We are experiencing some terrific weather for late August.  Unfortunately we remain in a Springfield drought.  This week the course will be closed for fall maintenance beginning September 3rd thru the 5th.  Since the course is under a good amount of stress we will be very conservative in our approach and it should bounce back quickly with cooler temperatures and some needed rain. 

 

Our greens have performed remarkably well this season under some demanding weather.  We lightly topdress them every two weeks on Mondays.

 

 

All fairway divots were filled as well as picking any stray crabgrass plants.  Mondays are good for the course!

 

 

More Monday work- Brush cutting the area to the right of #12.

 

 

Three men worked exclusively weeding beds.

 

 

Lastly we worked on our maintenance fence.

 

 

The wildflower beds will be planted next week. 

 

 

We got a jump on maintenance by aerating all the tees on Wednesday.  These will be topdressed and seeded this week.

 

 

We also began seeding the rough with our new seeder.  Over two thousand pounds were planted.

 

 

The seeder cuts a slice about 1/2 inch deep and places the seed directly in the groove with minimal damage.

 

 

Annual bluegrass weevils have been in abundance of late.  The little black dot in the center of the picture is the adult.

 

 

The yellow blemish seen here is damage from the larval stage of this insect.  We feel like we have a pretty good handle on managing this pest.

 

 

Many thanks to Bill Darden for Quincy's memorial plaque.  We moved all of the plaques by the 17th tee this week.

 

 

Finally found!  A monarch butterfly caterpillar feasting on milkweed.

 

 

Swallowtails have been in abundance this summer.

Look close and you'll see what looks like a hummingbird but is actually a hummingbird moth.

 

 

Another sunrise special!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a brief respite we are back in another hot humid period.  The lack of rain has put additional stress on the course and our staff.  Our last one inch rain event was on July 12th.  The course has received just under three inches of rain from July 12th to now.  We began purchasing water last week as well.  The weather breaks after today so the worst looks to be over.  Maybe some beneficial rain is coming which is needed as we head into course renovation.

 

This is an example why we restrict carts to the path when the turf is under heat stress.

 

 

Despite the tough weather the course is in pretty good shape overall.

 

 

We have been using the irrigation system more than we would like.

 

 

Mondays continue to be the bomb.  Here Jose B and Luis repair a broken pipe on the fifth hole before the real heat arrives.

 

 

Josh and Max did extensive hand watering throughout the course.  Nothing beats a hose for getting the water exactly where the turf needs it.

 

 

The number of trees suddenly failing is alarming.  This white oak on the second hole just collapsed last week.  We have a tree specialist coming today to examine specific weak trees.

 

 

Dogwoods dropping leaves near the 18th green.

 

 

Julio and Rony spent all day watering ornamentals throughout the course.

 

 

The crew also repaired the bridge on the 7th hole.  The piping is made of metal and is rusting on the bottom causing sinkholes when we receive big rains.

 

 

All greenside bunkers were edged as well.

 

 

Butterflies have been abundant throughout the course this summer.

 

 

Two fawns on the 7th hole.  The amount of wildlife on our course is remarkable.

 

 

No words for this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ugh.  The storm on Wednesday was all bark and no bite.  We received a measly quarter inch and are days away from buying water.  We had a bad lightning hit to an oak at the entrance of the turf care center that could have been horrible if someone had been there.  Just guessing that tree won't survive.
It will rain eventually but the course is stressed and is requiring some tender loving care.  Carts have been restricted to the path in the afternoon on several holes and this trend looks to continue.  We have only received 2.25 inches of rainfall since July 12th.

Mondays continue to be of great benefit to the course and we hope you are noticing.  This week we used bayonet tines on all the collars and specific tees, repaired divots and pulled crabgrass plants in the fairways, sprayed and watered in a wetting agent on specific fairways (as well as watering throughout the course), fertilized all the flowers, edged and firmed up the green side bunkers and spent some quality time working on the collars.  Whew that's a load!

 

Pretty mean looking.

 

 

Lightning hit on a large red oak.

 

 

Trees continue to die without warning.  This is a large oak near the 18th tee.

 

 

Pedro pulling goosegrass plants on the third hole.

 

 

Francisco venting the collars.  We will do the tees on Monday.

 

 

Nice and neat results.

 

 

Richard doing some scratching and seeding afterwards.

 

 

How the 15th approach appeared the day after a wetting agent was applied.

 

 

Julio fertilizing annuals throughout the course.

 

 

Bunker detailing performed every two weeks.

 

 

Richard watering while areas just to our west are getting hammered with rain!!!!

 

 

Expanding the 16th fairway and improving your game!  This small area was not treated for bermudagrass contamination and was a bad lie until now.

 

 

Butterflies are in abundance in the garden behind 15 green.

 

 

Monarchs are just now showing up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Due to operator error my newsletter article didn't make Club Life (must have been the heat).  Anyway here it is:

 

 

GOLF COURSE REPORT

 

 

August has arrived and we are prepping the course for late summer renovation.  Hopefully July's heat will not carry over into August.  This has been a successful summer for the course and we hope it will continue.  Currently we have ordered seed for the rough (along with bentgrass for fine turf areas).  We use a combination 90% tall fescue/10% Kentucky bluegrass.  This month we purchased a Redexim seeder that will help us better establish cool season turf in the rough.  This seeder is heavy and uses its weight to cut a vertical slice into the soil.  The seed is then distributed into this channel.  It is a very clean operation and requires no additional work.  The Redexim is a great machine to use in the common bermudagrass areas of the rough and fairways.  Wish us success!

 

The Green Committee and Board met with Elliott Dowling (our USGA agronomist) on July 31st.  The results of his visit will be available later this month.  This is always a fun day interacting with the Green Committee and a great opportunity to learn some agronomy.  Ask any member of the Committee and they will tell you growing grass is hard!  See you on the course.

 

                                                                       

                                                                          Lentz Wheeler

                                                                          Golf Course Superintendent

 

This last week has been another tough one and the course couldn't quite keep the positive momentum going after the brief cool spell.  Collars have really been dinged up as well as some tees that routinely fade in poor weather.  We will begin some early repairs in the collars and these will be marked as mandatory ground under repair.  Please avoid walking through these areas..  We are in our first real dry spell of the season and are hoping for some rain to provide some relief.  We were so close this morning and had a brief lightning delay but no rain yet.

 

Mondays continue to be the bomb.  All the greens were lightly topdressed and the driving range tee received a heavy dose.

 

 

After the sand is applied the greens are lightly watered to knock the sand down into the canopy.  All mowing is delayed for a day and the greens are only rolled to minimize mower pickup and damage to the blades.

 

 

It has been a rough three week period and the golf course is vulnerable to damage that will take a while to recover from.  This is from a junior golf event.  I'll say it again-who is teaching kids to play this way?

 

 

Excessive divots right next to the practice green......

 

 

and a gazillion unrepaired ball marks!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

A divot on the 17th green-Really????

 

 

Divots in the collar at 17 green. 

 

 

We had a beautiful dew formation Thursday morning-the first nice one in a while.  The course is ready for some beneficial rain.

 

 

Here is some exceptional crabgrass control with Drive herbicide in the rough around the 5th tee and not hurting the cool season turf.

 

 

This is our collar and tee nursery behind the 14th green.  Sometimes the growing environment is just too difficult.  We are abandoning this site and trying somewhere else.

 

 

The guys are doing some beautiful mulching throughout the course.