Course feeling a little tired and wore out.  As the fall moves along we are a mission to improve the plant health.  We will accomplish this through various methods including; compaction relief, fertilization and raising the heights of cut.  All these will have very little effect on the play ability of the golf course.  

Yesterday we started with some compaction relief of cart path entrances and exits.  This was accomplished with a wobble tine machine to a depth of 4".   We will use this same machine for the driving range and practice facility.  

The plan next is to hit the tees, collars and aprons.  We will use a 3/4" solid tine machine followed by a top dressing of sand.  Getting the sand down in the holes will help control thatch and organic matter. 

Next will be the fairways.  Again this year we will be using a slicing tine machine.   This machine can go to a depth of 8", giving us some good compaction relief.  Best part is there is very minimal disruption to the turf surface after one or two mowings.  

 Finally the greens will get their compaction relief on October 6.  We hired out a contractor to come in with a deep tine machine.  9-10" deep is common.  This is the same process on the greens as last year, with very good results.  This will require a heavy top dressing of sand to fill the holes.  All this will allow more air and water to move through the soil profile.  

Timing of all these events will very over the next three weeks, working around tournaments scheduled.  

Through all this there will be very minimal disruption to play.  

Come out and enjoy some great fall golf!!

August is here

To say the least it has been a busy summer!!  That is definitely a good thing.  I Just like  seeing all the families and kids enjoying the golf course. 

The season started off on the moist side, now we are dealing with dry conditions. We are constantly finding stuck or malfunctioning sprinkler heads. With the dry conditions we are also monitoring the soil moisture in our greens.  We have a soil probe meter that gives us instant readings.  Typically we like to keep our moisture level between 15 and 18%.  This gives us the best playing surface.  There is always areas we need to hand water to keep the moisture level up without drenching an already moist area. As shown below Matt is hand watering #9 green. 

One other practice we have been doing each month is needle tining the greens.  This provides some soil compaction with very little disruption to play.  It will allow moisture and air to move more easily through the soil profile. Once we mow and roll the greens are very playable. 

We will see you on the course!!

Ross

Pro Am Week

It is hard to believe but Pro Am week is here.  It has been a good year so far, and many of the golf course details have been taken care of weeks prior to the event.  It seems for now we are ready for the various activities to start taking place. Just waiting to see what Mother Nature has is store for us. 

Over the last month there has several days of wind.  I am not sure how many hours of debris cleanup we have.  For the most part nothing too major has blown down, just lots of small to medium sized branches.  I know there are a few aches and pains felt by the maintenance staff.  Maybe we can get back to somewhat normal maintenance practices for the rest of the year. 

Typical tree damage the last month

The Golf Course has been in very playable condition.  I hope you make time to enjoy!!

Photo Matt Osborne #9 Green

#8 Green

We will see you on the course!

Enjoy!

Ross