Course Update

 

 

 

 

Here is a picture of the first tee after a recent storm that had ice coating everything.  As you can see in the picture the only tee that has any standing water is the white tee and most of it is in the back of the tee.  Adding drainage to this area has been on the to do list for some time now.

 

 

With the help of some really nice weather on Monday December 15 th we pulled the trigger and decided it was time to get this project going.  We first painted a line where the sod cutter would remove the sod and laid it next to the trench so it would go back in the same spot as before. 

 

After the crew spent a few hours digging a trench and a mighty good one at that we installed some drainage gravel and pipe.  Once the pipe was covered in gravel we went ahead and put some topsoil and then replaced the sod.

 

We also had the tree company back in to remove 5 more trees.  Why are removing these trees you ask?  These trees are Austrian Pines and have been diagnosed with diplodia tip blight which have made them decline over the years.  I also would not recommend planting them.  After about 8 years old these trees are very susceptible to diseases and are very costly and tough to control.

 

The trees that were removed where on holes 1 and 9.  There was one to the left of the path and two past the fairway bunker on hole 1.  The other two were to the left of the left fairway bunker on number 9.

 

 

 

 



Course Update

 

 

 So far it seems that the best golfing days are on Monday's and if it is good for golfing it is really good to get some more cultural practices done before the deep freeze really sets in.  We took advantage of the warm weather on Monday and deep tined the practice green using the "Soil Reliever" to aid in drainage through the winter months and also the 12th fairway.  Even though no carts are allowed on the 12th fairway we still get compaction from mowing.  We were using solid tines that can reach down 6 to 8 inches and even deeper depending on the length of the tine so there was not much disturbance to the surfaces but the roots in the subsurface will greatly benefit from this practice.

Using the soil reliever on the practice green

 

 This week we also completed our last winterization project by blowing out the irrigation system with an air compressor.  I always try to do this during days when the course is not that busy because it can be noisy and distracting as we move the compressor from hole to hole activating the irrigation heads and listening for air to push any remaining water out of the system. 

We also have made some changes to the tee marker placement on the par 3's for the winter.  We are only keeping the red and white tee markers out and putting them together around the senior yardage since this is an area that does not get that much play in season.  We are doing this so the other areas get a much needed break during the winter.  Also we will be putting out the cupless markers out on the practice green so we can still move them even when the green is frozen and cutting cups cannot happen over an extended period.