Course Update 3/31/21

 We stayed busy these last two weeks of March thanks to the unusually warm and drier weather.  Tee aerification is complete on all three nines, along with approach aerification on Orchard & Grove.  We also continued cleaning up sticks and debris throughout the property, and began prepping bunkers.  Fairways have been mowed several times now and collars/approaches received a first cut of the season.  The turf is quickly greening up and it won't be long until we're back to our regular mowing routines.

Had to remove one more tree on the right side of Lakes 9 that was hanging over the rough too much.

Applying a healthy dose of sand to the tees prior to aerifying.

Aerifying over the sand helps work it into the turf canopy and keeps the holes open longer to incorporate more sand during brushing.

Tee surface after aerifying.

Tee surface after brushing the sand in.

Aerifying the Driving Range tees.

Driving Range tees after brushing.

We started mowing the intermediate (step-cut) rough around greens and fairways.

Topdressing and aerifying approaches.

Here's the larger equipment we use to supply sand to the small topdresser used on greens, tees & approaches.

Course Update 3/12/21

 We started off the week by finishing some tree work down the left side on Lakes 5.  There were a handful of bigger trees overhanging the rough that we couldn't safely remove earlier due to the snow and ice.  The rest of the week we took advantage of the beautiful weather to aerify and topdress greens.  Being able to aerify this early will allow the greens to heal before the season officially starts on April 1.  Let's hope this mild weather continues!!

Looking back towards the tees on Lakes 5 provides a clear visual of how much the trees were overhanging the rough.

Timber!! We prefer not to drop trees onto fairways, but this one had too much lean and couldn't safely be removed any other way.

6 trees were removed in this area on Lakes 5 to improve the sightline down the left side of the hole and provide more sunlight and airflow for the rough.

The yellowish color turf is a result of too much shade and competition from tree roots. Now that the trees are gone the turf can grow to it's full potential.

Putting greens after being aerified and topdressed. We used 5/8" diameter tines this spring combined with a heavier topdressing rate to introduce more sand into the profile. The goal is to have firmer putting surfaces.

Topdressing greens

Dragging/brushing topdressing sand into the holes.

The final step is double-rolling the greens to smooth out tire tracks and other imperfections.

This spring we used a contractor to deep-tine the greens prior to us aerifying. We didn't deep-tine at all last year and felt it was beneficial to start doing this on a regular basis again. The process uses 1/2" diameter solid tines that penetrate 10" deep and fracture any hard, compacted areas. This allows for better water drainage and improved root growth compared to our aerifier that can only go 4" deep.

In addition to aerifying greens this week, we also mowed fairways for the first time this season. The turf has started coming out of dormancy due to the warm weather and we didn't want to get behind on  mowing.

Someone recently used Grove 3 as a chipping green and took a significant amount of divots out of the approach. Fortunately we don't find damage like this too often, but it's very disappointing that someone has to damage the course for their own benefit. This amount of divots is similar to what you'd see on the range tees and will take a long time to fully heal. Please remember that the golf courses are for everyone's enjoyment and this activity should be limited to the practice areas.

Course Update 3/5/21

We received 1.27" of rain last weekend which made the courses extremely wet combined with the melting snow and ice.  Surprisingly, we were able to work outside all week and finished some tree work in previously inaccessible areas now that the snow has melted.

This large Maple tree on Orchard 1 blocked sunlight on the back 1/3 of the green during the fall. This kept the green wetter than normal and led to unhealthy turf heading into winter. This picture was taken in early September and you can see the amount of shade produced by it.

Here's the same Maple tree on Orchard 1 taken prior to removal. It was a big tree but unfortunately in the wrong location.

Once the tree was down we realized it was in decline due to the size of the cavity and amount of decomposed wood in the stump.

Here's a dead Black Cherry tree covered in vines along the right side of Orchard 4. There were several trees like this that appeared alive during the season but the leaves were on the vines, not the trees. The vine-covered trees were also very unsightly and removing them will make a noticeable improvement for the aesthetics of the hole.

Here's a better view of Orchard 5 green from the fairway with the snow melted. We included a picture in the last post of a Maple tree removed between the fairway/approach and the cart path to improve turf quality in this high-traffic area.

This picture of Orchard 4 was taken from the gold tee. The left side of the tees had become unusable recently due to the vegetation growth along the lake edge. In season, you could only see the tops of the Pin Oak trees between holes 4 & 5 due to the density of the brush.

With the snow gone, the staff was able to safely remove the vegetation on Orchard 4 so players can use the left side of the tee boxes again.

The log staging area at the maintenance building is filling up quickly!

Dead trees along Lakes 5 tees were removed for safety reasons. Notice the bark falling off the trunks.

Flush cutting a stump on Lakes 5 near the gold tee. 5 trees were removed left of the tees.

Here's another stump showing signs of wood decay. This was from a Maple tree near Lakes 5 tees.

View of Lakes 5 and you can see 4 stumps left of the cart path from the trees removed.  The 5th stump is further down, also left of the path near the forward white tee.

Randy started painting the tee markers for this season. The process involves applying a coat of primer, lightly sanding, then several coats of paint. He can usually complete one color per day so a full set of markers requires one week to complete.