Course Update

We couldn't have had better weather for our fall aeration of greens, approaches and tees earlier this week and now with the forecast calling for heavy rain the next 3 days the healing process will be expedited. The greens were aerified using 5/8in hollow core tines on a 2x2 inch spacing. The cores were removed by hand and filled with sand. The greens were brushed and rolled Tuesday afternoon and again on Wednesday afternoon. The approaches and tees were aerififed using the same tines but on a closer 1.5x2 inch spacing. The greens and approaches were overseeded with bentgrass while the heavy use tees 3,6,and 8 were seeded with ryegrass and bentgrass.

The greens and approaches were mowed this morning for the first time since aeration and everything looks great, no scalping and a nice mix of sand and grass in the buckets. The weather will dictate our mowing schedule over the next few days but you can expect to see sand on the greens into next week. The sand on the surface is extremely important for providing a firm putting surface throughout the year. The greens are topdressed weekly throughout the season but very lightly, aeration gives us an opportunity to apply large amounts of sand leveling the playing surface and really make some progress diluting our thatch layer.

Soil samples were collected from the greens during aeration and sent to Logan labs to determine what minerals our soils are lacking at the same time giving me the information that I need to construct a fertilization program for next season. These tests also give a timeline year to year on how our fertilization programs are meeting the needs of the plant.

I beg that you please please please fix your ball marks especially now after aeration and rainfall the greens are soft and ball marks are created very easily. I know many of you hate aeration and think that we are ruining the fall golf season but I will tell you that what we do now determines how the greens play next summer. Its hard to believe that but the results will be seen next season as our thatch levels decrease, plant health increases, and playability of the golf course excels.

Championship Sunday

The course received a half inch of rain last night. Green are being single cut and rolled this morning in preparation for the finals of all flights in the Club Championship. Good luck to all the players.

Spectators please keep the golf carts in the same locations as if you were playing. Any cart damage this time of year will remain for a long time.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Course Update

Yesterday's storm brought 1.8 inches of rain and very high winds. The golf course has no puddles and carts are allowed. The greens were single cut this morning, the cups were changed, and the bunkers were raked. The crew will be spending the rest of the day cleaning up the debris from the storm including branches, leaves, acorns, and pine cones. It is much easier dealing with these storms on weekdays when we have a full 8 hours dedicated to the clean-up and no noise restrictions.

The Club Championship finals will be this weekend followed by our core aeration of greens on Monday and Tuesday. A few holes will be closed Tuesday morning as we finish the greens aeration. Following the greens we will be aerating the approaches and finally the tees. The fairways will be aerated as time permits as we are not using a contractor this fall. The greens will be sandy, shaggy, and slow next week as we heal from the aeration. Next week might be a good opportunity to play some travel golf until the sand settles on our greens. The fall aeration is very important as it continues our goal of reducing thatch and growing healthier playing surfaces that are more consistent and can stand up to more frequent mowings and rollings.

Benefits of Aeration

Edging Bunkers

The crew is working on edging more of the bunkers today. They started last week and were able to finish the bunkers at the 1st and 9th greens and the 2nd fairway bunker. The weekend storm delayed the edging of the bunkers until today so we hope to complete the bunkers at 3 and 6 greens today while finishing the rest of the bunkers next week.

The greens are drying down and firming up allowing us to groom them frequently picking up speed and trueness. Certain approaches and collars that remain wet are suffering with the cooler and wetter weather causing turf decline and leaving thin areas. The aeration starting on Sept. 24th will aid in the recovery of these areas. These areas that are extremely thin will be aerated a second time around mid-October. Over-seeding will take place after both aerations.

Please remember to fix your ball marks, fill your divots, put the flagsticks back in the hole, and tap your shoes upon exiting the bunkers. These simples procedures are every players responsibility and allow for the golf course to be in great shape for every member and guest.

3 Bunker Edging in Progress

9 Bunker Edge Complete

Storm Damage

The rain and storm events from yesterday dropped 1 inch of rain coupled with lots of debris from the trees. The 6th hole was the most effected with three treesfalling down on the right of the hole. The White Pines lost many of their pine cones littering the bunkers, greens, and fairways. The cone droppings are just another addition to a long list of why White Pines do not belong on a golf course. The positives are the work done over the years on the trees, drainage, and aeration gave us the opportunity to play the 1st round of the club championship with only a half hour delay this morning. The crew did a great job to get the course playable but there will be alot of clean-up to do on Tuesday.

Pine Cones littering the 1st Bunker

Pine Cones littering the Practice Green

Debris 6 Fairway

Fallen Trees 6 Cart Path

September is Here

The unofficial end of summer has arrived and MGC was busy with the Men's Stag tournament on Friday, weekend play, and two shotgun events on Monday. Craig and his staff had a raffle to support the Folds of Honor, which supports soldiers families through scholarships and other assistance programs. The concept of the Folds of Honor raffle was fully supported by the Board allowing MGC to donate $1,180.00. Thank you to all who supported our troops and their families.

The fall season gives us an opportunity to feed and renovate the turf on the golf course allowing for good root growth and carbohydrate reserves to be built up going into dormancy. Today we were able to vent the collars, topdress the greens, and apply our soil flush of potassium and calcium to the greens. The heavy rain forecast for today and tomorrow will delay out fall application of organic granular fertilizer to the tees and fairways. This application is very important for the turf and I do not want the material to move if we have heavy down pours and puddling on the golf course. The plant protectants that are due to be applied today must dry on the turf so I will be postponing them until the weather changes.

September 24th and 25th will be greens aeration followed by approaches and tees. These aerations are the single most important agronomic process that we do on the golf course and the most hated by golfers. The greens, tees, and approaches will be dirty, sandy, and shaggy for 10-14 days while we complete these processes. The fairways will be solid tine aerified in-house as time allows later in October. No mess will occur on the fairways this fall. I will explain in more detail at the end of the month.