Course Update 4/4/19

The week started out cold with a little snow, but ended up rather mild and dry.  It almost seems like normal spring weather.  The Golf Course Maintenance team had another busy and productive week, and we're hearing positive feedback regarding course conditions.  All the short grass (greens, tees, fairways) has resumed active growth and is being mowed as needed.  On days we don't mow greens they are rolled to provide a smooth surface and remove dew.  The rough is showing signs of life, but still dormant in a lot of places.  That's a good thing because we're able to complete other tasks such as stump grinding cleanup instead of mowing and blowing rough.  One mowing practice we started early this year is the 5' wide first-cut of rough around fairways and greens.  We call it the intermediate cut, while others may refer to it as the step-cut.  We put a priority on establishing it early to avoid the issues we faced last year.

Here's a summary for the week:

• Mowed or rolled greens daily
• Mowed fairways, collars, and approaches for the second time
• Rolled and mowed tees for the first time this season
• Mowed intermediate cut around fairways and greens
• Sprayed tees
• Topdressed driving range tees
• Continued working in bunkers
• Cleaning up around the clubhouse
• Finished course cleanup
• Opened the restrooms on Lakes and Grove (There's a water leak we're dealing with on Orchard so it's not ready yet)
• Started putting out tee markers, divot boxes and bottles
• Finished grinding stumps on Lakes #4 and continued debris cleanup
• Tree removal on Grove #3, 7, 8

Monday started out in the low 20's and didn't warm up much.

These two trees were on the hill to the left of Grove #3 green.  We removed them Monday due to the dense morning shade they cast on the approach.  This picture was taken last July.

This is the approach on Grove #3 when the turf should be getting abundant morning sunlight.

Here's a view looking towards #3 green and the shadows are covering the problem areas in the approach and rough that are always wet.

This picture was taken Monday after we removed the tree closest to the path.  Even without leaves these trees cast dense shade on the problem areas mentioned above.

First mowing of the intermediate cut this year.  We follow the mower with a blower towed behind a cart to remove clippings and other debris.