Clover

Clover is a hard weed to control and one that can be found almost anywhere on a golf course, including fine turf areas.  This time of year is a great time to spray for clover because its white flowers make it highly visible for spot spraying.  Fairways, tees, and rough are being spot sprayed for clover this week.  The product is very effective and kills off clover very rapidly, so we should see results soon. 

Irrigation or Irritation??

Since the beginning of May, we have received only 0.5" of rain here at Ridgeway – quite a change from the last two seasons.

In times like this, we use our irrigation system more regularly than normal.  Because of excess rainfall the last two seasons, there hasn’t been a need to run our irrigation system.  You may have noticed that we are in the process of repairing several irrigation issues on the course.  We are concentrating most of our efforts on installation of new sprinkler heads with proper yardage plates. 

You may see some small areas of exposed turf during replacement of the faulty sprinklers.  Also, if you play early in the morning (before 8 AM), you may see some sprinklers running to provide adequate water to areas that have been deficient in irrigation.  Your patience is appreciated while we are working on these issues.

One final note, areas that may appear a bit off color during these dry conditions just fine – they will green up quickly when we receive normal rainfalls. We will continue to water newly sodded areas to ensure that they remain healthy.  In the meantime, enjoy a little extra roll on your drives!

Walk Paths

Below is a picture of one of our walk paths.  As you will notice, like many on the course, they are starting to look bare and unsightly.  There are many reasons why some are becoming an eyesore: i.) less efficient irrigation in these areas ii.) lower height of cut which during drier times turfgrasses become thin.  iii.) compaction from carts, mowers, and walkers.

The last point is very important because members/guests tend to use the walking paths like cart paths.  This is not the intent of these areas and if people continue to drive down them it will only get worse. Please stay off of walking paths with golf carts as much as possible so that these areas can have a more attractive look.