The season is progressing nicely and we are starting to see warmer temperatures. The golf course is really taking shape and coming into mid-season form. A few major things that have happened recently were the river rising and the tree falling behind 18 green. Today, our staff laid the first and only truck of sod on the collars surrounding the greens. It only took 6.5 pallets of sod to complete the work on the golf course. This is a great improvement from the past few years when it would take upwards on 25 pallets of sod to fix collars coming out of the winter.
This truckload of sod also was used in the backyard and to replace fescue around the large tree that fell behind the 18th green. We will greatly miss this tree but as one optimistic committee member stated, "It really opens up the view of the clubhouse and the large Willow Oak in the patio." If you are a glass half full kind of person, the loss of that tree will also do wonders for all of the turf in the backyard as well as the turf on and around the clubhouse putting green.
The river rose and fell with minimal disturbance to the course. The seventeenth green was inaccessible for a few days with water cutting off passage to the green. The course was returned to order quickly once the waters subsided and I am happy to say that we were driving carts off the path just two days after the 2" rainfall. Prior to the renovation and our on going drainage work, we would not have been able to allow carts off the path for at least a week.
The club is busier everyday and pretty soon school will be out and the club will be alive with more youth activity. We look forward to seeing you and your family at the club this year.
Jordan Booth
jbooth@willowoakscc.org
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| While the river stayed within her banks, the course's internal drainage backed up causing inland flooding. |
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| When the river gets this high, our water has no where to drain to and in turn stays on the course. This is a much better scenario than a flood. The engineering work done during the construction/renovation of the golf course still amazes me. |
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| This large leader fell out of the Willow Oak behind 18 green on Saturday, May 4 around 11:00 a.m. Thank goodness no one was underneath this tree. The team from Arborscapes was here quickly to access the damage and make this tree safe. Unfortunately, the tree has to be removed. Our team will be sodding this area out over the next few weeks. |
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| Our team finished sodding bad areas in collars this morning. Typical shaded areas as well as high traffic areas were sodded. We used a slightly different bermudagrass variety that should hold up better to the traffic. |
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| This large area behind 18 green will be sodded out as well. Fescue, a more shade tolerant turf, was originally planted here. With the loss of the tree behind 18 green, bermudagrass is now the best option. |
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| I took this picture to illustrate two things that I am seeing on the course now. The first is spring dead spot. We have had success in our fungicide trials from last year and plan to implement them across the golf course this year. We have seen a great reduction in occurrence in the treated areas as well as much faster recovery. The tire tracking around the greens is from a pre-emergent herbicide application to control nutsedge in the green surrounds. This will grow out soon. |
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| Our team sodded parts of the backyard out as well as the collar around the clubhouse putting green. The shade in this picture is from the remaining portion of the tree behind 18 green. Once the tree is removed, the turf here should flourish. This will be the first morning sunlight, this green has ever received. Glasses half full. |
