Pre emergent 2014

Its been a crazy year for weather and the course has really taken a beating thanks to the snow, ice, and rain. Its been difficult to find a dry day on the course to get out pre emergent application out but this week has proven to be a stellar one.

With the January thaw coming a month late and temps in the high 60's, its been a perfect combination of weather conditions for us to get out on the course spraying and next week looks great as well. We have currently sprayed all of our fairways, collars and greens surrounds and will be moving onto the rough and tee complexes. To date we have applied around 60 acres of our roundup/pre emergent mix over this past week. A huge accomplishment considering the past months worth of weather.

We are also adding additional sand to the bunkers on the course. We selected and started with the green side bunkers that lacked the most sand and will continue through the course once our sand orders arrive over the next week.

Winter Update January 2014

    

     Although we have moved forward into 2014, we are still experiencing the same weather pattern that kept us from achieving so much this past year.  Throughout 2013, most of our time was spent pushing sand back up in the bunkers and cleaning up debris from course flooding.  Since the beginning of January we have experienced temperature swings of 50 degrees in one day, 56 total hours below freezing, -15 degree wind chills, and only 3 days of golf on the course in 11 days.   Not exactly the start to the year we were hoping for.  The covers on the greens have been quite the learning curve but we have, seemingly, got the placement and removal down to a science.  Our trigger to place the tarps on the greens is a nighttime temperature below 24 degrees.  If you see that the temperature is dipping that low then please call the golf shop regarding play for the next day. 

Because of the many rain events throughout last year and the first part of January, we have been in a constant state of bunker repair.  Our staff has spent countless hours in the bunkers redistributing sand.  While this is a daunting task in itself, it has given us the opportunity to identify bunkers that are shallow and need sand.  Originally, our winter plan was to start a heavy pruning project on the golf course. With the saturation level of the course due to rain, we haven't been able to start. Our plan of action now, is to start the bunker sand replenishment project.  This project will start this week and continue as the weather permits.  I have identified the bunkers that need additional sand and we will move through the course as quickly as possible.  Along with additional sand replacement, we are also training our employees on the proper way to rake and maintain the slopes of the bunkers. We go through this training every year in order to keep our team's mind focused on the quality that we all expect. The golf shop will be alerted as to what hole we are on in case the bunkers are "ground under repair".



Bunker at #1 after our new training session



      Last year, for one of our winter projects, we reconstructed the water cooler stations on the course to upgrade their appearance.  Our staff is very talented when it comes to woodworking projects and we have used these talents on the course for many small projects.  This year we have taken on the task of creating new tee markers for the golf course.  As you all know, our current tee markers are rocks with one face painted to signify tee placement.  Our new tee markers will be a wooden marker that will be stained, have our logo in place, and will upgrade the tee experience.  The new markers will be rolled out over the next few weeks as we complete them.  We are also refurbishing our sand boxes and exit posts during this time.  These will be back on the course very soon. 

Our new tee markers being constucted

 

Winter Weed Application

Now that the weather has cooperated and the course has dried up a bit, we are out dilligently spraying the winter weeds on the course.  Currently we have sprayed over 32 acres in the past few days.

This application is different from our pre emergent app. Our summer weed prevent will begin around January 15.

Also, we have been pruning most of the plant material on the course. We are starting an agressive tree pruning projet that will take place after the first of the year and continue into February.

Hopefully the course will remain dry and the weather will be mild so we can all enjoy being out on the golf course.

Winter Update

Within the next few weeks, our department will be publishing our winter update. This update will detail the projects and progress we anticipate this December through February. We will email this update to the membership and also post it to the blog once its complete.

Over the past few weeks our staff has been completely consumed with leaf clean-up on the course. Heavy winds have brought down the majority of leaves but many more remain on the trees.  We anticipate the leaf cleanup to continue over the next month.

The greens, practice facility, and par three tees have been painted for the winter season. The paint came out wonderful and mimics the rye grass color from the past. We are going to make a second application to the greens in the upcoming weeks and will also be painting some additional areas to the course.

Wesley Michielsen
Golf Course Superintendent

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!