DryJect Date Postponed

Our original date for our fall greens aeration (Dryject) has been postponed until November 9th instead of November 2nd.  This allows you to have great greens for another week.  This morning, I spoke to the DryJect contractor who mentioned they had the following Monday available on their schedule, which I took advantage of.  The course will obviously remain open until after the Thanksgiving Holiday, but the greens will have some sand on them following this Dryject aeration on Monday, November 9th.

Rain the Weekend/ 7-Day Forecast

 

Looks like this weekend we'll be experiencing some rain associated with the tropical storm currently in the Gulf.  Several inches of rain could fall on Highlands.

Golf Mornings!

 

I always feel blessed and lucky to be the golf course super at Highlands CC!  There is nothing better than beautiful golf course mornings in the mountains!  I took these photos on the 2nd tee this morning as the sun started peeking through the trees...

It's a Boy!

Congratulations to Matthew Green, Highlands CC's Head Equipment Technician (and employee since 2008), on the birth of his son, Danny Green! Danny was born on October 1st and weighed 7lbs 10oz and 21” long. Mom is doing well and Sunday evening, they were released from Mission Hospital in Asheville.  Congratulations, Matthew!

USGA Green Section Record

CLICK HERE 

Click above for the latest edition of the USGA Green Section Record.

Bentgrass Encroachment

With the Men’s Member Guest Tournament behind us, we picked back up with Mesotrione applications in the rough- a chemical that selectively removes Creeping Bentgrass in stands of Kentucky Bluegrass, where the Bluegrass is the desired species of turf.  This does turn the Bentgrass a bleached white color before it starts turning brown and dies. You’ll start seeing this in the next couple days on the first few holes on the golf course. Nothing is wrong, the chemistry is doing exactly what we want it to do.  

Upcoming Maintenance

As you plan the remainder of your season at the Club, I wanted you to be aware of some maintenance occurring on the golf course.

Greens will be DryJect aerified two directions on Monday, November 2nd.  This is the same program we've done to the greens over the past 15 plus years.  No greens aeration of any kind, will be done before this process in November.  

Tees on the other hand will be aerated on October 20th.  We'll be withholding the application of sand until after we close the golf course in November.  Again, this is not a very disruptive process to the tees.  

In mid November we will be aerating approaches and also starting on roughs.  This will be accomplished as weather allows.  Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to November.

Divots

This divot, taken on the 1st fairway measured over 12" long and at a minimum 2.5" wide and an inch deep.  In short, it was a healthy piece of sod more than it was a divot.  After this golfer took this shot, the turf that was displaced landed less than 24 inches from where the shot was hit from.  Yet, the golfer still elected to fill the void with sand, rather than replace the turf.  As I walk the golf course most mornings, I find myself replacing dozens of divots everyday.  The point of this post isn't to be negative, rather to educate members on what we'd prefer you do with divots.  On Bermudagrass golf courses where divots aren't taken, filling the damaged area with sand is preferred.  On cool season grasses, replacing the divot is a must.  We don't have the luxury of the aggressive and fast, weed-like growth that southern turfgrasses, like Bermudagrass or Zoysiagrass, provide.  A divot like this won't come close to healing this year, if it's not replaced.  Please don't underestimate how much you can impact the day to day condition of the golf course by replacing divots and properly fixing ballmarks!!  You can help keep your golf course in top shape with little effort.  I'd be happy to talk more about this if you're interested in more information!  

Club Lake Dam Work

 

This afternoon, divers were in the lake, removing the old drain valve from the inside of the dam.  At this point, the new drain valve, installed last spring, is fully functional.  You can see in the photos, the diver bringing the valve to the surface.  The divers are also installing a piece of half round pipe that will prevent sediment loss when the lake is drained in November.  We are on schedule to have the dam abutment walls renovated starting in late November.  This is a 2.5 month project and should be complete by mid March, with the lake back to full capacity at that point.  

Interesting fact…

USGA Green Section Record

 CLICK HERE!

Click above for the latest edition of the Green Section Record.

Fall Decorations

John Branson, our Landscape Leader, started working on fall decorations today.  This one is at the croquet lawns, ready for tomorrow's Sadie Hawkins Tournament.

7-Day Forecast

Potential rain back in the forecast for the next week...

The War on Moles

After two days of war, the resident moles on the golf course have won the battles and are outsmarting us, sadly.  In two locations (#17 green and #18 tee) where traps were set, the moles continue using their existing tunnels, burrowing deeper in the ground to get below the trap.  We will continue setting traps and fighting the good fight.  If this fails, we'll resort to making explosive worms out of clay.  That last sentence wasn't serious.  Yet, anyway.

Tuesday

On #16, a Monday evening accident led to the need to rebuild about three feet of rock wall.

Our focus this week and next week is on the Men's M/G Tournament.  Having the event late in the season is great, but it presents challenges trying to show the golf course in the best possible shape.  We've already had an extensive season of drought, wear and tear, and of course, golf.  There were five areas on the golf course, in the roughs only, the were aerated this morning.  The goal of this was to create additional surface area for water to move into the soil and reduce thatch below the turf.  The areas will be allowed to dry and then we will make an effort to clean the plugs and debris up.  In addition, we will broadcast additional seed in these spots.

What is going on here???

This area is located in front of the four tee on the 1st hole.  Rectangular Kentucky Bluegrass turf is perfectly surrounded by lines of Creeping Bentgrass.  Any ideas?  The answer is simple... last winter, we had some spare Bluegrass sod and laid it out in this area.  It sat for too long and ended up rooting into the turf and soil below it.  The original area was comprised of Bentgrass turf, which grew up around the seams of the Bluegrass sod.  It makes for an interesting photo!

Thursday, we have 2 pallets of sod coming to dress up a couple areas around the course.  This is one of those areas, on #1, that will be resodded Thursday.  The existing grass will be removed on Wednesday.

Finally, on #1, you can see the results of the Mesotrione application I made last week.  The Bentgrass growing in the rough is starting to turn white, the first stage of its death.  It will take two more applications to kill it.  We are going to withhold the 2nd and 3rd application until after the Men's M/G.