#12 Greens Surround

Stumps removed and dirt work completed

Bare area behind green w/ trees removed

Finished product looking to the southeast

 Yesterday, the grounds staff finished the sod project behind #12 green.  Once this sod begins to green up this spring, the height of cut will be brought down to 1/2" so that it matches the rest of the greens surround.  The short turf will give a player plenty of options to get back onto the green if their shot releases off the back.

As with any new sod project.  This area will be marked ground under repair until the sod has had a chance to root into the ground, and stabilize.  The rules of golf allow for relief from ground under repair, so please do not hit balls from this area.  It will disrupt the sod while it has not yet rooted in.  Those who need to retrieve their ball, please do so carefully.  We appreciate everyone's help it keeping this sod intact until it grows in.

Finished product looking northwest

#12 Green Surround

Close up of tree work completed

I've been getting a lot of questions, and feedback, from members about the tree work behind #12 green.  While I will agree that the two trees that were removed did provide a visual backdrop, and framed the greens complex; the negative affects to the turf directly behind the green cannot be overlooked.  Bermuda has a very strict light requirement and is very intolerant of shade.  Our inability to grown quality turf in this area, coupled with the fact that it is only six paces, down hill, from the back edge of the green makes this area a clear choice for renovation.  Over the past couple of years, I've noticed a lot of players getting penalized for a nice shot that hits the green, but rolls off the back into dirt.  Our aim with this project is to bring the greens surround further down hill to give the player a short turf bail out where the ball can be easily played back onto the green.

The grounds staff is finishing up removing all tree material and should have all stumps ground by the end of the day Tuesday.  Once this step is complete, we will begin shaping the area and prepping for sod.  If all goes as planned, we expect to be laying sod by the end of the week.

In late spring, as the sod begins to break dormancy, we will start to lower the height of cut until it matches the rest of the surrounds.  We anticipate the finished product will be well-received as this greens complex is considered to be the toughest on the golf course.

View of green without trees

As always, if you have any questions, or comments, please feel free to let us know.

 

Golf Course Update

Over the past month, the weather has been the big story.  The temperatures have been much colder than we've become used to over the past few years.  Looking back over the past month, we've been below freezing a total of approximately 350 hours.  That's a little over 14 days or 50% of the time!  Also, during that same time, we've seen three snow storms, albeit small ones.  Next week we are expecting one last snow storm before the weather pattern appears to be changing.  We'll see if it comes true or not, but one thing's for certain,  we are anxious to get back on the course and wrap up some winter projects before spring arrives.  Before the cold temperatures set in, we started our spring pre-emergent application and also our bunker renovation on #13.  Once we get some cooperative weather, we will get out and get these finished fairly quickly.  I'm pretty sure I can speak for everyone when I say that I can't wait for spring to get here!