Monday, October 10th, 2011

I wouldn't have called it a perfect day on Thursday for aerification but we managed to get it done. We were never able to get the sand to completely dry but it could not have been done without our new TB 200 turf brush. With the sand still damp we were able to sweep the sand in just two complete passes. The abrasion on the greens was much less thus decreasing the time it will take to heal. There are just a hand full of greens that will require some additional sand but over all I am quite pleased how they all came out.

The crew could not have done a better job. It seemed like once we started we didn't stop until the last green was done and that was a half an hour before our regular quitting time. Everything seemed to run like a well oiled machine.

As part of our Integrated Pest Management program (IPM) we normally spray the broadleaf weeds in the tall grass only every two or three years. This was the year that we needed to spray. The false dandelion were getting way too abundant and were spilling out onto the golf course. I took the opportunity to spray 7.5 acres of our tall grass areas Thursday morning while the course was more or less closed for aerification. If you look for it you will see the weeds beginning to curl. Although the yellow flower can be pretty, you won't be seeing too much of it next year.

Last week we were able to get the fairways back on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. It really made a difference in the appearance. We will continue on this schedule until the growth subsides. Last week we had an inch and a quarter of rain and the fairways are beginning to soften up in the usual places. Our goal is to keep carts on the fairways as long as we can, especially on the weekends. Ropes will be going up this week on the areas where we will need to keep the carts off.

Now that aerification is complete we will continue working on our projects. Last week we finished the drain line on sixteen and repaired the low on ten. Zef and Chris removed all the old sod, lifted the catch basin and regraded it with sand. Instead of putting the old sod back in place they used the sand based ryegrass sod from the nursery which should remain firm throughout the winter.

The bottom tee of the driving range is almost complete for the season. Once we finish it off, which will most likely be this week, we would like to aerate, seed it and put it to bed for the winter. If the weather cooperates we would like to do it as soon as possible and may need to close part of the range in order to get it done.

Mike Holl

Mike Coppedge

I would like to take a quick moment to recognize our two summer seasonal employees. Mike Holl and Mike Coppedge have done an outstanding job for us. I wish we could keep them both year-a-round. Mike Holl has been asked to help out a family friend with their business so Big Mike will be leaving us a tad early. Tuesday will be his last day of the season. Thank you Mike for all your help this year, we have all enjoyed having you on the crew.
 

Just for fun, I like to take pictures of the various mushrooms that I find growing around the course. Many time you will find them associated with a turf disease but they aren't normally this showy. The ones to the right are pretty much found in all the mulched tree rings. It must be related to the decaying wood matter. The mushrooms below were found on the edge of a bunker next to the seventh green. At first glance I thought they were golf balls.