Snow Clearing

Clearing snow from #2 Green.

On a 10 degree day the temperature on #2 was 2 degrees.

The sheltered site takes longer to warm up in the winter months. In removing the snow there will be less chance of ice forming with the changing of temperatures we have been receiving. All of the green surfaces are now clear and hopefully we see some cooler temperatures before we get more precipitation.

Weather Change

Its nice to see the cover of snow over the property. I can not remember 24degrees below in the last few years. Looks like the temperatures are on a roller coaster ride this winter. The snow cover is going to help insult the ground and moderate the soil temperature.

Winter?

It looks more like late fall or early spring. We have lost our snow cover with the rains over the last weekend. Thankfully the water has drained off the playing surfaces and the ground is refreezing. Now we are looking for a nice snow cover that lasts for the rest of the winter.
Hope to give updates on a more regular basis going forward.

Course Report June 2012

Conditions

•  All greens are in play and grass is healthy, strong and filling in
• Tees and fairways in good condition
• Rough thick and healthy

 Work completed

• Greens verticut, and topdressed three times
• Damaged greens spiked and seeded
• Sod installed on bunker on 15
• Sod installed on 13 right bunker
• Edges of ponds topped up with stone
• Cart path only signs placed on all par 3 holes
• Ropes placed around 11 green to reduce cart traffic
• Placed ropes and chains on 18 adjacent to cottages
• Brush removal to the right of 18 green
• Inspected all Bunker’s for consistent sand depths and topped up where needed
• Tree pruning on 1,9,10,18
• Sod beside cart path at 7 tee and 12 green
• Added screenings to the end of each cart path and along number 8 green
• Checked rotation and proper trajectory of all greenside sprinkler heads
• Graded all non asphalt pathways on golf course

Moving Forward

• Greens heights have been lowered and we will be concentrating on green speeds
• Construction is complete on 15 bunker – to be in play soon
• Greens will now be rolled on a consistent basis
• Gardens will be planted with more annual
• Nursery to be constructed between 15 tee and 17 fairway

Green Speeds

Over the last two weeks the poa plants have been going to seed. This seed production makes the greens bumpy and slows down green speeds. This is typical for this time of the season. The seed heads have begun to thin out and the greens will slowly return to normal.

To add to the slow green speeds we have increased our fertilizer applications to assist in the recovery from the winter. This will increase shoot growth during the day so depending on the time of day you are playing there may be considerable growth.

The greens heights have been kept at a higher height of cut this spring do to the recovering greens. As they have been filling in and getting stronger we have been slowly lowering the heights and within the next few weeks we will have them back to seasonal heights.  

Greens Update

The green on # 6 is now in play, there are some areas that are still recovering.

Also # 9 green is ready to play on.

Greens Update

The backnine greens are all in play now but 4, 6, 7 and 9 are still recovering. We are still seeing recovery but the rain events we had over the last week seem to have sealed up the surface and washed the nutrients down into the soil. This is good for the established plants with strong healthy roots but the new seedlings need the nutrients up closer to the surface where it will be more available.We will be spraying nutrients on the greens and the aeration on the greens next week will open  them up and let them breath again.





We have begun sprigging on the 9th green. The green was aerated and the cores from the healthier side of the green are being placed in the aerator holes on the recovering side. This will help these areas fill in but it does take time and patience.

At the beginning of next week we will be aerating the greens with small tines. The poa annua grass is weak at this time of the season due to the seed head production, so we will take advantage of this and overseed with bentgrass. The aeration will provide holes for the seed to establish and in time out compete the poa. By using the smaller tines we will have less disruption to the putting surface but still get the benefits of the aeration.