Cold, cold and more cold is the word.  We haven't seen a winter like this in a while so hunker down and stay warm.  Most of our work is inside right now.  The crew is working on equipment and preparing golf course accessories for the upcoming season. Each morning the parking lot is checked for slippery spots and ice melt is spread as needed.  We use magnesium chloride for ice melt because it is safer on concrete and more environmentally friendly.  It melts ice down to fifteen degrees but it has been much colder than that of late so we have substituted sand in its place.  Mr. Groundhog makes his prediction next week and we are feeling a little apprehensive at the moment!

 

Mag chloride for ice melt.  There is a shortage due to the nasty winter we are experiencing.

 

 

Group painting powwow.

 

 

We use a product called Vinyl Guard on all rake handles and hazard stakes instead of painting.  Here Jose is using a heat gun to  shrink wrap a bunker rake handle.  Vinyl Guard provides a more professional and longer lasting finish than paint. 

 

 

White pine removal between 14 and 15.

 

 

Large pine taken down near the 2nd green damaged from the ice storm.

 

 

View from the 7th tee with the pine gone.

 

 

Sod repair in the 8th fairway before the bad weather hit.

 

 

Finished just in time.  Winter is a great time to sod if the ground can be worked.

 

 

 

Annual bluegrass invasion in the 18th fairway.  Voids where we had difficult time growing bent had some annual bluegrass contamination.  Without sterilizing the soil this was impossible to prevent.

 

 

Murphy's Law at work.  Annual bluegrass in the 18th fairway (the straw colored grass) facing the clubhouse of course!

 

 

A small patch in the 10th fairway.  This will be removed gradually using growth regulators and new selective herbicides.

 

 

Deer enjoying the snow mid-day.

 

 

Want to play?

Winter work continues to move along.  We are not yet feeling the pinch of the coming golf season but its only a little more than six weeks away!  Weather dictates how much we are able to accomplish on the course and with this mild break we have been able to tackle multiple chores throughout the course.

 

The chipping from the ice storm is complete but there is always more.

 

 

Spreading chip piles.

 

 

Working the pond banks on a cold frosty morning.

 

 

New drainage continues to perform.  This is excessive water being released from the 8th fairway on a very cold day.  Water has not stopped running in this drain since it was installed.

 

 

French drainage pulling water out of the 7th fairway.

 

 

We applied an herbicide to the newly seeded rough to selectively remove annual bluegrass. These areas will fill in rapidly in the spring.

 

 

There has been some encroachment of grassy weeds in some areas of the fairways but nothing to be alarmed about and not unexpected.  The green turf is Poa trivialis or roughstalk bluegrass in the 8th approach.

 

 

There is so little we can easily remove it by hand.

 

 

Our greens have many varieties of bent and annual bluegrass.  When it gets cold these segregate out and make the greens look very mottled.  Once warm weather arrives the turf transitions back to a uniform green color.

 

 

Spring will eventually get here.  These daffodils are just emerging near the 6th green.  These were blooming at the same time last year!

Happy New Year from Ice Station Springfield.  It is a frigid three degrees this morning and we are working inside today.  Fortunately this cold weather will only be here for a few days.  The mild weather we experienced prior to New Years Day allowed us put turf blankets on greens 3,4,and 5 and all the new tees on the 5th hole.  Our timing could not have been better.  These blankets insulate the turf and help prevent winterkill in this very cold section of our golf course.  Hopefully they will hasten the rooting of the fifth tee also.

 

A heavy frost on the 5th hole with turf blankets on the tee and green.

 

 

Another view of the covered tees.

 

We have begun cutting back all growth around the lakes and creeks.  This is the dam side of #5 lake.

 

 

The crew working on the 3rd hole.

 

 

Damage to the first fairway from walking on the turf when frozen.

 

 

This unit heats our equipment shop using waste oil from all of our equipment.

 

 

There is one employee that doesn't mind the cold.  Quincy in action herding the geese.

 

 

The classic border collie pose.