Happy Holidays!  Drainage work couldn't have gone better prior to Christmas.  All work was completed except for the 3rd hole before the Christmas Eve deluge.  Can you say perfect timing!  The 3rd hole drainage begins on January 4th and that will complete this project.

Adding a six inch drain line from the chipping and practice green to the creek on nine.  There are several basins in this line as well.

The completed drainage with plenty of water flowing.

We added a diversion berm on the 8th hole with soil from the 9th hole drainage spoils.  Storm water use to cross the rough and then follow the fairway towards the tee.  Water now follows the path and releases left of the cart path.

More aeration and dormant overseeding in bermudagrass on the 8th hole.

Covering cold, shady greens for winter.  These covers will be removed in March.

'Tis the season for cold hard frosts.  Walking on frozen turf bruises and can actually kill the grass. Gill knows better! 

Have a socially distanced and healthy holiday.  From our staff to you Happy Holidays!

  

What a weekend we are experiencing.  Sixty degrees in December and a packed golf course.  This comes to a screeching halt next week as winter arrives along with a possible snow storm on Wednesday.  We had an excellent week of work.  The drainage project began and the 15th fairway work is nearly complete.  With a rough weather week coming production may slow down for a while.  Fifteen was by far the largest part of this project and we are fortunate to get it done before next week. 

Our crew continued to lay sod this week.  Nearly a half acre was installed on holes 4, 6, and 8.  That will do it for this year in the sod department.  The crew also enlarged the 4th green tee and replaced the playing surface with new grass.  This will be covered next week and remain closed until spring.  Temporary greens have been readied and tarps will be installed on greens 3.4, and 5 to prevent winter injury by the end of the year.  

Drainage installation on the 15th hole.  Here one of the catch basins is being prepared.

Meet Alvaro-an artist with a backhoe.  Alvaro is our favorite construction foremen with McDonald and Sons.  In this photo he is shaping the catch basin at the beginning of the drainage system.

Sod installation on the sixth hole.

Prepping for new sod on the eighth hole.

Setting the grade on the green tee on hole four.

The completed tee Friday morning with frost blanketing the turf.

Julio and Pedro picking up leaves.  Divot mix came in the white totes which we find are great for collecting leaves.

Leaf blowing in the parking lot waiting for the frost to lift.

Friday morning.

Eight green.

It's going to be a busy Friday in December???

Happy Saturday morning.  The course received 1.5" of rain last night.  The best time to evaluate drainage is when it's raining and we have seen plenty lately.  Drainage work begins this week.  We had another excellent week of work on the course.  All the greens received deep tine aeration and then were treated with a season ending fungicide application.  More sod was laid on holes 2, 16 and 17.  In addition we are core aerating bermudagrass in fairways and then overseeding with bentgrass.  Hopefully this will weaken the bermudagrass and the bent will germinate over the winter/spring. We shall see.

Deep aeration of greens.  The more we do this the better the greens!

Preparing two rough for new sod.

Beautiful work by the crew at 17 green.

Core aeration in bermudagrass encroachment in 18 fairway.

After the fairway is drug and blown it is seeded using this spiker seeder by Josh.

All the tulips have been planted and mulched.

The drainage equipment has arrived.  Work begins on Monday.

A lot of hooded mergansers were at the course this week.  Mallards too.

 November is going out with a big splash.  Over two inches of rain has fallen and more is expected this afternoon.  The course is obviously closed and opening doesn't look promising for Tuesday  Check the web site tomorrow for course status.  November was a great month for playing golf and working on the course.  December looks pretty good for work but golfing not so much as temperatures are forecast to get seasonal.  Drainage work begins next week.  Expect to see equipment arriving later this week.  Greens and tees will be deep tine aerated this week as well as some fairway aeration and seeding.  Some sod will probably be laid as well.

Frost arrived late this fall.  Here is a look at our first killing frost.

Here is what happens when driving on frosted or frozen turf.  This was done by yours truly when the turf was slightly frozen.  The damage lasted about two weeks.  Shame on me!

Sod replacement on hole sixteen.

Watering some really dry sod on November 28th.  This is unusual.

The Shock Wave did an excellent job opening up the soil in the fairways.  Here's a pretty good rock 

exposed on the second hole.

I know I harp on this too much but we must do better.  Each morning every green has about four of these.

Leaf work is nearly complete.

'Winter Red' deciduous holly on hole fifteen.

Another amazing November sunrise!

 

 

 A very busy Monday to you.  We have begun our fall renovation projects today as well as tulip bulb planting.  We are renting the Shock Wave linear aerator and completed three fairways today.  This will improve drainage and encourage better rooting of our bentgrass.  As usual we received more rain last night that forced us to jump around a bit.  Springfield has really been in the bullseye since July.  We also began to prepare the right side of the 12th hole for new rough sod.  Nearly a half acre will be installed beginning Wednesday.  We hope to sod another acre and a half before winter hits.

The Shock Wave in action.  I'm a big fan of this machine as it does a lot without much surface disruption.

Sixteen fairway all done.  Next is a good mow and we are done.

The Shock Wave will cut to depths of up to seven inches and breaks up rocks.  It is also a great tool for tree roots.

Sod prep begins on twelve.

Here come the bulbs!

The rain hasn't stopped and we adapt as needed.  On Thursday the course was too wet to allow any equipment on the turf so the crew used back pack blowers to clear leaves.  Super stars!

We are not the only ones busy.  Though hard to see this ornamental pear is covered with cedar waxwings devouring the fruit.

  

  

 What an incredible run of weather we have experienced.  That came crashing down today so a new streak hopefully begins tomorrow.  About three inches of rain have fallen so far.  It will be a challenge to open on Friday but we will do our best.

It sounds like everyone enjoyed Lentz's Revenge on Sunday.  That could be the best weather ever for this event.

Rain prevented new sod installation on hole 12 this week.  The left side in this picture will be replaced to a twenty foot width next week.  

This pic illustrates how dramatic new sod enhances the fairway with contrasting color and texture.  This was completed several years ago.

Our greens have been close to perfect this fall.  They have that magical sheen right now.

Our annuals performed amazing this year with the tough growing conditions.  All good things must come to an end so time to pull and install tulips.  Spring has started!

Fall color has been a little off this year but not our Ginkgo's.

The same tree this morning.  Awesome!

Clearing the driving range of leaves before the rain started yesterday.  We spent what time we had clearing all drain basins of leaves and it really helped.

Our garden was hit or miss this year.  It looks like our eggplants did okay.

Monday morning fog and dew.