This week has brought very high temperatures to our area. Our team is busy playing defense against heat and drought damage as well readying the course for summer cultural practices next week. The golf course will be CLOSED next Tuesday, July 18 and Wednesday, July 19 for fairway, tee, and collar aeration and verticutting. While the golf course is closed, our team will also be converting the fescue areas on 1, 9 and 18 to bermudagrass with sod and sprigs as well as a few other select areas around the course. The tree line between 13 and 14 will be completed as well as the hill to the right of 15 cart path.
Playing defense and protecting the course from high heat and humidity takes a lot of hard work from the staff as well as sound watering practices. Fans are on every green and portable fans are in use on holes 10 and 16 while we sort through some electrical issues. Parts are on the way and the fans on 10 and 16 should be repaired very soon. Greens are mowed as needed, not daily, during this high temperature and soil moisture is meticulously managed to prevent heat and drought stress or conversely disease and stress from too much water. Healthy turf is the goal in July and August. Thank you for your patience while our team waters in the afternoon.
Fairways and tees are in great shape and growing well. While they are growing this well, it is the perfect time to aerate and verti-cut them to allow for fast recovery. This allows these surfaces to stay healthy year round. Sand topdressing will be heavily applied to smooth the surfaces and allow for firm, healthy playing conditions. Verticutting is the practice of using blades to cut through the top inch or so of the turf and remove thatch. Similar to aeration, it is more effective on bermudagrass to promote a healthy surface. The grass can get very puffy and thick this time of year so these practices improve playability as well. Our team verticut the middle range tee and core aerated the short game practice area and collars on the practice greens this past Monday in preparation for next week. Now that all of our team and equipment is prepared, it will make next week a lot smoother. It also gives you an idea of what will be happening on the course. I have been very pleased with the care of the course and have noticed a lot of filled divots and repaired ball marks. Thank you!
Our team stays busy this time of year with details such as tree trimming, edging of bunkers, cart paths, and sprinkler heads. There is a lot to do and detailing the native areas around the water ways is high on our to do list. The large native areas on 15, 7, and 8 have been cleaned by hand and our team will continue work around the ponds. Stay cool and hydrated this week and we will see you on the course.
Have a great day,
Jordan Booth, CGCS
jbooth@willowoakscc.org
Playing defense and protecting the course from high heat and humidity takes a lot of hard work from the staff as well as sound watering practices. Fans are on every green and portable fans are in use on holes 10 and 16 while we sort through some electrical issues. Parts are on the way and the fans on 10 and 16 should be repaired very soon. Greens are mowed as needed, not daily, during this high temperature and soil moisture is meticulously managed to prevent heat and drought stress or conversely disease and stress from too much water. Healthy turf is the goal in July and August. Thank you for your patience while our team waters in the afternoon.
Fairways and tees are in great shape and growing well. While they are growing this well, it is the perfect time to aerate and verti-cut them to allow for fast recovery. This allows these surfaces to stay healthy year round. Sand topdressing will be heavily applied to smooth the surfaces and allow for firm, healthy playing conditions. Verticutting is the practice of using blades to cut through the top inch or so of the turf and remove thatch. Similar to aeration, it is more effective on bermudagrass to promote a healthy surface. The grass can get very puffy and thick this time of year so these practices improve playability as well. Our team verticut the middle range tee and core aerated the short game practice area and collars on the practice greens this past Monday in preparation for next week. Now that all of our team and equipment is prepared, it will make next week a lot smoother. It also gives you an idea of what will be happening on the course. I have been very pleased with the care of the course and have noticed a lot of filled divots and repaired ball marks. Thank you!
Our team stays busy this time of year with details such as tree trimming, edging of bunkers, cart paths, and sprinkler heads. There is a lot to do and detailing the native areas around the water ways is high on our to do list. The large native areas on 15, 7, and 8 have been cleaned by hand and our team will continue work around the ponds. Stay cool and hydrated this week and we will see you on the course.
Have a great day,
Jordan Booth, CGCS
jbooth@willowoakscc.org
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| Here is a picture of Andres core aerating the short game practice area. This will be the same practice on tees and collars. Once cleaned up, these areas are topdressed and fertilized. |
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| Another picture of core aeration. |
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| The middle range tee was verticut in two directions and heavily topdressed to promote recovery and fill in the practice divots. This turf is growing aggressively and will be healed over soon. The fairways will be verticut in one direction. |
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| This is a picture of the heavily divoted area about 100 yards short of the part 5 fifth hole. 50+ divots in this area and 95+% were filled with sand. Thank you for your care of the course. |
