As October arrives so does Fall! The rains have begun, at least for now anyway. Not good timing as far as our greens aerification schedule is concerned. This is the first year that I can recall that we have been rained out. We have set aside this Thursday as our alternate date and are hoping the forecast will stay clear.
The weather did, however, cooperate last week while we did the tee boxes. It was a textbook operation up until the last set of tees when the 440 jack-knifed and punctured the tractor tire. Thanks to Steve's quick response, we were able to replace the tire and finish the job before the afternoon shotgun went off.
Please welcome Chris Robson, our new assistant superintendent, to Stone Creek today. We are glad to have him on the team and are looking forward to working with him. Chris will be making rounds and familiarizing himself with the property, so please be sure to introduce yourself to him when you get a chance.
In a way Chris was fortunate that he didn't have to start right in on aerification today and that he has a chance to get to know the crew first. Today he is helping Zef and Jorge install a quick drain line off the path on sixteen to alleviate the puddle that has plagued us for some time.
Between now and when we get into the leaf season, you will see the guys working on small projects around the course. This is a good time to start those small drainage projects while the ground is still firm. We are hoping to get around to as many as possible before we get rained out.
One thing I noticed last week was the color of the driving range. I wish I had a photo two weeks ago but if I did, you would see it completely brown. With just one week of cool and damp weather we are almost ready to mow it again. As a matter of fact we are planning on cutting it Thursday. I will have to quantify the actual savings that we incur some day by letting it go dormant. Right away it saves 3 1/2 hours of mowing each week which equates to increase range revenue as well as fuel and labor savings. We also save roughly 6 acres of irrigation as well. Since the range is comprised of fine fescue it has the ability to regenerate quickly once the water becomes available. I am surprised how well it takes the wear from the range picker!
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