Memorial Day Flags

Happy Memorial Day. We had a large storm blow through this morning dumping close to 4 tenths of an inch of rain. We were able to mow and roll the greens despite the rain so I hope you enjoy the day I ask all members and guests today to please use the stands next to the green for the flag sticks as we do not want the American Flags touching the ground.
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Trip of a Lifetime

Mike McCarthy, our mechanic, left today with his wife and son Ryan on a trip to China. This is a very important trip for the McCarthy family as they are going to adopt their daughter. The process of adopting a baby from China is a very long one, about 4 years in the making, but now is the time and they are on their way. Mike has been working at MGC for almost 10 years, the last four with myself and I have been hearing Mike's stories about the adoption process since I started. I ask all the memebers of MGC to keep Mike and his family in your thoughts as they go through this three week adventure.

Course Update

We have received close to 5 inches of rain in the past week and more seems to be on the way this week as well. We are very fortunate that we drain so well and that we very rarely have to restrict carts on the golf course. The weather recently seems much different then the hot and dry conditions that we suffered last summer which caused extensive damage to our greens. Today I actually began the preparations for the disease summer patch and the annual bluegrasss weevil insect, the two main problems we had last year. These monthly applications will help protect our greens against these pests this summer. The greens were topdressed again this morning continuing our program of diluting the thatch throughout the entire growing season. Hopefully the sun will come out and the playing conditions will improve on the course this week.

Venting

MGC has received over an inch of rain the last two days and with 5 more days of rain predicted, today was a great time to vent the greens. I used our Bayonet tines to slice the greens allowing for gas exchanged and to help dry the greens after all this rain.
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Good Weather

This past week was full of sunny, dry days and the amount of golfers on the course this week were a testament to that. We were very busy this week with our normal maintenance jobs around the course but we were able to do a few extra jobs as well. The rough this week was a 40 hour full time job for two machines. We did our best to mow all of the rough twice and certain areas three times to help with all the clipping and fast growth. We used the groomers on our greens mowers this week three times to help stand the turf up giving us a cleaner cut, better ball roll and quicker greens without lowering the height of cut. We added 23 tons of bunker sand to various bunkers around the course that desperately needed sand. The addition of sand will help the rock situation in our bunkers but really is only a band-aid on the larger problem that our bunkers will need to be rebuilt in the near future. The greens committee and I are looking into costs associated with a bunker renovation. The 8th green has a lot of seed germinating and along with some plugging from our nursery the turf should be mostly healed by Memorial Day. I will be venting all the greens like we have done to #8 on Monday allowing for better rooting and water infiltration before the weather turns hot. Those that have played this week are seeing many different shades of green, yellow and brown on the golf course. This week's article from the USGA describes what is causing these colors. The following is an excerpt from Dave Oatis:

Bentgrass throughout the middle and southern part of the Northeast Region now is showing the effects of cool nights and mechanical injury.  Plenty of bentgrass is off color, has a bronze cast, and may be experiencing some thinning.  AB right next to the bentgrass looks perfectly healthy.  Many misdiagnose this as leaf spot, and while a disease may be involved, it usually is nothing more than the weather.  When warmer temperatures arrive, the growth rate of the bentgrass will take off, and the discoloration will dissipate.

If you would like to read the entire article here is the link USGA May Article

New Yardage Markers

I have installed new red, white and blue yardage markers on the 5th, 6th, and 9th holes. We had to stop using the little sticks from last year because the fox would steal them every night and chew the rubber gromet off the bottom. It cost $21 each to replace these sticks so it just became too expensive of a game to play with the fox. I have started a poll to the right of my blog asking how you, the members, like the new markers and if you want us to install them on the rest of the golf course.

Proper Usage of MGC's New Ball Mark Tools

ForeGreens is designed specifically with a single "fork" which is less invasive to turf and root systems. Two prong tools are inserted and then twisted to create the necessary effect, but in reality they disrupt and tear the green's sensitive root system. Not only does the ForeGreens tool repair the impact area better than traditional metal prong tools, it is lighter and more comfortable to use as well as being an environmentally friendly alternative to metal.

These are available at no cost in the golf shop and please remember that it is every player's responsibility to fix their ball marks.