Green Speeds, Cart Traffic and a Safety Notice

Friday, March 30, 2012 Putting Greens

We are 10 days out from our Spring core aeration on putting greens and we are very pleased with recovery.  The greens have rolled poorly over the past 10 days as we expected but they are starting to turn the corner.  We are currently back down to our normal height of cut but it will take a few days to get a good clean cut.  Mowing in different directions will help smooth everything back out and we expect to improve speed and ball roll through the weekend and maintain a consistent,...

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Bumper Crop of Inchworms

Thursday, March 29, 2012

I am sure that you have noticed all of the inchworms and their silks over the past few weeks.  They are everywhere.  The mild weather has led to a huge influx of these inchworms or cankerworms.  Here is an article from the News and Observer pertaining to inchworms.  The most notable sentence; "Two varieties are hatching in abundance: the fall cankerworms, whose eggs survived the mild winter on the ground; and the spring cankerworms, which hatch just as leaves are sprouting...

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Cart Traffic and an Early Spring

Tuesday, March 27, 2012 Questions

A hot topic of discussion right now is cart traffic on the fairways.  We are getting a lot of questions including; When are we going to be 90 degrees? When will you begin mowing fairways?  Why is the range so much greener than everything else? Why are some tire tracks so much greener than the rest of the golf course?  To sum up the first few questions, I have this answer. We usually allow cart traffic on fairways in late April once the fairways have been mowed.  I see...

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Pictures from this Week

Thursday, March 22, 2012 Irrigation, Projects, Putting Greens

It has been a productive start to our week.  The weather has been all over the board but we were able to dodge a few bullets and get everything accomplished.  Aeration is complete and the irrigation install between holes 10 and 12 will wrap up between today and tomorrow.  Multiple soil amendments will go down between today and tomorrow on greens, tees, and approaches.  The driving range tees have all been fertilized and are growing very well.  You should continue to see...

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Divot Party Photo

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Many thanks to all of the participants in yesterday's divot party.  Thousands of divots were filled.  A few people showed up after this picture was taken but the coordinator of this event, Anne Davis (photographer) deserves a special thanks.  Anne is a member of the Ladies' 18 hole group and the Green Committee.  Thanks Anne...

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Successful Day of Aeration and Course Care

Tuesday, March 20, 2012 Projects, Putting Greens

Monday was a success.  We core aerated and cleaned up 14 greens and topdressed and filled the aeration holes on 7 of them.  Our staff also assisted with the Spring Course Care party.  Thousands of divots were filled by a large group of members between 10:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.  Thank you so much for the hard work.  Barring any bad weather, aeration should be completed today and topdressing and backfilling of holes will be finished tomorrow.  Our team is also hard at...

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Closing out a warm, busy week

Friday, March 16, 2012 Projects, Putting Greens, Questions, Tree Work

TWO QUICK REMINDERS:   1. The Golf Course is closed for putting green core aeration Monday, March 19 - Wednesday March 21, 2012.  The golf course will re-open Thursday, March 22 at 8:00 a.m.  The range will be open on Tuesday and Wednesday as normal. 2. The Ladies' 18 and 9 hole groups are hosting a divot filling 'party' on Monday March 19th. The ladies will begin to meet at the pro shop at 10:15 a.m. and plan on taking about an hour or two to walk the golf course and fill...

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Tree Removal: Finding a Healthy Balance

Friday, March 09, 2012 Projects, Tree Work

"As beautiful as trees are, and as fond as you and I are of them, we still must not lose sight of the fact that there is a limited place for them in golf. We must not allow our sentiments to crowd out the real intent of a golf course, that of providing fair playing conditions. If it in any way interferes with a properly played stroke, I think the tree is an unfair hazard and should not be allowed to stand." - Donald Ross, from Golf Has Never Failed Me  Donald Ross was speaking...

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Shift of Focus

Wednesday, March 07, 2012 Putting Greens

The winter months are a great time for staff education and training as well as drainage, bunker and tree projects.  The winter months are now behind us and our staff is ready for the challenges and weather that warmer months will offer.  Our main focus from this point forward is course conditioning and finalizing some out of play projects. That main focus right now is directed towards greens because everything else is still dormant.  Our goal, as always, is to keep member interruption...

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Birdhouses, Root Depths, and the Start of Spring

Saturday, March 03, 2012 Environmental Efforts, Putting Greens, River, Tree Work

I am coming back from a few days at our national conference and trade show.  16 Hours of Education and 8 hours of trade show make a guy long for home but I am grateful for the experience and education.  After touring the course today, it is obvious that the staff has been busy taking down the remaining trees involved in our 2012 course improvement projects.  This work will be completed on Monday. I took some root zone depths on the greens and am pleased with the results.  Our...

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Walk way behind the First Green

Thursday, March 01, 2012 Questions

As many of you have noticed, the walkway behind #1 green had been roped off.  The grass protection mat that was installed last year became a walking hazard once the turf went dormant.  This mat has been removed and other options are being investigated for the upcoming year.  The ropes have now been removed for access to and from the green.  We apologize for this inconvenience and are actively looking for ways to improve this area.   The path was roped off to prevent slipping...

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