We continue to play catch up on the course and we are almost able to breathe.  The biggest discussion we hear concerns the rough.  We are doing what we can to improve the playability of it.  We lowered the intermediate rough today and will evaluate where that height of cut puts us.  We will be mowing it two directions to encourage the turf to grow straight up and hopefully improve your lie.  No matter what we take your comments both good and bad as a compliment of the fine stand we have established!

 

The dreaded bad lie just off the fairway.

 

 

A better lie at 1 3/4 inches.

 

 

Divot repairs have been good and we thank you.  Here a repaired divot is growing back.

 

 

Which lie would you rather have? This or...

 

 

THIS !

 

 

Now that carts are permitted please refrain from sharp turns.

 

 

A bermudagrass plant in our new fairways.  We will start spot spraying fairways next week.

 

 

Topdressing tees and approaches this week.  The sand will help firm up the approaches.

 

 

Julio and Armando are doing some nice plantings this spring.

 

 

We are finally having some nice results in our bluebird houses after a slow start.  Here two tree swallows are resting during nest building time.

 

 

 

 

We encountered another bad storm this week.  Unfortunately the course didn't fare as well this time.  Four inches of rain in a short period was too much and we had plenty on our table to get the course back in shape.  Many of the bunkers received significant erosion and required lots of man power to make them playable.   This cool wet spring has made the rough very difficult to keep up with as well.  We are mowing the rough at least twice a week, sometimes more often.  Beginning Tuesday we are lifting the cart restrictions which should make everyone happy and hopefully ease some of the difficulty players are experiencing.  The third hole will open as well.  Lastly the greens are getting back into shape after aerification.  We thank you for your patience through this necessary evil.

 

Bunker washout on hole fifteen.  We must skim off silt before pushing sand back into place.

 

 

Kiv having fun in the sand.

 

 

The finished bunker.  No more washouts!

 

 

The new yardage plaques have been installed.

 

 

The fairway bent is producing some great roots.

 

 

We are seeing some great divot recovery.  Crystal BlueLinks has excellent lateral growth.

 

 

The broken water line has been repaired behind the third green but we have developed a spring which will be repaired when the course finally dries up.

 

 

Oscar and Francisco worked hard getting our mowers back into shape on Friday and mowed with them for the first time after aeration on Saturday.  We begin lowering the height of cut on Monday.  The greens should be very good next week.

Spring and now summer have arrived!  This warm weather looks short lived though as more moderate temperatures are expected by the middle of next week.  We are almost complete with most of our early season applications and will soon be on our routine maintenance through the summer.  Greens aerification went well except for some logistical mix ups on our end which we apologize for.  The greens should rapidly heal with warm weather.  The new turf continues to impress.  There has been considerable discussion about the rough, particularly the density of it.  We have lowered the height of the first cut slightly and will continue to monitor the playability of the primary rough.  Please remember this is new turf which requires a bit of pampering.  Lastly the 3rd hole is about ready to open.  Our target is May 21st.  We also intend to open the course to carts at this time weather permitting.  Hallelujah!

 

The course received nearly 4 inches of rain on April 30th.  We were able to open the course the following day!

 

 

Yikes!  That is scary to see driving into the club.

 

 

This is the green the day after aerification.  We try to fill all the holes and then allow the turf to grow through the sand before mowing.  This disruptive process is necessary for the long term success of our greens.

 

 

This probably looks familiar.  That is not a terrible lie but is more difficult with the amount of grain involved.  We have begun mowing against the grain to stand the turf up more and then repeating the opposite direction.

 

 

Our step cut around the green collars is beginning to look nice and defined.

 

 

The color contrast between the bent and the fescue is outstanding.  We applied an herbicide to remove annual bluegrass in the new rough last fall and it was quite a success.  Untreated annual bluegrass in the rough can be seen next to the fairway (the light green patches).

 

 

We have begun several test plots to evaluate the herbicide Exonerate.  This herbicide takes out annual bluegrass in bentgrass fairways.  Rates are 1 ounce per acre every two weeks with four applications recommended.

 

 

The chipping fairway is now open.  This shows proper practice technique from last fall where the turf can recover faster.  Notice the nice lateral growth across the divots.

 

 

This area has not recovered from last fall.  Please take individual divots or in a continual line.

 

 

The cool spring has been great for our pansies and tulips.  What a recovery from a tough winter.

 

 

The last tulips of 2014.  We begin removing them this week.

 

 

Quincy enjoying a nice break in the wintercreeper bed by the practice green.