Fall is here and with it the typical projects, weather, and surprises. Yesterday morning at 8:00 a.m., half of the large willow oak between the clubhouse putting green and #1 tee fell down. This tree is very old and had a significant amount of work performed over the years to allow it to stand as long as it did. Thank goodness no one was underneath it. Arborscapes was quick to survey the damage on Sunday and their crew was out this morning to help with cleanup. Over half of the tree was gone and the remainder had to be removed. Their team started the take down today and will finish next Monday. This is a great loss and a lot of consideration will go into how to renovate this area. Hopefully new trees will be planted to replace this great old willow oak.
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| We are all very lucky that no one was underneath the tree when it fell. The falling tree shook the ground in the clubhouse and at neighboring houses. |
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| You can tell that about half of the tree fell at once. The remainder of the tree was no longer structurally sound and had to be removed. All of the wait was leaning in one direction. |
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| The fallen branches had grown together over time and created one huge mass of weight which combined with rot, took down this tree. |
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| Arborscapes made this tree a priority and were on site first thing this morning. Our staff will clean up and Arborscapes will be back next Monday to finish. |
The front, side, and back range tees have been overseeded with ryegrass for winter color. We are preserving the middle tee as much as possible so it is in good shape next spring. Even with the ryegrass, divots are still taken from the bermudagrass base. This does not recover in the winter and early spring. The target greens have also been overseeded and should take shape soon.
The holes on the putting greens from drill and fill are slowly creeping over. We are about 4 weeks out from the process and the greens have honestly been slow to recover. This aggressive process takes time to heal. It takes the greens about two weeks to recover from a 1/2" aeration so it makes since that it would take much longer with these much larger holes. We are working to provide quality putting conditions in the interim and the long term benefits of the drill and fill will outweigh the short term inconvenience.
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| The holes are filling over and some of them have already healed completely. Some holes still have a ways to go. |
Fall is upon us and with it leaf removal, drainage projects, and underbrush removal. Tree work will be limited this season and our team will focus on other areas of the course. Enjoy the weather while it lasts.
Have a great weekend,
Jordan
jbooth@willowoakscc.org
