This area on #11 is an extremely muddy spot to work! When the irrigation ditches are dug, they immediately fill with water. By tomorrow, we hope to be moving towards dryer ground.
Above: With the warmer-than-normal afternoons we've been having, we treating a few more Hemlocks that we didn't get to this past fall. These "Imicide" capsules each contain 4mL of an insecticide known as Imidacloprid. This is a chemical developed by Bayer Crop Sciences back in the early 1990's and has a number of horticultural uses including protecting Hemlocks from the Woolly Adelgid (HWA), an insect that was introduced to Highlands back in 2002. The diameter of a tree is measured at chest height. The total width in inches is divided by two. This is the number of 4mL capsules that are required to treat that particular tree. Small 11/64" holes are drilled into the xylem layer at the base of the tree and the capsules are set at a 45 degree angle, allowing the insecticide to empty into the tree. The tree's vascular system then moves the chemical throughout it, killing any adelgid that feeds on the tree.
Just below the Happoldt and Highlands tee on #9, we are extending the locust fence back toward the 8th green as a safety barrier to prevent carts from ending up in the stream below.
Below: We are also sand topdressing fairways on the front nine holes. By the end of the day, we will have applied over 50 tons of sand to these fairways. The cumulative benefits of topdressing are impressive. Fairways become firmer and dryer and in turn, the turf becomes denser. This year, rather than applying a large amount of sand to the fairways one or two times a year, we are going to try something new. The goal would be apply the same quantity of sand but broken up into 4 or 5 applications throughout the year. Less sand would be put on the turf on a per application basis. This ensures we are matching the sand with the production of organic matter/ thatch, below the surface. This would eliminate the layering effect that could occur with heavy applications of topdressing sand.
