Men's Invitational Preparations

We have been working hard preparing for the 114th Men's Invitational, but Mother Nature is not making it an easy task.  Rain storms have continued almost daily, flooding fairways, washing the sand out of the bunkers and washing out the cart paths. We have had to use portable pumps to remove the water from some of the bunkers and then push the sand back into place.  We have had to move the cart path material back where it belongs and grade it smooth again.  It has made mowing very difficult and machine operators have to be on their A-game so as to not damage any of the delicate turf.  We have continued mowing and rolling the greens to maintain an acceptable green speed, but the rain has made the greens soft and are not as fast as we had planned. We will continue doing all we can to make the golf course the best it can be under these conditions.  The pictures below were taken on Wednesday morning, the day before the Invitational qualifying day.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Just the other day I was wishing to myself that we would get some rain to bring the roughs out of dormancy and provide some relief to the trees.  Well, in the last 48 hours we have received almost 4" of rain.  I am glad we got the rain but it will be a few days before the golf course can soak it all in and get back to normal.  We have a lot of work ahead of us to get the washed out bunkers drained and the sand pushed back into place. With the 114th Men's Invitational starting on Thursday it will be a very busy week.

Willis enjoying the new lake on #13

The Heat Is On

Summer has finally arrived and is about to go into blast furnace mode.  The forecast for the next week or more is high heat and humidity.  We have already begun to build up the soil moisture reserves in anticipation of the upcoming heat wave.  If you have been at the course you have seen our staff hand watering the bunker banks, grass mounds, and localized dry spots.  We have also applied plant protectants to greens, tees, and fairways to prevent any disease outbreaks. High heat, humidity, and moisture is a lethal combination for turf grass.  Hand watering is necessary to keep localized dry spots cool, but it is just as important to not over water.  Too much moisture can be just as devastating as drought.  We will have staff out doing necessary hand watering for the next week or so to keep our course in the best condition possible. 

Fireworks

 Saturday's fireworks display was fabulous and went off without a hitch.  Approximately 900 members and guests attended this special annual event.  Our maintenance staff started at the crack of dawn to start the clean-up so the golf course would be ready when the first members arrived the next morning.  With the exception of a few burn marks in the 14th fairway the prior evenings festivities were undetectable.