Merry Christmas! As the prime rib cooks I thought i'd give a final 2016 update.  Seventeen tee is done and just in the nick of time.  The complex turned out beautiful and makes the course more playable for all.  Our crew is just about sodded out as the last bit was installed on maybe the coldest day of the coming winter last week.  We have an new lawn around much of the clubhouse which should add to your enjoyment during summer activities.

A brand new lawn to be enjoyed in 2017.

An almost completed 17th tee.  Added length from the gold and shorter from the forward tees should be appealing to all. 

In need of golf balls?  Check out the newly cleaned creek on seven and eight.  The guys wrapped this  up on Friday before Christmas.

"Winter Red" deciduous hollies starting to show their berries for the first time since installation.

Winter arrived early and slowed down some of our projects.  Weather permitting the construction of the 17th tee and coinciding lake work will be completed this week.  Cold weather has shut down greens 3,4 and 5 for the season.  These will be covered next week.  Final fungicide applications to all greens, tees and fairways were applied last week ending any mowing until next spring.  The course is finally moist from the recent rains so the irrigation system has been drained and will be winterized soon.

The end wall form is set and ready for concrete.

Placing topsoil around the new tee.  Irrigation will be installed Tuesday followed by final grading and sod installation.

Our staff adding some long overdue drainage by the 7th green tee.

No more puddle!

Blowing leaves from fairways before spraying.

The last major leaf work of the year on Monday.

Temporary green and leaves!

Rain and cooler weather have finally arrived.  Most of the leaves are down so we hope to wrap them up this week. Haha! It seems the leaves are never done.  Windy conditions have tested our staff as well as a welcome rain event.  We laid almost half an acre of fescue sod around the weather.  The 17th tee project is going well.  With rain forecast for much of the coming week it will be interesting to see what gets accomplished.

Before tee construction began we chose to relocate the birch tree to the other side of the pond.

Sod from the 17th tee now on the 4th forward tee.  This will be covered for the winter and remain closed until spring.

Tee construction underway.

The majority of the soil for the tees was generated from the 4th hole.  A new concrete end wall will be added to the existing drain pipe.  This entire area will be sodded and maintained at rough height.

Preparing for new rough on the 17th hole.  Weather will dictate how much more we can do.  So far we have laid nearly two acres!

Leaf work is a daily chore.  The wood chip areas are ideal for moving leaves into and then mulching.

Ducks have arrived in our ponds but no sign yet of you know who.  I'm gonna give Jack credit!  I counted 36 mallards and nine hooded mergansers the other day.  

The spectacular fall weather ended abruptly Saturday and it feels like winter is here.  It continues to be extremely dry and we are in need of some rain.  It is rare to see the lake so low and sprinklers flying but   that is where we are at.  Leaf work has been relatively straight forward this fall and we have been able to keep up.  Sod work is going well though we are watering more than usual.  The biggest news is the Board approved the renovation of the 17th tee which begins on Monday.  Three sets of tees will be built and locations are flagged.  In addition the collapsed end wall in the lake inlet on #4 will be repaired.  The soil generated in this area will provide the base for the new tees.

Ten creek before we worked on it and…

After! 

Another view.  We still have some work on the green side of the ditch.

More work on the 14th hole.

Flagged area representing the area of disturbance at 4 lake inlet.

Championship tee location.  The mound close to 16 green will be removed and the birch tree will be 

relocated.

Shared blue and white tee location.

Green and red tee location.

The level of our irrigation lake is low.

Overseeded bermudagrass in 16 rough with some "check plots!"

Lots of late fall fertility on most of the course.  This is probably the most important time to fertilize cool season turf as the food is stored in the plant for next season.

Roses blooming on November 15th!!!!

The beautiful fall weather continues benefitting both golfers and the course as we motor along towards Thanksgiving.  This week looks like another mid-October special!  Sunday featured our first killing frost so there goes the last of our summer annuals and in come the tulips.  We have used an unusual amount of water this fall as we are quite dry and temperatures have been running above normal.

The day after Lentz's Revenge featuring a nice sunrise.

The remnants of a fun day.  Thanks to my staff for a great tournament and a great year!

Bulb planting is now in go mode.  If you have bulbs now is the time to plant.  Remember to water them after planting and keep moist if it remains dry.

Heavy winds on a Saturday knocked down a white pine next to the pump house.

Irrigating the 17th green and pretty unusual for November. 

Preparing for new sod on the fifth hole.

Working on the tenth hole.  We softened the creek bank for better playability and aesthetics.

Just about ready for sod.

Laying the sod is the easy part.  This is the best time to lay sod as it readily roots in and requires minimal watering.  Even though top growth has stopped roots continue to grow.

Fall color has been late arriving and short lived.

One of our honeybees pollinating a begonia behind 18 green?  Could be as one of our colonies made it through the season.

Groody's Groomers posing after their last divot patrol featuring Board member Bob McNamara!

Beautiful weather has been dominating for quite a while.  It is rewarding to see the golf course in such good shape as we enter November.  It promises to be quite a busy fall as the leaves have hardly begun falling.

Look who's running again!

The golf course has been in marvelous shape most of the season capped off by the excellent October weather we have experienced.  Here Jack surveys the ninth fairway and some nice straight mowing lines.  Checkers anyone?

Always trying to improve the fairways here Richard seeds bent into some common bermuda patches.

Bent seed is tiny. Hopefully it will establish in some of the bermuda areas before winter arrives.

What a nasty weed.

We had our first frost on the 26th of October which is quite late.  Frost delays can be expected as we go forward into the fall.  Walking on frosted turf bruises the turf and can actually kill it if allowed to continue.  Frost delays are a pain for all concerned but necessary to keep the turf in it's best condition.

All the approaches and specific fairways were topdressed recently.  We hope to do this one more time before winter arrives.  Topdressing firms up the surface allowing better roll and playability and helps reduce the development of unnecessary thatch.

Diseased roses that refused to bloom were removed at the1st tee and replaced with European Hornbeams.  Additional landscaping will be added.

A nice improvement.

How about that sunrise!