There is plenty going on the course these days.  Mr. Covid paid a visit to my home and let me tell you it was not fun.  We are all better now but it was a very unpleasant experience.  It was nice returning to work and finding the course in such great shape.  The last event of the golf season occurs this week with Lentz's Revenge.  The weather looks to be amazing and it's sold out.  Enjoy the fun! 

We have a full plate before winter arrives.  Sod replacement begins mid-November.  Work will start on the 3rd hole.  There is also a leaf issue about to begin.  Trees are dropping late this fall.  That may be a blessing but no matter it is a huge job that will carry over into December.  Master plan work begins around Thanksgiving too.  The locations of the bunkers are flagged on five and fifteen.  Work will begin on hole five as we race to beat the weather.  New asphalt will be laid as soon as possible.  Check with the pro shop daily as to hole closures while this work occurs.

 

We are ready.  Are you???

We've had some serious frost this week.  Wednesday thru Saturday.  Did I mention we detest frost delays?

Frost work.  Preparing a bed at 13 tee for next spring's planting.

More frost work.  Pulling up annuals before we can get on the course.  Our tulips have arrived and planting begins this week.

All the equipment is humming and waiting for Mr. Frost to lift.

Arachnids and a dog on the 18th for the ladies event Wednesday.

The location of the bunkers on 15.  The white flags are what was on the plan and the purple is the adjusted final location.

Another view.

Five fairway bunker location.

Demoing equipment for future capital purchases.  Here Max uses an articulated rough mower.

We held our annual picnic on October 14th.  Here the boys enjoy a mess of crabs and beer.

Oure crew enjoying burgers on a beautiful afternoon.

 

 Our club championships are over just like that.  Congratulations to all the winners and we hope the course was a challenge.  It has been difficult getting typical October green speeds with the cloudy humid conditions we have been experiencing.  Expect this to change before long.  Once again cool crisp conditions were forecasted but did not happen. 

Our greens had a minor outbreak of annual bluegrass weevil larvae.  Here is damage from a green on Wednesday.  Greens were treated the following day with an insecticide.

Here's a look at the same green five days after treatment with damage just about gone.

Sand on the way to the eighth hole.  All the green side bunkers were checked for proper sand depth and sand was added where needed.

Bunker on the eighth hole just about done.

Fall asters in bloom.  

A closer look shows thousands of bees.  Take a walk by these beds sometime.  It is amazing the number of bees, butterflies and birds enjoying these areas.

Mark Waters delivering donuts to the crew in style!

        A golden sunrise.  The early bird gets the gold!

  

 

 The course has dried out and the greens have regained their speed.  Course renovation was a success so now its time to watch the grass grow.  It looks like we might get some more rain this week as we prepare for our club championship.  Let's hope its soft and beneficial.

The morning of our last big rain event.  Ominous it is!

Soft greens have been common since August.  Ball mark repair has been inconsistent.  We can do better than this.

Cutting up the downed willow from the monster storm on September 16th. 

Bunkers have been difficult to maintain this season.  For a change there was minimal wash from the last storm.  

Here Jose and Max check sand depth on the third hole.  Just getting the sand back in place has been tough this year.

New tall fescue seedlings emerging on September 18th.

Watering the rough Friday morning under Gill's supervision.

The 18th shining!

 

 Well dang if another storm has hit Springfield.  The Springfield Split is dead and the Springfield Bullseye is alive.   This was the worst so far this year and required all hands on deck to get our bunkers back in shape.  Lots of flooding with 3.6 inches in a little more than an hour.  Ouch!  The crew is tiring of these large rain events and our bunkers are showing quite a decline in performance.  Only one tree fell but there are endless branches to pick up.  We are behind again.

Storm water running over the walk bridge on hole sixteen.

I'm estimating water rose at least nine feet from normal flow.

Fish in the bunker at sixteen green.

Labor Day week renovation went well.  On Tuesday we solid deep tined aerated all the greens(pictured here) and core aerated all the tees.  After the cores were picked up the tees were cleaned and brushed before applying topdressing.

On Wednesday all greens were core aerated followed by picking up the cores, rolling and then applying sterilized topdressing.  The sand is brushed in and then the crew uses back pack blowers to fine tune any heavy deposits of sand.  Maybe you heard them?!!

Work on the fairways was done as well.  Here we shallow aerate using a tight spacing in bermudagrass affected areas to create a seedbed.  This is then drug with a steel mat and then slice seeded.  

Several fairways with minimal bermudagrsss contamination were treated with non-selective herbicides and then seeded several weeks later.  We intended to do more areas and use a soil sterilant as well but too much rain put that program on the shelf for the time being.

Bentgrass filling in after only one week.

Seeding rough with a tall fescue/bluegrass blend.  Three thousand pounds have been planted so far with another one thousand going out next week.

Seed germinating in the rough eight days after seeding.  Conditions have been really good for germinating seed this September.

Three days of tree work was done too.  Here's a pic before....

And after!  More screening will be required in this area.  Ten trees were removed and some hazard pruning was performed as well. 

Julio and Pedro cleaned up this shrub bed on hole fifteen.

September is for roses.  This hybrid tea rose is called "Touch of Class".

 August has been a real roller coaster.  After a mild start the rain and humidity arrived in excess.  One thing is for sure-never trust a long range weather forecast.  The nice weather we are experiencing was 'supposed' to begin several weeks ago.  Haha!  Anyway we made it through Ida and now the course needs to dry out so we can have the conditions necessary to have a successful fall renovation.

Testing our aeration equipment on the chipping green.

Two days before we had this unfortunate accident.  Gasoline spilt on the chipping green from a leaking gas cap on a back pack blower.  This occurred early morning before sunrise and fortunately only this green was damaged.  This will be repaired after course maintenance is completed.

Bermudagrass eradication if there is such a thing on the 5th hole.  We couldn't do as many areas as intended due to the constant rain.  A second application of a non-selective herbicide will be applied this week followed by seeding.

Back pack blowers and some great workers blowing clippings on the 7th hole.  Our crew has been through plenty of difficult working conditions of late.  They mowed the entire course on Monday and Tuesday in preparation of Ida.

Four inches of rain at my home Wednesday morning from wave one of Ida.  Somehow our course only received a half inch and we were open!  We caught a break!

Wet conditions and a beverage cart without brakes is a bad combination.

Demonstrating a deep tine fairway aerator on the 9th hole.  This area will be treated with a soil sterilant this week during course closure and then seeded the following week.

Have you ever wondered why there are dead spots on the 6th green?  This is the reason why.  Great Blue Herons doing their business as they fly over the green.

Monarch butterfly on lantana in the pollinator garden behind 15 green.

Asters blooming means fall is around the corner.

We are sorry to see these two leave. Best wishes Dawn and Billy!