Reminders

With all of the work that was accomplished last week I would like to remind everyone that newly sodded/seeded areas and unfinished "bare" dirt areas are ground under repair. Also try not to drive over or walk in any of these areas. The exception is walking in these areas to retrieve your golf ball.

All golf carts must stay on the cart paths on all Par 3 holes. And make an effort to stay on cart paths when going to tees and greens. I have noticed a fair number of people parking near greens and tees. Over time these areas will become weak, thin and possibly bare.

I have already noticed a fair number of ball marks on greens. PLEASE remember to fix your ball marks and to repair/fill your divots.

Overall the course is coming along nicely and it looks like nicer weather at the end of this week! Thanks.

Progress Report

The nice weather last week is much welcomed and an early spring means we were able to do a lot of work on the course last week. Plus the bonus of having college students on spring break was also a big help. Here is a look at some of the work that was done last week:

Over 500 linear feet of drain tile laid in 18 approach.

18 approach rough graded and prepped for bentgrass sod. Waiting for bentgrass sod . . .

Over 30 pallets of sod laid near areas of greens and tees on bare areas.

Prepped, graded, seeded, fertilized, and mulched areas behind #12-2 green, right of #14 green, and left of #11 fairway near the maintenance shop.

Bare turf area left of #12 green was leveled, drained and is in the process of being sodded.

Irrigation pump repairs made.

Irrigation system charged up for the season.

Primo/Proxy application to greens to suppress Poa seed heads.

#13-14 woods areas fertilized and seeded again.

Daily maintenance, cups, mowing greens, etc.

As you can see last week was a productive one, however their is still a lot of work ahead of us in the coming weeks. The good news is it early and in April we will see steady progress on the course. This week we will need to focus more attention to mowing and surface preparation as the warm weather has us over 5-6 weeks ahead of schedule. Believe it or not this week we will have to mow rough, last year it was first mowed in mid May, what difference a year makes!!

I will keep a steady flow of information and updates on the blog in the coming weeks . . . enjoy the early spring!

The XGD Difference

As we prepare the golf course for opening I thought it would be appropriate to briefly discuss how XGD drainage is doing on #9 and #12 greens. Once the snow melted and the frost dissipated it became clear that those two greens were the greenest coming out of winter. The reason being is that the soil temperatures were 8-10, sometimes 12 degrees higher than the other non-XGD greens. Because of the efficient evacuation of water, it warmed these greens up, whereas the other greens are still over saturated which in turn keeps the turf, at this time of year, cooler. The reverse will happen in summer were #9 and #12 will be cooler than the other greens because water moves down and out of the soil quicker. Moderating the soil temperature and avoiding over saturation, which was all to common on these two greens, will be a big plus going forward to providing better putting surfaces. Even though we have had XGD drainage in for a short time, I am pleased with the results. It’s amazing when you can take 2 of your wettest greens and make them some of your driest. What an investment in the long-term future of these putting surfaces.


The pictures are laterals where the drainage was installed, the replaced sod has all but blended in to the green and is level. The small holes you see are from the deep-tine aeration that was performed late last November. The holes are spaced out and the ground is soft so after a few greens rollings they should start to disappear completely.