Tree removal

View from behind #1 green facing west

This week the maintenance staff has been working on removing shade trees from around the greens.  This process has been ongoing since early summer.  As the angle of the sun changes with the seasons, different trees become a problem and must be removed.  Our goal is to have sunlight on the greens as soon as possible in the morning.  A green that has access to sunlight all day is going to be much healthier than one that is shaded until mid morning.  Turf must have sunlight to create energy, so shading a green until late morning is like skipping breakfast everyday.  Also, morning sunlight allows surface moisture to begin evaporating so the green is less susceptible to disease.  Removing these shade trees, coupled with the fans that were purchased, the agronomy staff will be able to replicate the ideal growing conditions that are found on many of the other greens on the course.  This will set us up for long-term success in the future.

Chipping green update

It has been almost a full month since seeding and the green is beginning to take shape.  We have been aggressively fertilizing and watering the green to get the seedlings up.  Now that walk mowing has started, we will continue to push the green with fertilizer and increase our mowing frequency.  This will force the plant to grow across the surface more and fill in.  It is going to get cold during the next few days but hopefully the weather remains mild and we can encourage as much growth as possible during the next 4-6 weeks.

Temporary green on #2

As of Monday, the agronomy staff has implemented a temporary green for #2.  The end of the fairway was cut lower and topdressed to give the temporary a smoother roll.  An eight inch cup has also been used to make it more fun to play.
This green experienced extremely high levels of a plant parasite called nematodes.  These nematodes are microscopic and survive in the soil during the growing season.  They extract nutrients from the roots of healthy plants thereby compromising the turfs ability to handle severe stresses such as the intense heat and drought experienced this summer.  We decided that in order to take advantage of the prime growing conditions right now, that we would restrict play on this hole to a temporary green, to give the green a break from all the foot traffic.  This will also allow the agronomy staff more access to the green for repairs.  We are planning on re-opening this green in a couple of weeks once the green fills in and is in acceptable condition.  We apologize for the inconvenience but look forward to the improved conditions on this green.

Chipping green renovation update

Day 1

Day 7

It's been over a week since we seeded the chipping green and the young seedlings are coming up nicely.  We have been blessed with great weather so the establishment is right on schedule.  Mowing will begin within the next week or so.  Once we are able to mow the green a few times a week, we will begin lightly topdressing the green with sand to smooth out any imperfections that may develop during establishment.