Course Update

We are concentrating most of our efforts on keeping up with the leaves around the course but we are still mowing although on a reduced schedule. I will continue to topdress the greens with sand weekly until growth has stopped providing a protective layer of sand around the crown (growing point) of the plant going into winter. We have been busy with our small in-house projects around the course:

• Two new forward tees on 2 and 6 have been constructed and sodded with our own sod from the nursery. These tees have been mowed once and will be open for play in the spring.
• Installing new irrigation along the right rough of the 5th hole in two locations, right rough of the 6th hole near the green, rough between 4 tee and fairway, and the 2nd fairway bunker.
• Squaring off tees on certain holes to allow for better tee marker placement as well as realigning certain tees toward the green

The irrigation system will be blown out mid-November protecting it from freezing temperatures. We are beginning to remove the divot buckets from the tees as well as the other course accessories as the temperatures drop including ball washers, trash cans, and bunker rakes.

Course Update

The fall season is in full force with leaves and pine needles falling at a good clip now, dark mornings, and cool temperatures. Growth of the turf is starting to slow but root production will continue for another 4-5 weeks so I will continue to apply Potassium and Calcium to help the roots along. The crew was busy verticutting the greens on Tuesday and Friday as well as constructing two new forward tees on the 2nd and 6th holes. These tees will be in play next season moving toward our ultimate goal of having 4 sets of markers on every hole, Blue-White-Green-Gold. I understand how frustrating losing your golf ball is in leaves. Be assured that we are working on leaf clean-up everyday but projects like constructing tees, upcoming irrigation upgrades, and basic mowing takes time away from leaf clean-up. In better news the native areas around the course have been mowed down so they can be treated for weeds allowing for easier discovery of your ball in those areas. The color of the trees around the course are just beginning to change so the next few weeks should provide some great scenery. Frost delays will likely begin toward the end of the month so please call ahead to the pro shop and obey all frost signs as any damage to the turf will be visible until the spring. Frost can form at temperatures 40 and below if the conditions are appropriate.

Important Changes

As part of our effort to improve Pace of Play the forward markers have been changed from the color Red to the color Green. I encourage all of the members to evaluate you individual golf game and choose the markers that best suit your handicap. If your unsure what markers are best suited for your game talk with the staff in the pro shop and they can help with your decision. An interesting challenge would be to see if you can shoot a better score from the green markers then from the white/blue markers.

The aeration of the fairways was completed on Monday completing the aeration of the short turf surfaces for this season. The greens were aerated two and half weeks ago and are healing in nicely. The pictures below show what the aeration is doing in the soil profile.

Core-Aeration removing organic matter in the top 4 inches

The two sand dots show how deep the sand profile is in the deep-tine channels

Forward tees are now Green