The Farm

A lot is happening the the Highlands CC farm- fresh blueberries will be available over the next few weeks.

Grapes are also starting to ripen.

A few young peppers are now present, as well as a number of green tomatoes!

Monday/Tuesday

 

Tuesday morning, we are treating fairways with a growth regulator and fungicide.  You can see the faint brown patches in the turf in the photo above.  This is a fungal disease known as brown patch.  Its probably something most golfers don't notice, especially in the early stages.  However, it is something that needs to be treated before it gets farther along.

Yesterday afternoon, we topdressed greens with a light application of dry sand.  This speeds the greens up slightly and this morning (Tuesday), they are rolling 12.5'.  

Friday

With Round 2 of the Ladies Member/Guest underway, we are spending another day off of the golf course getting caught up on a number of projects and improvements on the HCC campus. One such example is that we are looking at the major road intersections along Dillard Road, assuring that visibility isn’t impeded by vegetation for motorists pulling out onto the highway. 

Earlier this morning, our resident deer population were enjoying an all-you-can-eat salad bar, better known as our farm. There are certain plants and vegetables that these guys can’t get enough of. Green beans seem to be at the top of their list. Our deer population used to be nonexistent in the early 2000s, but is now prevalent and growing.  More than likely, you know this because not only have you seen them, but you've also watched your Hostas and other ornamental plants, get chewed down to the crown. 

As discussed yesterday, 8 pallets of Zeon Zoysiagrass was delivered this morning and is now installed on the far end of the practice tee. This time next year, we’ll have a better idea how this experiment turns out. Stay tuned!

Thursday

 

With the Ladies M/G taking place, our team stays off the course and works on projects that don't interfere with the tournament.  I'm not sure how we did it, but we avoided a 90% chance of rain, allowing the ladies to get their first round in!  We couldn't be happier for them!  

The right side of the practice tee has been stripped of sod and ready for eight pallets of sod scheduled for 10AM tomorrow (Friday).  We'll be experimenting with Zeon Zoysia to see how it holds up in this climate.  This isn't the first time we've tried Zoysia.  In 2002, half of the practice tee was sodded to Meyer (the variety) Zoysia.  It didn't do very well for several reasons.  The main one was the shade that covered that half of the tee.  The new varieties are denser and better suited for a variety of conditions.  Again, this area of the practice tee was impacted by Annual Bluegrass Weevil, so it was a perfect time to try something new.

These are the insects that can create a lot of issues.

At the golf course maintenance facility, we spent part of the day creating an area where members of the team can clean their work boots with an air hose.  Our previous setup worked, but the hoses were mounted on the side of the building.  This led to a lot of grass clippings and mud being blown up against the building, where it was then tracked inside.  This keeps the debris away from the facility and also looks a lot nicer than before.  

2026 Ladies Member/Guest

You know it's Ladies M/G time when our mannequin friends show up on the first tee!  This year, we have a 70's theme and it's always fun coming up with creative props for the event.  In addition, all of the tee markers for the event were 4" disco balls!

Practice Tee

If you recall, last week I posted a photo of damage to the far right side of our practice tee that was caused by the insect, Annual Bluegrass Weevil (ABW).  ABW can be very destructive on Poa annua turf.  Our practice tee is comprised of three different types of grass: Perennial Ryegrass, Annual Bluegrass and Creeping Bentgrass.  My first thought was to re-grow this area by way of aerification and seeding.  This time of year, that would take a while so I then moved on to thinking about sod.  Today, we are stripping about 4,000 square feet of sod and replacing it with Zoysiagrass, specifically the variety Zeon.  This is an experiment I've wanted to try again ever since we regrassed 1/2 of tee with Meyer Zoysia back in 2002.  Zoysia is a much more durable turf that doesn't allow golfers to take a divot.  This means it recovers very quickly.  Again, the damaged turf will be removed today and tomorrow morning, 8 pallets of Zeon Zoysia will be on site Friday at 10:00AM.

7-Day Forecast

 
More muggy weather and thunderstorms for the next 7 days.

#12 Drain Pipe and Headwall

 

On the 12th hole, in front of the 4 tee, there has been an issue with a head wall endangering golfers by ricocheting golf balls.  The Green Committee discussed a couple different ideas last week, but what made most sense to us was removing the head wall and then slightly rerouting the drain pipe.  A few rocks were added to the end of the pipe but not near the surface area of the head wall that was there previously.

Happy Birthday to our own Tim Fish!  Sunday, Tim celebrated his 60th birthday!  He received a cane, a walker and some other accessories he'll need now that he is older than dirt! :)  

USGA Green Section Record

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

Monday

We are starting to see some nice recovery on the side of the range tee, damaged by Annual Bluegrass Weevil.  Annual Bluegrass is the common name for Poa annua, which is affected by this insect.

We are constantly cutting back the view of our streams as recommended in the Master Plan and by numerous other golf course architects.

This Monday was a day for routine sand topdressing.  We do this every 7-14 days depending on turfgrass growth and the time of year. This is required to maintain turf health and firm greens.

Dredging

As you know, dredging behind the tennis courts was a big project this spring.  You can see by these overhead shots, how successful the projects was.  The lake portion is now 4' deep as opposed to 6" deep and the area we filled in to extend the wetland, it now fully covered in Brown-Top Millet, a cover crop.  The process of establishing more vegetation will take approximately three years and will ultimately involve trees.  Fortunately, the lake is now deep enough in this area that we can get a boat in here to treat for aquatic weeds.  That was never possible in past years!  Ronnie Dilbeck is handling the restoration of the wetland and Piedmont Dredging did the sediment removal in the most efficient fashion.

Annual Bluegrass Weevil

We've experienced some pretty dramatic Annual Bluegrass Weevil damage on the ends of the practice tee.  The damage is out of play and will recover quickly after aerating and seeding this morning.  This insect can be devastating on Poa annua/Bentgrass fairways and greens like we have at Highlands CC.  While control measures continue to improve and researchers gain a better understanding of its life cycle, managing the pest has become much easier.  However, the insect itself is becoming more prevalent in our area and climate.  We are spending a good bit of resources to control this pest, which effects our budget as well.  Even though we remain in severe drought, if you see this damage at the practice tee, please understand this was caused by an insect.

Hemlock Treatments

 

Over the past two weeks, we've been treating all the Hemlocks on the golf course for the notorious insect, the Woolly Adelgid.  Since about 2002, this insect has devastated the Appalachian Mountain's population of Hemlocks.  The only way to save the trees is through regular treatments of insecticides.  We rely on soil drenches of Imidacloprid or bark treatments of a product called Safari.  Since we treated with Safari last season, we are using Imidacloprid this season.  Imidacloprid lasts much longer in the tree (up to 7 years according to research) but takes longer to be absorbed and translocated through the tree.  Safari on the other hand, is so water soluble, it makes its way up the tree much faster and therefore is better for bad infestations that need to be addressed quickly.  However, it doesn't have the long residual as it's counterpart.  It only offers about one year of protection.

Ice Cream!

Such a great way to reward hard work and cool off on a hot day!  Today we scheduled a 1:00PM visit by Sweet Caroline’s Ice Cream truck!

Lightening Safety!

After purchasing this system in 2007, I personally installed it and have been responsible for the upkeep and preventative maintenance schedule.  This system has been very reliable and is relatively user friendly.  The picture above is the sensor that is mounted to the roof of the Clubhouse.  Technically speaking, this incredibly sensitive piece of equipment is known as an optical coincidence sensor.  In short, it works by detecting two things. First, the flash of light that is generated by lightning and second, the electromagnetic pulse that is also generated by lightning.  It takes both of these items into account and can then instantly calculates how far the strike was from the sensor.  If that distance is 5 miles or less, the alarm will sound immediately.  Highlands CC staff can program the desired distance we want the alarm to sound in 5 mile increments, up to 20 miles away.  Again, our system sounds only when lightning is detected in a 5 mile range from the Clubhouse, where this sensor is mounted.  So if you hear thunder, and the alarm doesn't sound, it is because the storm is more than 5 miles away and not because the system in malfunctioning.  When the system detects lightning, you'll hear what sounds like a fire alarm.  This means you need to stop playing immediately, return to your cart and exit the golf course to seek safe shelter.  Our rain sheds can protect you from rain, but do not provide adequate protection from lightning.  Once the system sounds, a countdown timer begins.  Once 30 minutes pass with no additional strikes, the all-clear tone will sound alerting you that it is safe to return to the golf course.  If a strike is detected during that countdown, the timer resets itself to 30 minutes.  The all-clear tone is distinctly different from the alarm and it sounds like a busy signal on a telephone.  It is also worth noting that the system is only active from 8:00AM to 8:00PM.  This prevents the alarm sounding in the middle of the night.

There are other systems on the market as well, but not as reliable as this system, in my opinion.  A competitor of Strike Guard, is a system that measures static electricity in the air.  When the amount of static electricity is conducive for lightning, the alarm sounds.  This sounds good but in reality it leads to more false alarms than not.

A lightning detection system is a great tool to protect golfers and others from approaching weather.  However, always use common sense when you are outdoors and while it is extremely rare due to battery back up systems, electronic equipment can fail.  Always trust your gut feeling and if you do feel like you're in a potentially dangerous situation, follow your instincts and leave the golf course.  Every year, a handful of people are killed on golf courses by lightning strikes.  

It is also worth noting that all storms start somewhere.  It is possible an electrical storm forms immediately above us, giving little to no warning that a storm is approaching.