I Love It! (insert sarcasm)

( 2011_04_20 - #3 Green )

How can you not love Minnesota! I believe we are experiencing the winter that just does not want to give in to Spring. Oh well, all you can do is roll with it and take it as it comes. On a positive note though, the Daffodils are blooming and it is a joy to see some color during such a bleak week we are having.

( 2011_04_19 - Daffodils in perennial garden by #5 green )

#16 Green Seeding

For the most part the golf course is in really good shape for this time of the year. We have gotten a first mowing on all the fine turf areas: tees, greens, approaches, and fairways. Things have greened up considerably in the past week, and most of the thinner areas in the fairways from snow mold damage are going to heal without much input on our part. The few greens that are damaged are a little different story however, and the seeding process is all figured out. We will not be covering #7 or #4 so we are waiting to seed them until next week when the freezing temps should be behind us. #16 got the treatment today and we have put a cover over it, taking it out of play.

( 2011_04_13 - Verticut in two directions #16 green )

( 2011_04_13 - Job Saver tines on #16 green )

We started with the verticutters and went in two directions, and followed that up with Job Saver tines in the aerifier. They create about a half-inch round dimple in the green for getting topdressing and seed into. So then we topdressed, seeded, and dragged the green. When all that was done we fertilized, watered, and covered...

( 2011_04_13 - Watering after seeding process #16 green )

( 2011_04_13 - Covering up the damaged section )

Now we just need the weather to cooperate, a quick warm up and some good growing weather. By keeping the traffic off and covering the green it will allow us to greatly speed up the process of recovery during this unfavorable time for seeding and establishment.

Most good, but a little bad.

( 2011_04_05 - #15 Green )

While most of the greens, and the rest of the turf for that matter, look like this... Which is pretty good considering the snow mold pressure we had this winter and the ice layers that covered most fine turf areas for the better part of the winter. There are a couple of issues you will see when you make your way around this opening weekend...

( 2011_04_05 - #16 Green)

Here is a good overall shot of the entire 16th green and the extent of the turf damage it has. This is the worst of the three greens that got damaged this winter, 4 & 7 being the other two. You can also see in the picture the amount of snow mold that the rough areas have, it is drying out nice and the rough should not have much of an issue growing out of it. The greens on the other hand will need some extra care. We have a few options, and over the next week or so when we get a much better idea of how large the dead areas will be, we will determine the best way to go about getting the greens back into shape. In a lot of the less damaged areas on these greens there appears to be a decent amount of green tissue which should aid in recovery once things get growing.

( 2011_04_05 - Snow mold and Vole damage #6 )

Here is a picture of a nice double wammy. Not only did the mound behind #6 green get over run by snow mold, but the voles decided it was a great spot to hang out over the winter also. Rough areas like this will just take a bit longer to recover then areas that did not get hit.

Over all we are in pretty good shape and with the breezy weather the past couple of days, not to mention the sun, the course had dried out very quickly. The range is open today and the course opens this Saturday. Our plan is to start getting the first mowings done next week if the weather continues to be good. The long range weather forcast looks like it should be pretty nice, maybe a few sprinkles here and there but it does not sound like any soaking rains... It appears it should be a nice weekend to get outside, let's hope so.

The Second Melt Down

( 2011_03_30 - Hole 5/6 Composite )

Well we can see some turf again! Though there is a cool down expected next week, it looks as though we might get rid of most of the snow by this weekend. A good rain would go a long way to clearing the course of the winter white stuff. In my walk around this morning this was no water ponding in any of the usual places, so my guess is the frost is pretty much gone throughout the course. And where it isn't, the drain tiles appear to be all open so the water is able to exit quickly. A guess as to when we might be open for play... Ask me next week and I might have a better idea. 

Yesterday

( 2011_03_22 - #12 Green )

Yesterday Brandon and I went for a walk to see how the water was moving and the ice was melting. There were quite a few greens where we could see a lot of turf and the above picture of #12 green is a good example of what we were seeing. However there were a couple that showed some signs of poa annua death in a very sporadic pattern, greens #16 and #7.

( 2011_03_22 - #16 Green ) 

( 2011_03_22 - #7 Green )

Some of the turf loss is obviously caused by where the water was sitting in the low pockets, the back and center of #16 and the back and front of #7. Weak Annual Bluegrass, freeze/thaw of water, perhaps smothering under ice cover for the entire winter; These are all possibilities of why we lost turf in these areas. I will say it is a bit early to declare the spots completely lost though. When things start to dry and warm we will be able to better determine if there are any living plants in these spots and take the actions we need to take to get the turf back.

It is amazing what changes in 12 hours though. Today we are looking at a blanket of 3-5" of heavy wet snow covering the entire golf course. So when it starts melting off we will be back out making sure the ice is getting broken up and water is moving off the green surfaces. And other then the few spots of potential turf loss, the turf looks pretty good coming out of winter. It appears the snow mold chemicals we used for protection over the winter have worked, and the vole damage is much less then anticipated. Let's hope this is the last blast and spring is right around the corner.

Spring Melting

( 2011_03_17 - Ice layer on #10 green roughly 3/4" thick )

Here comes spring! Well it has to be right around the corner anyway the way the snow is melting and the water is running. It's nice to see some grass for a change, the white stuff has been around since before Thanksgiving last year. Currently we are looking pretty good on the golf course. There is about a foot of snow on the greens and beneath that is about 0.5-1.0" of ice. After chopping through some of the ice today we found the turf beneath in good shape still. Once sign of problems would be the smell of death when you expose the turf under the ice cover, and so far everything smells good. I know for many they don't want to hear this, but what would really help us out is a quick thaw. The sooner the snow and ice can go at this point the better off the turf underneath should be if weather continues to warm up. Over the next week or two we will be monitoring the condition and taking any action we need to in order for the snow, ice, and water to leave quickly. Let's hope for some continuing warm weather.

( 2011_03_17 - Snowmobile tracks on #3 green )

I know it should not surprise me, with everything we see on the news and in the paper these days, but it still does. We have the golf course snow fenced around most of the perimeter, bright orange and very visible all winter long. It should be obvious we are trying to keep people off the course during the winter months and do not want traffic (save for the occasional skier & snowshoer). So what happens when a short section of fence falls and we don't get it up right away? Disrespectful law breaking idiots is what happens. Thankfully there was plenty of snow this winter that this should not cause any major problems. And the ice layer under the snow should only further aid in preventing injury. 

GCI: Trees on the golf course

( 2010_08_29 - Hole #5 from behind #16 green )

Golf Course Industry : Trees on the golf course

Check out this link to a little 2 minute education on some of the issues the golf course faces with tree competition.