Tuesday

 

Today, Tim finally wrapped up our rough aerification!  The process dragged on with all the frozen conditions we've dealt with through the month of January.  Below, we added 6 more steps to those going from #16 green up to the #2 tee on the 17th hole.  This will make it easier to reach the tee by taking the steepness out of the last 10 feet.  Lyn and Raul did a great job on this.

The February Superintendent

This post appeared on the LinkedIn social media site and I thought it was really good! It was written by the gentleman below and I thought it was worth sharing.

The February Superintendent

There is a version of this profession that the public rarely sees.

It does not wear stripes or tournament polish.

It does not carry the urgency of summer mornings or the pressure of member expectations.

It lives in February, with March just visible on the horizon but not yet arrived.

The February superintendent is not growing grass.

He is holding ground.

The snow is thinning in places and stubborn in others. The air still bites, yet the light has shifted just enough to suggest change. The course is quiet, not asleep, but waiting. These are not weeks of visible progress. They are weeks of inspection, of walking surfaces that offer little color yet reveal everything about structure, drainage, and decision making. 

In June, skill is on display.

In February, character is. 

There are no applause moments here. No perfect greens, no tournament speeds, no dramatic recoveries. Instead, there are small observations. A low spot that held moisture longer than expected. A collar that wintered better because of a decision made months earlier. A fairway that carries weight more confidently than last year. These are quiet confirmations, the kind only noticed by the person who made the choices when no one else was looking.

This is also the season of restraint.

The discipline of not acting too soon.

Of allowing the ground to come back on its own terms rather than forcing momentum simply because March is approaching and expectations begin to stir. The February superintendent understands that impatience can undo months of preparation faster than any storm.

There is leadership here as well, just less visible. Staff return gradually. Equipment is checked without urgency. Conversations are shorter but more deliberate. The tone set now often echoes through the entire season. Calm in February tends to produce calm in July.

What defines this period is not productivity.

It is awareness.

The February superintendent is measuring stability, not speed. Reading soil, not schedules. Making decisions that will only be judged weeks or months later. Much of the profession’s best work happens here, in the stretch where little seems to be happening at all, while March stands just around the corner, waiting to test every quiet decision made now.

Golfers will remember the summer surfaces.

Superintendents will remember February.

Because February is not about presentation.

It is about posture.

Friday

Finally, the employee housing project has a finished look after we removed the weed growth and cleaned up the roadsides leading to the new facility.  The area covered in straw will ultimately be grass and will better fit in with the rest of the Club corridor along the highway.    

Dredging equipment and materials arrived today next week, the contractor will be getting the equipment in the water.

Between #7 and #8, we spend a considerable amount of time removing the "sucker growth" from these Oak trees. Oak's are notorious for this kind of growth and it take away form the overall shape and appearance of the tree.  Unfortunately, once we start removing them, they seem to get worse.  This is due to the build up of plant hormones at the site where a limb or past sucker growth was removed.  Hormones are used by the tree to heal such an injury.  Sucker growth is a tree's way of producing more leaf canopy quickly, which lead to the tree being able to photosynthesize more, producing more food for itself.  

Employee Dorms and Roadsides

 

We're spending a good amount of time at the new employee dorms, working to clean up the Dillard Road side of the building.  Our goal is to create continuity between this facility and the rest of the campus.  Filling in the edges of roadsides and grassing are a few of our objectives.  We are also cleaning up wood lines to give the area a nice appearance but also keeping the building screened as much as possible.  

7-Day Forecast

 

Wednesday

 

On #8 green surround, we are removing a good amount of sod and reshaping the area where settling has occurred over the years.  This area abruptly dropped off from the edge of the cart path, making it an awkward area to traverse and access the putting green.  In addition, it's been a common place for golf cart traffic and mower traffic to get back on the cart path.  Therefore, it has always been compacted and worn.  This season, we are expanding our 'pushmow' areas to avoid heavy equipment having to access and mow these narrow areas.

Tuesday

We have a grading contractor on site helping us 'rough-in' the area on the far side of the pond on #10.  This was an area that was majorly impacted by Hurricane Helene.  By cleaning up the pond banks and removing the stumps and other debris, we'll sod the area, giving it a nice park-like setting that you'll be able to safely fish from.  

While excavating the tree stumps, we woke up this big fella!  He was moved to another secure undisclosed location where he'll be able to feed on other people's fish and not ours.  Oops. Did I type that?  

Path work continues between the new employee lodges and the farm.

Today we planted 5 trees in a couple different areas.  Three were planted on #10 on the far left of the approach to seal off the area that was also opened up after Hurricane Helene took down a couple trees during the September 2024 storm.  The view that was opened up across the stream is less than desirable and while this doesn't fix the situation immediately, it will in a few years.

Brush Mower

This coming season, we have a goal off keeping up better with weed growth, in the form of briars, on the edges of the golf course.  A recent purchase we made was this brush mower that will make that much easier for us to stay on top of them throughout the season.  We're using the new mower on a project we are working on today- creating a walk path from employee housing to the farm, so staff can safely walk to the Club without using the shoulder of the road.

Happoldt approves of this purchase.

USGA Green Section Record

 CLICK HERE to view the recent edition of the USGA's Green Section Record.

Friday

 

It's great to be back out on the golf course today!  On #11, we are cutting back Rhododendron that are taking over the stream on the left side of the cart path.  As you know, this has been a big effort of ours to keep our many water features from  becoming hidden due to excess shrub growth.

Below, we are installing silt fence according to plan to get ready for our dredging project to begin.

A Little More Snow and Ice...

We woke up this morning with the ground covered with snow and ice.  That doesn't stop Happoldt, who will chase his ball in all sorts of climatic conditions!  This minor snow event was unexpected and hopefully will be gone once the sun pokes through the clouds.  

Wednesday

Dredging (Club lake portion behind the LEC and Tennis courts) is still going to happen this winter!  In fact, equipment will start rolling in here Monday of next week.  Below the Hudson House, we created this 50' x 20' level gravel pad for the dredging equipment.  The large machine the dewaters the sediment and separates the material, will be parked on this gravel pad, leaving the asphalt parking lot open to hold the sediment before it can be hauled off site.  Tomorrow, we'll be installing two row of silt fence according to the plan and permit.

You can see what is left of the snow we received on Saturday.  Warmer days and a tenth of an inch of rain last night helped get rid of a lot of it, thankfully.

Above, we have a handful of trees we need to get off the golf course.  As mentioned before, we have our tree contractor but the tree on the ground and then our team cleans up the limbs and hauls off the trunk.

This week is the Golf Industry Show in Orlando, FL.  While I wasn't able to attend as planned due to the weather, Highlands CC's presence was there on this advertisement on the trade show floor.

7-Day Forecast

 

Warmer weather and a 70% chance of rain tomorrow will ensure a majority of the snow will be gone by the middle/end of the week!  That's a good thing because we are ready to be back out there!

Storm Totals

Saturday’s winter storm dumped about 8” of snow on the golf course. Saturday and Sunday were spent clearing roads and shoveling walkways around the campus. On Monday, we continue to do the same. The wind picked up Saturday night and so by Sunday, 3’ drift piles were common on some roads, particularly on the higher elevations like lower and upper brushy face.

Winter Storm Update

 

What started as 1-3" of snow prediction a few days ago, is now 5-9" of snow!  Looks like it will be an interesting weekend in Highlands.  Our plow is hooked up and ready to go and all club roads have been pre-treated with salt.