Fall Greens Prep

As the temperatures start to wind down we have to keep in mind that our greens need to prepare themselves for winter. During the next month, we will be raising the greens heights in order to provide the greens with a longer leaf blade to help provide a decent surface during dormancy.

We will be appliying topdressing to help smooth the greens out, along with raising the heights, so as a whole you should expect them to slow down a bit over the coming weeks. The greens will speed.up throughout the winter as the leaf blade shrinks through dormancy.

Many people have asked why we didn't continue with the aggressive topdressing schedule after Member Guest and the answer is fairly simple. With the amount of events we had stacked on top of us after opening,  such high volumes of sand  would not have allowed us to keep the tournament speeds in the greens for all the events.

Tomorrow we will be applying more sand, now that we have a small gap in the events, and the greens should have time to recover even though the air and soil temps are starting to drop dramatically. We will continue to hand topdress small areas also throughout this time.

Contact me if you have any questions and I will see you on the course!

Wesley Michielsen

Bunker Sand Redistribution

We are working on the course redistributing sand in the bunkers. With all the rain this past summer, we had a difficult time keeping the sand at the correct playing depths.  This is normal maintenance we do throughout the playing season and we appreciate your patience as we make our way around the golf course.

Men's Member Guest

First round of the Men's Member Guest is underway. The course is playing very well and the greens are rolling true. What great weather for such a great tournament at our club!

Prep for this tournament is such a great time for our crew. We work long hours and well into the night for days but the smiles, handshakes, and accolades make it all worthwhile. There is nothing better than seeing members and their friends enjoying themselves on the course!

Course Care and Appreciation

I wanted to take a moment to thank one of our members, Randy Holmes, for using his valuable "off time" to help us on the course. Randy came to the course, last week, and hand topdressed all twenty greens in order to fill in the small areas on the greens that were still slightly depressed. We really appreciate Mr. Holmes donating his time to help us on the course. Help like this saves us so much time as a crew.

On a related note, many members have asked about the proper protocol in repairing ball marks... It's the same procedure as with the bentgrass greens, pull all material towards the center of the ball mark and tap down with a putter. The finished product should look like the greens surface. Unrepaired ball marks can take a month to heal. By properly repairing them, they recover in 24 hours. Amazing, isn't it!

Thanks for everything and I'll see you on the course!

Wesley Michielsen

Opening Day

Saturday morning, I stood out on the patio of the club, talked with a few guys that passed by,  and wore the biggest grin on my face. To see everyone back out and excited to play is such a great feeling. As the day closed, I could have hung out all night listening to the stories of who shot what, what putts were missed and made, and all of the wonderful comments that were showered on myself and my staff.

Thank you all for making this club such a great place to be a part of. I can't wait to continue to move forward with the greens and the course over the next few weeks and months.

I hope everyone is enjoying themselves and I'll see you on the course! 

#13 Lake Bank

A lot of players have complimented us on the trimming of #13 lake but many have asked why we left some plant material in certain areas.  Trust me, this was not by design.  The areas of tall grass still left on the lake banks are due to large populations of yellow jackets residing in the ground.  The crew members performing the work were stung several times in the process of trying to remove the material.  We have treated the areas several times but the bee presence is still very high.  Once the bees are exterminated then we will finished the work that was started.

The Importance of Temperature

While we have made great strides with the Mini Verde greens throughout the unusual cool temps and heavy rain, nothing compares to what a 90 degree day with full sun can do. 

The greens have responded amazingly well through the past week of high 80's-low 90's temperatures. Based off of this summers weather pattern, I couldn't have asked for a better scenario going into the reopening.  Higher air temps do so much for turf grass types like Bermuda. Higher air temperatures are directly related to higher soil temperatures and this is why the grass thrives.  When the canopy of the plant and the subsurface reach higher temps, this creates a perfect platform for all areas of plant growth.  Roots begin to search deeper for water and the stolon of the plant starts to aggressively grow laterally.

Temperature and sunlight are critical in growing and maintaining a healthy and vibrant sports turf.  As the temperatures increased over the past week, this allowed the plant to photosynthesize more, thus creating a need for more food to grow.  We have been fertilizing the greens with a formulated plan that gave the grass an opportunity to explode once the higher temps set in.

As you can see from the pics below, taken this morning, we have made tremendous strides over the past week.  I think I speak for all the GCM staff when I say, we are very excited to be on the verge of opening the course greens for member play.

Wesley Michielsen

 

#6 Green

 

#7 Green

 

#8 Green