The Week Ahead...

What a crazy opening weekend that involved a few inches of rain, plenty of wind and even a snow shower!  In the end, we lost 4 trees that required us to stop what we were doing to clean up.  This week, we'll be getting caught up on the mowing, which we fell behind on thanks to the storms last week.  I'm proud of this team for getting the golf course in good enough shape to even allow golfers on the course Friday.  Most importantly this week, we'll be spreading fertilizer wall to wall across the golf course.  This will really green the turf up and get things going.  Up until now, no fertilizer has been added to the golf course.  It is still very early and the cold weather isn't over yet.  This fertilizer contains the crabgrass pre-emergent chemical, Dimension as well.  The great news is, the forecast looks wonderful with warm days and nights!  Until these soil temperatures warm up, our bentgrass/Poa annua greens aren't going to grow much.  Monday afternoon, we are going to mow the greens for only the 2nd time this year.  There is a slight chance our H2B visa workers will arrive late this week.  However, the following week is more likely.  Once they get here, we'll really be able to get back on a mowing schedule and finish spreading pine straw and mulch.  In the meantime, if you have any questions about the golf course and where we currently stand, I'd be happy to talk to you! 

Greens Update

You can see above that greens have a little way to go to heal from the DryJect aeration that was done last November (two directions), and the 3/8" hollow tines that we used several weeks ago.  The spring temperatures have not be conducive to growth.  Mowing in the Spring can be difficult because we don't want to pick up the sand that we paid money, to put down.  The sand also ruins reel mowers by dulling the cutting reel and bed knife.  This is why the greens are "hairy" right now.  I want the grass to grow through the sand, stabilizing it and creating a firm surface for the upcoming season.  During the season, we mow greens at a height of 0.115" to 0.125".  On Monday, we'll be mowing them at a height of cut of 0.170".  This higher height of cut clips the grass blades but doesn't pick up as much sand.  In the next two weeks, provided daily temperatures warm, you'll notice the aerification holes will grow closed and the greens become denser.  At that time, we'll gradually lower the height of cut until we get down to our desired speed.  Patience this time of the year pays off during the summer season.

Storm Damage

It's not only opening day but we're also dealing with a major rain event that gave us over 3" of rain yesterday and 50 mph winds last night.  There are a lot of limbs that fell as well as part of the wall in front of the Club.  It's been difficult gaining any traction this spring between the weather and the amount of work we still have left to have the golf course where we want it.

Bobby Jones on Golf

 

Great quote by Bobby Jones and his original intent of Augusta National Golf Club when it was built.

The Golf Boom

 CLICK HERE!

Click above for another interesting article from Brad Klein.

Wednesday

Despite the rain (another 1/2" this morning), we are doing the best we can to get the course ready for opening!  Below, I found this fellow crossing #1 fairway this morning!

Topdressing New Approaches

On our new approach extensions, we applied a heavy layer of sand between rain showers this afternoon.  We received 3/4" of rain today with more expected tomorrow and Thursday.  The purpose of this sand application was to help smooth the surface.  It will take 2-3 weeks for the grass to grow through the sand but it will be well worth it in the end.  

The golf course opens on Friday!  It is really important to set realistic expectations for the golf course.  It is in great shape for it being early April, but this spring has not been as conducive to grass growth like last year.  Because of the lingering cold soil temperatures, we are behind where I'd like to be in terms of growth but that is the result of factors beyond our control.  The greens are slow and bumpy due to the many aerification holes that are slowly healing.  The fairways and roughs are in good shape and will benefit greatly by next week's spring fertilizer application.  While our key staff are working incredibly hard, we are in need of our additional seasonal labor.  Unfortunately those folks were delayed this year and should be on site in about 3 weeks.  Until then, there is only 12 of us focused on the golf course.  Spring is a great time in Highlands and on the golf course so long as your expectations are realistic for the time of year.  We aren't out of winter yet but it won't be too long!

Wall Street Journal Article

CLICK HERE! 

Click above for a great article from our friend and expert on Donald Ross, Bradley Klein.

7-Day Forecast

Monday

The season isn't even underway and the bears are back at it, this time at the practice facility.  They've broken 3 flagsticks, tore several flags and even started eating one of the artificial turf mats.

The golf course is looking great although more warm weather is desperately needed!  We've only mowed greens one time this spring and they are currently covered in sand, healing from hollow tine aeration.

Bluets cover the ground near the Club Lake dam.  They are always beautiful this time of year!

Mulching

Mulch and Pinestraw is being installed around the Club grounds and golf course. This always freshens the look of grounds. 

Tuesday

Fine Fescues have been seeded on the banks of #11 creek. Once again, we are using loose straw this year as a mode to hold moisture close to the seed. Once the grass is established, we’ll be able to remove the straw. 

Bunker Raking

With 2 weeks left before we officially open for the year, we have all hands on deck getting the bunkers ready.  This starts with depth checking the sand to be sure we have an even 4" across the floor of the bunker.  Even thought there is a good bit of time left to do this work, we feel it's better to get the sand stirred up so the bunkers play like they should by the time the course opens.  We are adding sand to many of the bunkers, which is needed most years.  The bunkers also received their first edging of the year.  We have some big goals this week.  Our main objectives are the finish bunkers, get the parking lots at the Clubhouse cleaned up and then getting started on mulch and pinestraw. We'll also get into out daily mowing routine this week. 

7-Day Forecast

 

I love these temperatures!  We'll start seeing some grass growing if it stays like this!

Thursday

Above, we've recently made some Clubhouse landscaping improvements.  We replaced a couple trees that had outgrown their space and we growing too close to the structure.  One of the trees we removed was a large Norway Spruce that engulfed the left hand side of this entrance.  Next week, we'll begin mulching the Club grounds and golf course.

In the photo above, we applied another layer of topdressing sand to the greens.  Two weeks ago, we aerated greens using 3/8" tines on a very tight spacing.  The result was a lot of holes that need to be filled with sand.  We applied the usual sand rate of 60 tons of sand to the greens.  However, that wasn't enough to fill all the holes that we created.  Since then, we've gone back and doubled the amount of sand put on the greens to 120 tons.  Using a drag brush, we'll test one of the greens this  afternoon to see if we got enough sand on them to adequately fill the holes.  I feel like it may even require another 25 ton load to be able to finish the greens.  That just goes to show you how aggressive we aerated greens this spring.  This type of aeration is required for the health and life expectancy of the greens.