Another golf season has passed us by. We have been rushing
around organizing the finishing touches on putting the course to bed. Greens,
tees and fairways have had their winter protection products applied. Greens
have also been solid tine aerated, heavily topdressed and the winter covers
installed. Luckily for us we put our last tarps on the day before our first
snow fall. Let’s hope for a cool winter with a nice coat of snow to help
protect our greens over the next 4 months.
Early summer brought good course conditions and we were setup
quite well for the heat of the coming months. In mid-July we had a week of
sweltering, hot days that did not treat our Poa greens gently. Thankfully it
did not last long and the greens bounced back well for the remainder of the
season.
Changes are always being made to improve any business. Over
the last few seasons we have implemented some new practices and have done
significant tree work to help increase the quality of the playing surfaces and growing
environments. While some of the processes may seem aggressive at times the
benefits out way the disruption and hopefully moving forward everything is
stronger and healthier. During late fall and winter we will be continuing with
our tree program based on green site evaluations and architects
recommendations. Also we hope to begin some construction projects that will be
finished up in the spring.
Although this past season brought about good golf course
conditions, we always look to improve. A new addition to our equipment fleet
for next year is a mower to achieve a primary cut on a consistent basis. We
have also purchased a solid winter cover for the 15th green. The
gardens on the course and at the clubhouse will have a new look next season.
They have all been dug up and replanted, splitting up the perennials. We will
continue with our cultural practices of weekly verticutting, topdressing and
monthly aerations. These programs have been showing good results and have had minimal
disruption to golf due to our maintenance day.
I hope that the members of The Briars have a great holiday
season and enjoy their winter. I look forward to see all of you again in 2014.
Patrick Greenman
