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 divots. Please come out and support these groups and the golf course if you are available. Monday looks warm with scattered showers and maybe a thunderstorm.
This is a great video on the benefits of core aeration.
This week has been great for playing golf, growing grass, and finishing some projects. The golf course has been packed and greens should be rolling well. It is nice to have so many golfers back on the course. One issue this time of year is cart traffic on the golf course. This week has been reasonably dry and we have been able to allow handicapped flag access to most fairways. The reason that we do not allow 90 degree cart traffic this time of year is to limit stress on the dormant TifSport bermudagrass. Even though we are starting to break dormancy, the turf is not aggressively growing and cannot recover from the stress of cart traffic. The golf course is also more saturated this time of year due to a lack of heat, sunlight and plant uptake. We usually begin allowing carts off of the path towards the end of April, once we start mowing fairways. If this weather trend holds up, it could be much sooner than that.
The weather has obviously raised air and soil temperatures and in turn, the TifSport bermudagrass tees and fairways have begun to break dormancy. The older varieties of bermudagrass on the driving range are even further along than on the golf course. Sun exposure, soil moisture, soil compaction, turf variety, and air temperature all affect where and when the bermudagrass breaks dormancy and begins to grow. We hope to continue this warm weather trend and see green bermudagrass wall to wall.
Our staff officially finished all tree work and has a few stumps to finish removing next week while we are closed. You may have noticed a large amount of sand on the front driving range tees this week. We have aggressively topdressed that tee to help level out the tee and fill in all of the divots from this winter's play. The tee was then grassed with a seeded variety of bermudagrass. This seeded variety will be useful when we fill divots and will aid in recovery of this tee. TifSport can only be propagated from sod, where as T-10 can be propagated from sprigs or sod and this new variety, Riviera can be propagated from seed, sprigs or sod. It will give us great options in out of play areas and the range. Speaking of out of play areas, the large are between 12 tees and 14 tees has been tilled, graded and topdressed to prepare a seed bed. This area will be seeded with Riviera bermudagrass and will allow us to renovate the area for much less cost than sod or sprigs. A large area to the left of #14 green is also being seeded with Riviera. These areas have been roped off and marked ground under repair.
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| This area between 12 and 14 looks rough right now but is ready for seed and a new look this summer. The slops and cart path edges will be sodded this summer. |
