USGA Green Section Record

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Friday

Everyday, the golf course is getting better and better!  The golf course will open next Friday, April 11th.  The practice facility will open earlier, on Tuesday, April 8th of next week.

This morning, we held a 2-hour orientation for all of our Spanish-speaking employees.  I brought in a friend who is fluent in both languages.  It gave me time to talk specifics with the team and review in detail, our golf course mission statement that we created and our core values.  These are things I require, and need, for all the guys to buy into in order for us to be successful.  Also included, was an in depth safety discussion.

We continue to hammer out many details, including having the parking lot at the Clubhouse re-striped.

If you're in town, James and William will be ready for you to visit the practice facility, where they have it looking awesome!  Again, the facility will open Tuesday morning.

Fertilizer

Today we finished our spring fertilizer application that also includes a preemergent herbicide for crabgrass and goose grass. Since we’re making a bulk application, the fertilizer comes in these tote bags that weigh 1,000 lbs each. In order to fertilize the entire golf course and practice facility, takes 22 bags like this. 

New Greens

 

Now that the new greens are well-rooted, we aerated them today with 1/4" tines.  When a green is sodded, it comes with a thatch layer.  It is important that we get as much of that out as well can so the greens play as firm as the others on the course.  Otherwise, they will hold too much water and play too soft.  This is opposite of what happens when a green is seeded.  Seeded greens play very firm for the first couple years, until the new turf has time to build up a small thatch layer, or organic layer.  Some organic layer is good, but too much is detrimental.

There is a big difference between seeded and sodded greens and it is important to understand this.  I've been asked a handful of times by members about what they can expect with the new putting surfaces.  Their initial thought is that they would be very firm and not receptive to golf shots.  Again, this will not be the case because these two greens were sodded rather than seeded.  Seeding is always the preferred method of establishing new putting greens.  Obviously, we don't have the luxury of time given our golf season.  That said, our sodded greens will be awesome as well!

1st Greens Mowing on #12 and #14

This morning our two new greens got their very first mowing.  They are filling in nicely and will be in play on opening day!  The roots below these two greens are currently about 3" long.  The seams, created by the sod pieces, will be evident for another month or so before the turf creeps in those areas and fills the small void.

7-Day Forecast

 

Tuesday

With less than 2 weeks before opening, we are really starting to dial things in!  Bunkers are being prepped for the season.  This is quite a job because a lot of sand moved during the winter rains, requiring us to shovel it back where it belongs.  In addition to that, you can imagine how compacted the sand is after not being raked for four months.  

We are fertilizing the golf course, wall to wall, with a 22-0-7 fertilizer that contains the Crabgrass pre-emergent, Dimension.  Today, we finished the front nine and practice facility.  Due to scheduling conflicts, we'll be finishing the back nine holes on Thursday.  

Finally, Young Tree Service was on site all day grinding the stumps of the five major trees we lost during last week's heavy wind event.  We've cleaned the golf course up a number of times this spring due to storms.  We have a load of sod coming Thursday, so getting these area prepared to sod over will be something we'll complete tomorrow.  After the nice two inches of rain on Monday, the golf course is really greening up!

Tracking Smoke

The smoke in Highlands has been terrible, the last few days. Hopefully the rain predicted the next two days will help extinguish the fires in the region. 

Friday

I apologize for the lack of posts this week!  It was a productive couple days in Atlanta for the HCC Board of Governors retreat.  It was exciting be able to share our progress on the the golf course with the Board and Past Presidents in attendance.  Above, I'm fortunate to be able to work with two of the finest men I know.

While I was away, Chad and the team did a great job of continuing to refine the course for opening day.  Today, 10,000ft2 of Kentucky Bluegrass was installed on the course!  This sod, from Morganton, NC, was beautiful!

These photos give you a sneak peek into how we are dealing with losing the rain shelter at #14 tees.  Stay tuned for more of photos of progress! 

Creeping Phlox is starting to do its thing all over Highlands.

After reshaping the ground around this mulch bed, we're hoping this prevents mulch from washing out.  This is a big improvement to the landscape in the Clubhouse lawns.

Tuesday

The golf course is looking great for the time of year!  You can see by the photo below, we're getting fairways mowed and greens rolled.  In the next couple days, the greens will receive their first mowing of the year, along with the tees and the approaches.

In the front lawn of the clubhouse, we are fixing a drainage issue that causes the mulch under the Oak trees to wash during heavy rain events.  We are re-grading the contours in order to direct the sheet flow away from the mulch.  Our next load of sod is scheduled to be delivered next Tuesday.  This will finish off just about all of our projects except for the cart path paving on #10.  We're hopeful that can be done sometime during the first or second week of April.

Finally, here are a couple updated shots of #12 and #14 greens.  As of now, we are planning on the greens being playable on April 11th.

USGA Green Section

 CLICK HERE for the latest edition of the Green Section Record.

Friday

At 23*F, it was a chilly start to the day with a dusting of snow!  April 11th will be here before you know it!  We are going to open the practice facility and possibly the golf course, weather permitting, a few days ahead of time for those folks in town.  I'll keep you posted on the blog, or see Ken in the Golf Shop for details!  

Here is the look behind the 13th green!  A majority of the sod was removed in this area and will be replaced.  We did this so you're not looking at a perfect square of new sod where the rain shelter once stood.  We have an interesting plan to "replace" this rain shelter.  I'll talk more about that in the next week or two, after Chris Raby (our first class building maintenance supervisor) gets started on that project.  In short, we'll be adding a "front porch" to that structure to house the water fountain, sand bottles and benches for golfers to wait out a passing rain shower, if needed.

All of the mulch is out on the golf course and the look is great!  We still have some pine straw to put out yet.  As I mentioned before, it wasn't practical to make a complete switch to mulch all in one year.  Also, steep slopes still need to be covered in pine straw to avoid washing during rain events.  Below is also a great photo of #8, where grass replaced all the pinestraw in that area.

What to Expect in Regards to #12 and #14 Greens...

#12 and #14 greens were reconstructed this winter and resodded with Creeping Bentgrass, from a Sod Farm about 20 miles west of Chicago, Illinois.  Anytime a green is rebuilt over the winter season, there is always uncertainty as to when will the putting greens be ready for play.  Will we need to use temporary greens for a period time, during the spring?  Or, will golfers have to skip the holes for a period of time, after the course opens in April?  

I'm here to officially say, there will be no delay in opening the 12th and 14th holes this spring.  Both putting greens will be open to play on April 11th along with the other 16 greens and will be in similar condition.  Our aerification program was only minimally disruptive this spring, meaning the greens will be more playable compared to year's past.  Studies on our root zone and organic layer show that we are in great shape and the performance of the greens, based on the physical properties, is outstanding.

A great sod source and solid (and patient) agronomics will allow these greens to open at the same time as the rest of the golf course!

Wednesday

#14 looks a little bit different now that the rain shed was razed after a white pine crushed in during the intense storm we experienced last weekend.  I'm proud to say our team officially has the golf course cleaned up from the storm!  In total, we lost six trees and a whole lot of limbs and sticks.  That said, it was all cleaned up using our team, so there was no impact on the golf course maintenance budget!

We also sprayed greens this morning with a dose of nutrients and a plant growth regulator that aids in controlling Poa annua seed head production.  By controlling and minimizing seed heads that form on Poa annua in the spring, results in smoother and more consistent putting greens during this time.  Over the last few years, we've had tremendous success with these applications and the results we achieved.

Tuesday

We are continuing to focus on the remainder of the tree clean up.  One of the trees that fell, was this Hemlock into the pond on #10.  In order to get it out, we used a large excavator to pull the tree towards the shore.  Then we would cut three to four feet off the tree, before pulling more of the tree up onto the shore.  In four foot increments, me made pretty short work out of this tree!

We also spent a good bit of the day sanding the sod seams on the new greens on #12 and #14.  As the turf grows, this will help even out the turf and give us a smooth putting surface as quickly as possible.