Finally - Some warm damn weather. It has been a long time coming, but I am seeing signs of life across the golf course. We are still quite brown overall, but with some continued normal temperatures we should be able to start mowing off that brown fuzz. Unfortunately, it's looking like one of those springs. I've got what they call the "opening day blues" - my desire to get you all out on the course ASAP conflicts with the potential damage that could be done by opening the floodgates too early. It's a delicate balance that I'm sure is eliciting some not-so-delicate comments from those itching to beat the pea around the course. I would like to have the greens open by this weekend, but with a rainy forecast (up to 3/4" forecast thursday-friday) and the current condition of the course, I can't commit right now.
During this time of year, I am often asked "how much growth do you like to see before you open?" To be honest, growth is not really the limiting factor in opening. Firmness is far more important. Right now, the golf course is like walking around on your mattress. With such cold late winter-early spring temps, the underground frost held until just recently. In fact, the pump installers were digging a post hole yesterday and there were still chunks of ice and frozen soil coming up around 12" deep. Remnants of another long, stubborn winter.
The consequence of the late thaw is that more moisture is trapped in the upper soil profile. With less than robust plants and a soft soil surface, it's a recipe for problems. Cart traffic on fairways and foot traffic on greens with such soft surfaces will create uneven putting surfaces and cause increased soil compaction - things that can be avoided if we wait just a little longer for things to firm up.
Today, we will start rolling and maybe even mowing the greens for the first time this year in hopes of opening soon. Rolling should help firm up surfaces and hopefully smooth out any heaving issues over the winter. With a good result, I am cautiously optimistic we will be in a position to open if the rain holds off. Rain on top of the current soft conditions would likely make the place borderline unplayable.
In the meantime, our skeleton crew is busy cleaning, blowing, so as soon as the time is right we will be happy to open those floodgates.
Tuesday, March 31
Tuesday, March 17
See Thaw battle......
I hope you will pardon my month and a half hiatus from blogging. I just couldn't bring myself to talk about the water project, painting ball washers, and the goings on at the shop anymore. While I do enjoy writing the occasional snarky opinion piece in the winter, the traffic from the membership on my blog was down so I figured you were sick of me too. However, with the snow and ice finally melted, we are all beginning to twitch with anticipation for the golf season to begin.
I have thoroughly surveilled the course post-thaw and I can say that overall it is in good shape. Not too much debris, a few trees blown over, but everything is mostly where we left it in the fall. That being said, we are nowhere near where we need to be in order to open the proverbial floodgates. There is still frost in the ground approximately 4-7 inches deep which is trapping moisture in the upper soil layer making the ground extremely soft. Also, the turf is still mostly dormant and upcoming nighttime temps in the 20's will result in a shallow re-freeze of the ground. I suspect we are at least a week or more from putting a mower on the golf course. Once we get a good mowing or two, we will think about opening. I would like to shoot for the week of the 30th, but it's up to Mother Nature. We need more heat and continued dry weather.
One unusual sight this spring was a little winter damage on #16 green. The valley in the rear of the green seems to have taken a little hit from ice coverage and extended water-logging. I have never seen this green struggle like this before, but I believe it will grow out. I will keep you posted as the spring continues if we need to do some seeding or need to close the green. The plan for now is a cocktail of fertilizers and some heat to grow out of it. It will be a slow recovery but I think it will ultimately be ok. This is a great example of how low areas that hold water and ice longer are always at risk of health issues, especially when the predominant species of turf is Poa annua. Also, we encountered an unusually high amount of deer damage especially on #6 green.
I have brought some crew back and we are starting to tackle tree work that was neglected in the fall due to the project on 14. The 4-person crew will do tree work when possible as well as normal spring cleaning around the course. Two trees on #15 remind us why species matters. Sassafras to the left of #15 were leaning quite low and upon further inspection, rot was detected. With such trashy (but lovely smelling) softwood trees, it is crucial to keep an eye on them especially when they lean and especially when multi-trunked and tending to trap moisture. We had no idea how bad it was until we cut them down today. These were good trees to remove for other reasons as well - they dropped a lot of debris into the bunkers and really offered no value to the left side of #15 other than shade and thin turf. Good riddance.
Once the weather breaks, we have much to do to finish the projects on 14 and the driving range. More on that once the water project gets buttoned up which I will cover in an upcoming post. Hopefully, I will see you on the golf course soon!
I have thoroughly surveilled the course post-thaw and I can say that overall it is in good shape. Not too much debris, a few trees blown over, but everything is mostly where we left it in the fall. That being said, we are nowhere near where we need to be in order to open the proverbial floodgates. There is still frost in the ground approximately 4-7 inches deep which is trapping moisture in the upper soil layer making the ground extremely soft. Also, the turf is still mostly dormant and upcoming nighttime temps in the 20's will result in a shallow re-freeze of the ground. I suspect we are at least a week or more from putting a mower on the golf course. Once we get a good mowing or two, we will think about opening. I would like to shoot for the week of the 30th, but it's up to Mother Nature. We need more heat and continued dry weather.
One unusual sight this spring was a little winter damage on #16 green. The valley in the rear of the green seems to have taken a little hit from ice coverage and extended water-logging. I have never seen this green struggle like this before, but I believe it will grow out. I will keep you posted as the spring continues if we need to do some seeding or need to close the green. The plan for now is a cocktail of fertilizers and some heat to grow out of it. It will be a slow recovery but I think it will ultimately be ok. This is a great example of how low areas that hold water and ice longer are always at risk of health issues, especially when the predominant species of turf is Poa annua. Also, we encountered an unusually high amount of deer damage especially on #6 green.
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| This is the back of #16 green. It will be a slow recovery for the green, but if you look up close at these brown areas, I see a lot of green turf. |
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| This is a wider shot of 16 green. You can see the water and some ice still standing. This is the only green on the course still visibly holding water as of Monday the 16th. |
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| In between some of the browned out area are these strange lines of green. Curious as to what may cause that. |
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| Number 6 was hit by a deer dance party. Should grow out nicely, but unusually high amounts of winter traffic damage this year. |
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| A look from a little farther back shows the amount of hoofprints. Sorry about the crap photo. |
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| A little gorgeous snow mold here and there as well. All in fairways and rough and not enough to worry about. What do you expect after another snow covered winter? |
I have brought some crew back and we are starting to tackle tree work that was neglected in the fall due to the project on 14. The 4-person crew will do tree work when possible as well as normal spring cleaning around the course. Two trees on #15 remind us why species matters. Sassafras to the left of #15 were leaning quite low and upon further inspection, rot was detected. With such trashy (but lovely smelling) softwood trees, it is crucial to keep an eye on them especially when they lean and especially when multi-trunked and tending to trap moisture. We had no idea how bad it was until we cut them down today. These were good trees to remove for other reasons as well - they dropped a lot of debris into the bunkers and really offered no value to the left side of #15 other than shade and thin turf. Good riddance.
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| And yes, we did find a golf ball stuck up in one of the trees. |
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| Not much left holding up a fairly large tree. |
Once the weather breaks, we have much to do to finish the projects on 14 and the driving range. More on that once the water project gets buttoned up which I will cover in an upcoming post. Hopefully, I will see you on the golf course soon!
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