Back To Normal

We have had a very busy year already, completing green extensions, preparing the new #7 & #11 greens for opening, drainage, tree removal/trimming, and the normal work load.  I am happy to announce that we have completed all our projects and the course is ready to play with no interruptions.  No more temporary greens or closed holes!  We will not start any other projects until we close the greens on August 20th for our final chapter of the Master Plan, Gassing and Re-grassing. 

Greens Drainage

Draining the excess water from our greens is crucial to maintaining a healthy putting surface.  This week we were able to install drainage lines into three of our worst greens.  Most of our greens have no sub-surface drainage in them which makes them more difficult to manage.  Below are pictures of the process and a picture after everything was complete and put back into play.

Lightning Damage Last Week

Last week we had some severe storms roll through and lightning struck two trees on the course. We will need to remove the trees because they are split from top to bottom and are not safe.

Cottonwood #6

Willow #16 Tee

USGA Turf Advisory Visit

On Thursday May 3 many of our green committee members met with USGA agronomist Bob Vavrek to learn more about the inner-workings of the golf course.  Many topics were covered such as the importance of how root growth relates to the quality of the turf.  In the first picture you can see the results of many years of topdressing and aerification to the greens. It's difficult to see in the picture but the sand topdressing layer (light colored) has a very dense root mass, while the native soil (dark colored) only has roots in the sand column created by a deep aerification tine.  You can see the column of roots laying on top of the knife. The second picture is the two year old putting green #4 that was built properly and has a dense root system that extends 8 to 10 inches deep. A deep dense root system is vital to get through the dog days of July and August.