Golf Course Maintenance Update

Spring has finally arrived leaving us drenched in a sea of water it seems like. Just when we think we can get going to stay on top of all of the mowing we get hit with another blast of rain. This hasn't stopped us, but it's difficult to get our frequencies on track. The only thing on track is that this may be one of the wettest springs on record!

Aerification went very well except we could have used one or two more days of sunshine. Due to the rain we had difficulty getting the sand into the holes on the greens and tees, making recovery a little slower. You may have noticed the sand on the tees and fairways was more coarse this year. The more coarse we can get the sand without getting too large will help with drainage and help provide a better agronomic condition for the turf.

Sand on #2 tees

The sand will eventually work it's way down as rain continues and the grass grows up through the sand. In many areas we sanded first it's hardly noticeable now. Some sand will also work its way into the aerification holes. All sanding has been completed except for the approaches, which we will be doing next week. In advance of the sanding we will solid tine aerify the approaches also.

We would like to inform everyone that the drinking fountains on the golf course have been shut off. We have a leak in our domestic line somewhere on the golf course, which has yet to be located. Part of the problem is we think the leak is small and during this time of the year it's difficult to locate due to all of the rain and damp conditions on the golf course. For your convenience, we have positioned three Crystal Spring water coolers on the golf course. You can find these at each of the restrooms on the golf course. Please feel free to fill your water bottles.  We will do our best to keep cups and water supplied at each location.

 

 Recently we opened up the grass range near the clubhouse just in time for the rains to come and shut it back down. We will open this up as weather dictates. The back of the range grass tee has some new rules for practice. We've positioned two ropes that we would like players to hit between. This will help us control wear to a confined area. When this area is used up, we will move the rope back to a new location. We would appreciate your help in self monitoring this area. It will help keep this in better condition throughout the summer.

At the very back of this tee is a sand divot box. Our maintenance staff will conduct sanding and seeding each week in this area, but feel free to assist by using the divot mix located in the box to fill your divots.The sooner we can get sand and seed down the faster we will get recovery.

With all of the rain and warmer temperatures the areas on #5 and #3/7 where the trees and brush were removed are now starting to grow. Our hope is to have these playable this summer sometime.

Left of #5

#3/7