Monday, November 9th, 2009

Given the recent weather it is good to say that we are on top of all of our regular maintenance. The crew has done a fantastic job keeping up on the leaf removal while staying on top of the mowing. The course hasn't softened up to much which is good for the equipment getting around to pick up the leaves. We finished up on the fairway topdressing earlier last week while the weather was still good. The course is till growing given the recent mild weather. Once we get a few good frosts under our belt things should slow down enough to allow us to start working on some winter projects.
Greens
We managed to get the sand down last week which seemed to really help. We tried a different technique this time and mowed first, sanded then drug them with a cocoa mat instead of the brush. This allowed us to stay ahead of play which is always a challenge in the winter plus the mat isn't as abrasive on the grass.
Last week I mentioned that we were going to fertilize and spray but after further discussion we decided to let the fertilizer go another week and we aren't due to spray until the 23rd.
Tees
We sprayed the tees this week with fertilizer and elemental sulfur to deter further disease development. The color looks great.

Fairways
I am very pleased with the condition of all the fairways. We have finished all of the topdressing except those that we are planning on hitting later this winter, weather permitting, to alleviate some of the worm cast issues.

First Green Program Update 
Thursday was the second field trip for Mrs. Mull's Environmental Science class. The topic was water quality and the steps that Stone Creek takes to ensure that we are protecting our ponds and streams. We sampled water from three different ponds and tested for pH, nitrates, and ammonium fertilizer. The students found varying results in pH and were perplexed that they couldn't detect any nitrates. The process enabled them to apply what they have learned in class to a real life situation. The long term take home message will be that these kids are going to possess the knowledge that golf courses do not pollute the environment and when managed correctly can be beneficial to the environment as well.