Fence

The contractor is installing the cedar fence behind the 4th green this week. There are a few items that I will finish as the weather permits such as the cart path modification and some plantings to soften the end of the fence and cart turnaround. The project has turned out great.

New Neighbor

One of the homes on our second fairway was torn down today, looks like we will have some new neighbors soon.

USGA Update

Frost, Temporary Greens, Budgets, and Balance

By Adam Moeller, agronomist, Northeast Region
December 13, 2011

Golf in the northeast has slowed significantly over the past week as frost delays are getting longer and darkness hits earlier each day. It’s tough on anyone hoping to get in a few more rounds before the New Year.  Traffic on frost-covered turf can be very damaging; although the delays may be frustrating, they are necessary to preserve the long-term health of the grass.  Turf has gone dormant (i.e. stopped growing) at most courses in the region, so it’s a great time to close the greens and direct play onto temporary surfaces.  Traffic and subsequent thinning on dormant greens will not recover until growth resumes in the spring, which can ultimately impact spring and summer conditions.  Playing conditions on the greens at this point are sure to be bumpy and inconsistent and often don’t play much better than quality temporary greens anyway.  Although the decision may be unpopular, directing play to temporary surfaces will lead to better putting green turf next year. 

Daily maintenance programs have scaled back significantly, and, in many cases, replaced by course improvement projects, equipment repair, and/or tree pruning/removal.  Courses that take advantage of the offseason to install drainage, remove trees that block sunlight and air movement, and many other course improvement projects increase their ability to produce good golf conditions and healthy turf for the upcoming season, so take advantage of the dry weather and frozen soils.          

Many golf course superintendents have recently finalized their operating budgets for next season.  The economy has affected every course differently, but it’s safe to say that only a small proportion of courses have seen increases in operating budgets over the past few seasons.  Golfers should be aware that the overall budget, particularly resources allocated towards labor, is the most influential factor in producing a well-conditioned golf course.  If golf conditions have not fallen short of your expectations, realize that changes in the operating budget may be a major underlying factor. 

Finally, enjoy some down time away from the golf course with friends and family.  Superintendents should use the offseason to reflect back on the tough year and try to re-energize for next season.  The work/life balance is usually challenging for everyone, and the holiday season provides a great opportunity to regain some stability and take a breath.   

Everyone in the Northeast Region hopes you have a happy and safe holiday season!            

Greens Covers

The greens have been treated to protect them from pink and gray snow mold during the winter months. A heavy layer of sand has been applied to the greens to help insulate the crowns of the plants during the cold months ahead. An extra layer of protection was installed today in the form of Evergreen turf covers. The 5th, 8th, and nursery greens were covered to allow for more winter protection and earlier spring green up. Some advantages from using these covers are stronger root development, eliminating winter foot traffic from golfers and animals, as well as keeping the geese droppings off the green surface. These covers were left over from the construction project 8 years ago so there was no new cost involved in their use.

Carts

The golf course received 2.3 inches of rain yesterday so carts are finished for the year. In happier news the members can look forward to new golf carts from Club Car next season.
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Update

The weather is less then favorable but the crew got 7 bunker and the front bunker on 2 finished today before the rain shut them down. The ground is very soft so there will be some repairs needed in the rough through aeration and seed in the areas where equipment was needed.

Construction Update

The project is moving along on holes 2,4 and 7. All of the drainage and bunker shaping is finished. The liner and sand has been installed on #7 while the crew is working on the second hole today. The new irrigation has been installed on 2 and 4 greens with all new heads to water the greens and new heads to water the rough and bunkers. This is a much more efficient and accurate way to irrigate. The same irrigation set-up was installed on the putting green and #7 a few years ago with great success. We will be laying the sod this week and the fence behind 4 green will be installed early next week. Once the construction is finished I will still have some work to do in-house with the cart path at the 3rd tee and there will be some areas in the rough that will need to be aerified and seeded in the spring.

#7 bunker with sand and liner waiting for sod

Installing the Sand Mat 200 liner

Rolling the irrigation lines after installation