Course Update

A lot has been done over the past couple of weeks.  Many of you may have noticed the grooves cut into the rough. Over the past week we have cut 5000lbs of seed into the rough.  You may also notice the rough being a little damp.  This is a result of us trying to keep the seed moist so it has an opportunity to germinate.  We have also begun removing the poor conditioned turf around seventh green.  We will be sodding this area early next week.  This area has struggled for years due to the extreme slope around the green complex.  We have been solid tining approaches on the Old Course.  We are continuing to try and improve the new chipping areas around the green complexes.  This process is just one tool we use to accomplish this.  All the Fescue have been mowed and sprayed with herbicides to help with the weed population in these area.  These areas flourished until about mid-August when the weeds began to take over in a lot of these areas. The rough behind #15 Green has been aerified and seeded.  This area experienced some turf loss during a stressful period during the summer.  It is currently marked Ground Under Repair.

We are expanding the back right portion of #9 Green.  This area will take about a full season to get to the same texture and consistency as the rest of the putting surface.  Monday we will be verticutting, topdressing, and needle tining greens.  Our goal this time of year is to reduce organic material (thatch) and promote root development.

This area on #9 will be mown regularly, aerified and topdressed frequently to allow it to perform like the existing putting surface.

Important Dates:

October 8th:  Aerificaiton of Falls Greens.  Rotation becomes Old Course for all scheduled Tee Times.  Falls is available for play but will not be prepared daily.

October 14th:  Dethatching (aggressive verticutting) of Old Course Fairways. Fairways will be heavily topdressed after clean-up of the fairways has been completed.   This process will take several weeks.

October 23 & 24:  Drill and Fill Old Course Greens

Green's Recovery

Well we have been able to get a decent cut on the greens for the first time since aerification.  Yesterdays rain has helped with recovery.  We will be mowing and rolling greens over the weekend and hope to have things back to normal by the middle of next week.

Aerification complete

Today we completed the aerification process.  All greens were fertilized and will be mowed tomorrow afternoon.  375 ton of sand was applied this week to the fairways.  

Aerification Begins

On Sunday evening the Green Department will begin our aerification process.  We will begin greens on Sunday night and will finish them on Monday.  A contractor will be here to complete the fairways on Monday morning.  We will also be sand topdressing our fairways.  The entire process should take about three to four days to complete and there may be some temporary hole closures to allow us to complete the process as quickly as possible.  We have increased the amount of fertilizer on the greens and reduced the amount of growth regulator this week to aide in a quick recovery.  This will result in slower than normal green speeds this weekend.

HOT! HOT! HOT!

The forecast this week is calling for the hottest temperatures so far this year.  This is not a good combination for our nearly 100% Poa Annua greens.  With these 90 plus degree temperatures we will be altering our normal mowing and rolling schedule.  We will be alternating mowing and rolling daily all this week.  This is quite a difference from out normal mowing schedule in which we double cut and roll daily. Obviously we will see a drastic decrease in green speeds.  Once the weather breaks on Saturday we will begin our normal mowing schedule.  You will also see us out this week with hoses on the greens, tees, fairway, and bunker banks.  There may be an occasion where you may be approaching a  green that is being watered.  It is extremely important this week that our employees get water on the greens quickly and often.  So you may see them out there on several occasions.   They will only be on the green a minute or two but it is very important they lower the surface temperature of the putting surfaces by applying a mist of water on the greens several times a day.  Soaking the greens with water at night would cause significant problems during these extremely high temperatures.  Please be patient and allow them to proceed with the watering process.  This should allow us to get through this weather pattern without any turf injury.

USGA: Our Experts Explain

USGA: Our Experts Explain

Aerifying Tees

Due to some recent scalping and puffiness on the Tees the Green Department will be aerifying and topdressing tees this week.   The process should take about 2.5 days weather permitting.