Ridgeway Country Club will be closing for carts this Wednesday November 21st and open for the last day to walking only on Thanksgiving November 22nd. Friday and Saturday of this week look colder, with a big cold front with possible snow on Wednesday of next week.
In order to prepare the course for winter we still need to deep tine, spray for snow mold diseases and topdress the putting surfaces with sand. We do these procedures once the course has closed for the season. If all goes well it takes about 4-5 days to complete. Deep-tining at the end of the season is done to keep excess water from sitting on top of the putting surfaces over winter, the side benefit is aerating the greens down 10-12” which allows for deeper roots and relief of compaction in spring. After deep-tining we put a light to moderate amount of topdressing sand to protect the crown from desiccation. We will be busy trying to button up these important maintenance practices before it gets cold next Wednesday.
We have been busy the last couple of weeks spraying all of the fairways and tees for snow mold. We have also winterized the irrigation system and Prindle’s Pub for the season. The approaches have been deep-tined and we are currently in the process of topdressing them with sand.
Ridgeway opened for play on March 17th and will close on November 22nd which will make it the longest golf season on record. Although no projects are planned this winter we will be busy as there is always work to be done. Keep following the blog for more updates and information in the coming weeks and months. Thanks and we hope for an early spring in 2013!
