Wednesday

Pretty exciting day!  First greens mowing of 2026.  This mowing just gets the "fuzz" off the top.  The greens always look greener because we removed the brown tip the leaf blades develop after a cold winter.

 I love what I'm seeing in the forecast in terms of temperatures!

Tuesday

Today was the first day of the fresh cut grass smell!  Fairways were mowed for the first time this spring.

This machine has fascinated me for the past couple days, seeing it in action.  The material is sifted into three different particle sizes before being led to a container that is hauled away when full.  This process is impressive in that we are able to accomplish the dredging without using acres of land to lay out geotextile bags like we've done in the past.  We are setup on a small footprint and it's a very clean process as well.  I am certainly glad I was able meet the owners of this business because our options were very limited in terms of how we'd accomplish this project.

At least 90% of the material removed from the lake looks like this.  It's mostly leaf litter and organic material.  Below, you can see how it accumulates into the steel container.  It almost looks like mulch although it would not be a suitable product for that.  As the project continues, I am going to be doing extensive water testing to be sure we aren't stirring up any nutrients that may have settled in the sediment over the years that might be detrimental to our turf once the irrigation system is back in use.  It would also be interesting to send a sample of this material off for a nutrient analysis.  

They are also getting their fair share of golf balls! You would be amazed at how many golf balls are being sucked up during this project!

On #8, we are preparing for our first load of sod that will cover this area that was raised up next to #8 green.  Below, there will be a 10-25' strip of grass on the outer edge of the cart path on #8.

Concrete was poured today to enlarge the stone pavilion surfacing at the croquet pavilion.  This will allow the Stikers more room for tables and chairs.

In other news, our H2B Visa workers are planning to be back on March 18th.  Hopefully this schedule works out to give us a couple weeks to get the golf course ready before we open on April 10th.  Right now, there is a lot to do for a small team of people.  More help will be welcomed!

Drainage on #11

 

Drainage work is continuing on the 11th hole.  In addition to the fairway, the Club's Board of Governors approved the additional expense of installing drainage in the rough between the cart path and the fairway.  As you know, this area stays wet and can impact carts accessing the fairway on certain days.

Monday

John Branson has your courtyard looking like progress in underway!  He's doing a great job with it and it's fun to see the passion he has for these projects.  The entrance to the Clubhouse will be much improved for the coming season!

 

This drone shot shows more of the thinning and mulching done behind the 8th green.

Finally, dredging is underway and these photos give you an idea of how that process works.

This is the machine that de-waters the sediment, returning the water to the lake and the sediment to a pile that can be loaded and hauled off site.

If you look closely in the water, you can clearly see a pass the machine made along the bottom of the lake.  The dredging pontoon is guided on cables that keep it working in straight lines.

The yellow line you see is the top turbidity curtain that is stretched across the pond to that helps prevent the lake from becoming entirely brown-looking.

Friday

 

On Friday, we applied a fungicide for snow mold prevention.  This time of year, snow mold can become a issue but it's easily preventable.

Major landscape enhancements are coming to the front entrance of the Clubhouse this spring.  Club Landscape Tech, John Branson and I are working with Landscape Architect, Mary Palmer Dargan, to improve this area of the landscape.  The first step was improve the soil by tilling in 2 truck loads of compost mix.  Stay tuned to more photos as this work progresses!

Severe Drought

It's hard to believe that Western NC and Upstate SC are in severe-extreme drought.  Last year we finished the year about 20" below normal.  you can see by year-to-date rain total, we've had 8.7" of rain since January 1st.  For Highlands to hit its average mark, we need about 8" of rain every month.  We're half that in 2026.

Pittsburgh, PA Turfgrass Conference

 

Highlands Country Club Border Collie, Happoldt, is a big deal.  If you don't believe me, just ask him and he'll tell you!  Today, a friend of mine send this photograph to me.  He attended the Penn State Western PA Turfgrass Conference (happening this week) and PSU Professor of Plant Genetics, David Huff, showed this photo of our seeded Poa annua nursery at the back of the practice facility.  Of course, Hap makes sure he's in all the photos he can get in!  

Wednesday

Dredging setup is nearing completion and by Friday, I fully expect to be pumping sediment out of Club Lake!  Please use extreme caution on Hummingbird Lane.  This will be a congested area with trucks constantly coming and going once Bryson Grading starts trucking the sediment off-site.

Below, I mentioned yesterday that we are thinning briar patches and Rhododendron 0n numerous areas on the golf course.  Here, you can see some of that work.  Some of the areas focused on includes #8, #14 and #17.  More photos will be coming once the work is finished and ready for sod. This will be a huge improvement on these holes and something I'm hoping to be able to do more of in the coming years.

The cart path will have a 20 foot boarder of grass on the far side, which is not only more attractive than pinestraw, but better for the asphalt as well.

Highlands School Job Fair

Brian, Debbie and Grace attended the Highlands School Career Fair today.

Today the Highlands School held a job fair to introduce students to potential career opportunities after graduation.   The school reached out to local professionals and asked if they would put together a display table and be present to talk to students about their career.  Debbie Brock, our first class Club Controller, and I represented Highlands CC to talk about accounting and life as a Golf Course Superintendent.  It was definitely a fun 6 hours spent at the school and hopefully our presence planted a seed in the minds of a few young people.  If we are lucky, some of these folks may be the next generation of Highlands CC staff!

Controller, Debbie Brock engages in conversation with two students about a career in accounting.

Forestry Mulching

Exciting day today, with this machine on site!  We are cutting back weeds and briars all around the campus from roadsides to areas on the golf course.  Stay tuned for photos showing what we accomplished today.  This machine can do anything from cutting briar thickets back to the ground to cutting a 50' tall tree down and then mulching the branches, trunk and the stump.  I use a local gentleman from Franklin to do this work because purchasing a machine like this is very expensive and not practical if it will only be used a couple times per year.

Monday Weather Conditions

 After a week of nice weather, Sunday brought us 1" of snow and temperatures as low at -7*F with the wind chill!

Friday

 

Another three Norway Spruce in the ground...these on #10, to buffer the right side of the hole, along the cart path of the right fairway.

USGA Green Section Record

 CLICK HERE for the latest edition of the USGA's Green Section Record.

Bradley Klein

If you click on the image, you'll be able to zoom in to read the article. 

Thursday

There is a lot going on, on the golf course and campus. A time of year when we are typically winding down projects is different this year.  Above and below, you can see the equipment that's been brought it to start dredging the portion of Club Lake behind the Tennis Courts and Fitness Center (LEC).  This is the machine I've talked about that separates water and sediment, returning the water to the lake and then piles the sediment for removal.  Stay tuned for more on this and video showing how it works when we get rolling.  Also arriving this week, is equipment and materials that will be used to replace the Club Lake drain valve.  This too, is a pretty big project that is being done out of necessity.  Next fall, we'll be renovating the dam abutment walls.  You'll be hearing more about this in the coming months.

A forestry underbrushing machine was delivered today for work, next week.  We'll be clearing a lot of briar/weed growth around the golf course, opening up areas never before appreciated.  Again, stay tuned!

This afternoon, over 10,000 bait fish were stocked in Club lake to support our Largemouth Bass population.  This work is being done as part of our Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Status re-certification.    Thanks to Mr. Freeman and his contacts, we are studying the Bass population and learning what we can do to improve the habitat.  In October, we did a lake assessment, where we shocked portions of the lake to learn about the fish that were living in Club Lake and the health of said fish.  It became clear that our Bass population needed more food in order to thrive, based on their size and growth habit.

Finally, an interesting find on the golf course today...a 7up glass bottle (bottled in Asheville, NC) dating back to the mid-1940's!  This was found embedded into a stream bank on hole #10.