Getting Better Every Day

After one of the worst winters many of us have ever seen the greens are nearly recovered from the unprecedented winter injury that occurred this year.  Even though a few greens have a few thin areas and four greens are a little slower than the rest of them, the golf course is starting to take shape.  Here is a look back at the strides we have taken in the past 3 months.

10 Green April 15

10 Green May 10

10 Green June 26

18 Green April 15

18 Green May 15

18 Green June 26

COURSE UPDATE

          The hard work that has been done the last couple of months has finally begun to pay off.  This week with the help of some rain from Mother Nature we have seen a drastic improvement in the damaged greens.  

          It is my pleasure to report that we will be opening the remaining four greens next Friday, June 20th.  We will begin mowing them with more frequency next week but they will be noticeably slower than the greens that have been open and we've been utilizing in the daily rotation.  We will have to be cautious with all the young seedlings on these greens but things should begin to get back to normal very soon.  

        Once again, we appreciate and thank you for your patience during much of this Spring with the many inconveniences.  The Green Department has been extremely busy to try and expedite the recovery process.  I would also like to thank my staff for their dedication, hard work, and tireless hours to help with the recovery process.  

Thank you, 

Gregory Boring

#8 Pines

Hydroseeding the lake bank along #8 tee.  

COURSE UPDATE

         A lot has been done on the golf course since the last update.  As mentioned a few weeks ago we elected to aerify the Old Course Greens several weeks ago and skipped the scheduled aerification on the Old Course yesterday.  We did aerify the Falls Greens as well as the putting green.  We also performed a procedure on the Old Course Greens that injected compressed air into the soil of the Old Course Greens and will help water to move laterally in the soil and help find the existing drainage in the greens.  This is intended to allow our greens to drain more effectively during the summer months.  This will not aid in drainage while the soil is frozen during the Winter.  .

        We have continued the seeding process on many of the greens.  We are continuing  to seed greens weekly and fertilized twice per week.  Greens on holes #9,#10,#14, and #18 are being aerated and topdressed today to prepare them for opening.  We don't have a date at this time of when they will be open for play but it should be soon.  The sod is rooting well on #14 and #10 and we have continued to roll the areas to allow for a smooth playing surface.  A little rain this week should only expedite the recovery process.

        We will be fertilizing fairways, tees, and approaches next week.  This is about two weeks behind schedule due to our cooler than average spring.  We have also been replacing a substantial amount of plant material around the clubhouse grounds that did not make it through the rough winter.

         The twenty-three greens that are open continue to get better every day.  The frequent mowing is resulting in increased smoothness and increased ball roll.  We have continue to mow the greens much higher than we normally do to continue to allow the thin areas to fill in.  We verticut and top dressed the greens yesterday that will aide in providing a smoother, more consistent putting surface.  The Poa-Annua  seedheads continue to flower on the greens.  This is also causing some bumpiness that we typically have to manage every years in late May and early June.  Poa-Annua usually produces a seedhead for about two weeks that causes the greens to have a white haze look to them and causes the greens to become bumpy during this time period.

       With any luck this week we will get a couple timely rain events that will help speed up the recovery process.  The new seed has really started to germinate in the last two weeks and some natural rainfall will only help this process.  We will continue to keep you posted.

Thank you,

Gregory Boring