It's that time of year again!

Annual pruning right of #7 Fairway

Over the next few weeks you will notice our team working throughout the wooded areas surrounding the golf course.  Yup, it's that time of year again, when we take to the lift and partake in our annual preventative tree maintenance program.  It typically takes about a month to get around the entire property.  We are looking to remove any deadwood that will eventually fall out of the canopies, thin out any over growth and better balance the tree, and improve upon turf health and/or playability.  It's almost impossible for my team to see everything, but I believe they do an excellent job on maintaining these valuable assets.  This is an ongoing process that must be done on a continual basis.  Our trees mean so much to this great playground, and ensuring their health and coexistence requires constant monitoring and maintenance.  Once material is removed it is either chipped and distributed on the property, used for tee marker replacement, or in some instances split and used for firewood. 

Small limbs being fed into the chipper

     

Winter has arrived!

#3 Green

With the threat of cold nighttime temperatures we decided to cover our beloved putting surfaces last night.  Luckily we did, the low dipped down to 15 degrees this morning, which actually felt like 0 degrees when the wind chill is factored in.  The greens however stayed a toasty 34 degrees under the covers.  Our remote sensors, located in numerous greens, allow us to monitor not only temperature, but moisture and salinity at any given time.  Technology has really come a long ways in all industries, and this is just one example of how it helps us better manage one of this clubs largest assets.   

Course Update

With the onset of another cold arctic blast this week, I have decided to close the golf course starting Thursday afternoon through mid-day on Saturday.  We will cover the greens Thursday following the last round and leave them on for a couple of days.  Temperatures both Thursday and Friday night are expected to reach 20 degrees or just below.  My rule of thumb for covering greens is to have 2 consecutive nights of below 25 degrees with the daytime high in between not getting out of the low to mid 30's.  This will be our second covering in January, and I am anticipating it will go a bit quicker than the first.  We will remove them once the sun comes up and temperatures begin to warm on Saturday morning.  I am anticipating the course will be open for play by mid-day on Saturday.  Please check back for more updates.   

What's Happening Here?

# 3 Green

I thought this was an interesting find the other day.  Can anyone explain the difference between the two color variations in the photo above?  Do you notice the lighter green on the right and the darker green of the left?  I'll give you a hint, the condition showed up a few days following the cold spell we received just after the first of the year.  Ok, here's what's going on.  The area on the right was exposed to the cold air temperatures while the rest of the green of the left was not.  When we came into work that morning we had to pull the cover back over that portion of the green on the right.  Sometime during the night the wind lifted the stakes out of the ground and the cover folded back, exposing the right corner of the green.  That exposed area was frozen solid.  A few days later the color difference showed up.  The area hit by the cold air temperatures and frozen ground is just showing more signs of dormancy than the other portion of the green that did not freeze.  No damage has occurred, but it does make for interesting conversation.         

The use of turf covers

#2 Approach

#5 Approach

 

Last week, with temperatures dipping into the upper teens, the entire golf course staff got to work Monday afternoon with the covering of all putting surfaces.  We did a trial run the Friday before just to see how the process would go.  It took about 3 1/2 hours to cover all the greens.  The challenge about covering, as is the case with many things we do on the golf course, is dealing with Mother Nature.  Usually the need to cover is triggered with a change in weather patterns bringing a blast of cold air to the south.  That blast is accompanied by wind, and that is typically the time when the covers need to be put out.  To say the least it was a challenge, but my staff performed as I knew they would, flawlessly.  During that cold spell, the soil temperatures under the covers remained 15 degrees or more warmer then the air temperature.  That is a significant difference, and one that is visually noticeable in the pictures above.  Can you tell where the cover over lapped onto the approaches?  The heat from the covers insulated the turf and showed little effects from the cold temperatures we experienced.  Fortunately for our area these covers will not be a common occurrence, but we do have them for times just like this one.

New tee location

New tee #2

Here is a sneak peak from the new tee on #2.  We have added a bit of yardage to the blue/white teeing area, but more importantly the severe dogleg has been softened, and a driver will be more tempting to pull from the bag!  This tee complex was grassed this week, and is now in the grow in stage.

Newly planted tees

#11 Tee

This was a great week for progress on the course.  No storms to contend with and plenty of sunshine.  Above is a picture of the 11th right side blue tee just after sprigs were laid.  Other tee tops that were sprigged included #2, #3, #9, #12, and #17.  These newly planted tees will take a number of weeks to fill in before they are ready for play.  As a side note, I cannot get over how great the sky looks in this shot, and that is without any filtering!