Winter Preparations

We are beginning to prepare for winter on the golf course by aerating the greens using both a contracted deep tine aeration followed by our equipment using a smaller hole on a tighter spacing. These holes will allow for rapid drainage of the green surfaces during the winter months preventing against the potential for ice forming on the greens. The open channels in the soil will also provide ample space for the roots to grow this spring. The greens were rolled following these practices then topdressed with sand to begin protecting the crown of the plant from winter damage. We will continue to topdress the greens over the next few weeks as the sand works into the canopy of the turf building a layer of insulation around the crown (base) of the plant. Final applications of plant protectants for snow mold control will be applied as well in the next few weeks depending on weather conditions. The crew is finishing up their season this week but will return for one day to install the covers on the 7th and 8th greens protecting them from sleigh riders.

Deep Tine Aeration

Close Spacing Aeration

Course Update

The great fall weather stuck around for most of this week and mother nature even gave us an inch of rain on Tuesday, much needed as we are still 10 inches below normal. We were able to complete the lighting project on the front entrance columns, along the driveway, and at the front door of the clubhouse this week. As I pulled in this morning, the entrance to the club just looked great, much more inviting, safer, and the beautiful blue stone columns at the entrance finally look the way they were intended. As the season nears an end and our crew prepares to leave for the winter the water fountain from 7 tee was brought in for the season along with all the ball washers. Next week we will be removing the bunker rakes and the porch furniture for winter storage.

New this late fall season we will be aerating the greens this coming Monday utilizing a contractor to deep aerate to a depth of 9 inches followed by our machine using 1/4 inch solid tines. The greens will be then topdressed with sand preparing them for winter. This late aeration of the greens will allow us to not aggressively aerate the greens in the spring of 2017. The cold springs the past two season have created a challenge to heal the greens following the April aeration so we instead will aerfiy now thus having much better playing surfaces for the entire spring season.

November Update

We are in full fall operation now with the leaves falling and frost delays some mornings. Leaves will be the priority now that turf growth has slowed down. We are continuing to vent the greens on a weekly basis, these tiny 5mm holes create air spaces in the soil profile that allow the roots areas to grow. Do not be concerned that this will affect green speed as they have been over 11 the past 10 days. We are continuing to brush mow the greens reducing longer blades of grass producing healthier more consistent surfaces. Final applications of fertilizer being applied to greens and tees building carbohydrate reserves in the plant during the fall months producing roots and preparing us for 2017. Topdressing of tees and approaches will continue through the fall into the early winter to help firm these surfaces ahead of next season. The approval to install new lights on the entrance columns was given by the board so we will be installing the new wiring and fixtures this month.

Fall is a great time of year for turf