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.