Hole #16, What's Going On.

05-10-2011

05-10-2011

05-11-2011

05-16-2011

05-17-2011

Here are shots to summarize the work so far of the bunker renovation taking place on hole 16. It is expected to be completed by the end of the day today and sod should go down tomorrow sometime. In about 2 weeks we should be able to open up the new bunkers and surrounding rough providing the weather cooperated and the new turf roots down good. 

And on another note, #16 green will be open for play starting Monday the 23rd. We have kept the height of cut a little longer compared to the other greens to encourage better growth, especially once it starts getting traffic, and overall it is in great shape. There are still some thin spots but the bulk of the damage down the center of the green has recovered very nicely. Once the younger plants have matured a bit more we will start a topdressing program, same goes for #7 green, which should help with the thinner and uneven spots...

If this weather can start to stay more typical for this time of year we should have the turf back in no time.

Signs of Spring

( 2010_03_15 - #18 Green Surround - Snow Mold )

Ten days ago I was showing you 2 feet of snow on the greens and throughout the golf course, oh what ten days has done to things. Now we are about 80% open and the rain is falling. So far what I have seen has me very optimistic that the course came through the winter in great shape and we just need the temps up to get things growing. With the extensive snow cover for the entire winter season we have a lot of Gray Snow Mold in the rough areas where we do not chemically treat to prevent it. As you can see from the picture of the 18th green surround, it is abundant. And from what I have seen around town, home lawns are showing the same thing. When things warm up a bit a good hand raking in these areas will bust up the gray cotton looking mycelium and aid in a quick recovery. As for the treated areas, the turf looks healthy and free of disease.

( 2010_03_15 - #13 Fairway )

I have been a little apprehensive all winter wondering how #13 fairway was going to look coming out of winter. Last October was not kind to us at all with regards to trying to grow anything from seed, especially the extent of an entire fairway. We had great germination of both the ryegrass and more importantly the bluegrass, but once the rains and cooler weather moved in the new seedlings really slowed their growth. Much to my relief, it appears we are starting the season better then I expected. The turf is very thin, but even with as wet as it is I was able to walk on it without too much of a problem. There are a lot of areas with a good stand of turf. I have a couple of plans in place for fertilizer depending on the weather, but what we really need is a quick spring with warm temps to get the turf growing and filling in the open spots. Where it is struggling the most is the approach area, the shade from the trees lining the left side really hindered the germination by keeping things cool and wet. A couple of options for the really poor areas would be overseed or sod, as things progress during the next month or so we will make a decision and put the plan into action.

Seedlings

The bentgrass seed is coming up in the aerifier holes very nicely, however it is not showing up throughout the dead areas like I was hoping. For some of the major areas I think we will be cutting sod from the gold tee on #6 since that is nearly 100% bentgrass and replacing the collar. The smaller areas where the seed has been growing we will let it take hold and fill in, between that and the inevitable poa annua seed germination they should fill in fairly quick.

Unfortunately I do not have an update on #6, but with the stretch of nice weather we have been having I would expect to see Hartman working on by the end of the week or early next week. Once they start I am hoping there is only a few days of work and it will be complete.

The range has been looking a little dry, especially around the target greens, and we have finally gotten all the wiring and pipe work done so the range irrigation is up to 100%. We will be aggressively seeding and working the target greens to create a nice stand of grass we can mow at a shorter height then the rough so they should stand out more. The challenge we have with the target green areas is we are trying to grow grass with about an inch or two of topsoil over solid clay. If we can not get something established I think in the future we will have to consider a more major renovation so we can have nice target areas to shoot at.