Finally some nice weather!  Warmer temperatures finally woke up the turf from the cool spring.  After playing golf I can attest the rough is healthy and to be avoided!  We have been able to increase our staffing and the help is huge.  Annuals are being planted and detail work is finally getting done.

 

Summer annuals have arrived.

 

 

The clubs entrance bed completed and looking magnificent.

 

 

Sweet William in foreground and I believe Beardtongue in the background in our wildflower bed.  Almost monthly a different species begins to bloom.

 

 

Pylex herbicide applied to the tees to suppress encroaching bermudagrass.  The yellowing turf is the bermudagrass.  We will alternate Pylex and Acclaim herbicide on the fairways and tees in our quest to reduce this weed.

 

 

It has been a tough stretch for many of our trees.  Here a native sycamore is starting to recover from the disease anthracnose.  Many of our oaks are in decline from the crazy wet then dry year we experienced in 2019.  Some tree removal begins this week.

 

 

We have at least one baby red tail hawk!

 

 

 

 

It's been a productive week on the golf course.  All fairways and roughs were fertilized.  With the rain coming our timing couldn't be better.  We planted 15 ornamental trees and nearly 100 shrubs earlier this week.  Today we are completing our herb and vegetable garden.  Next week summer annuals begin arriving.  With Memorial Day next week we will be busy!

 

Plants arrive at 6 AM on Monday.

 

 

Adding dogwood and redbuds to fill in the bed by the ninth tee.

 

 

More club grounds improvements.

 

 

Adding leaf compost to the herb and vegetable garden before tilling.

 

 

Cross cutting fairways and fertilizing the rough.

 

 

This is encouraging. Wildflowers finally germinating in the bed by the 7th tee.  Plant growth throughout the course has been so slow due to the cool weather.

 

 

Crazy wind and another white pine is down.

 

 

This improved elm will have to come down as well.

 

 

Check this out!  A honeybee swarm on the 4th hole.  We tried to capture it but it was gone later that day.

 

 

Living on a golf course is every dogs dream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warm weather finally arrives this week.  We have begun increasing our staff's hours and are beginning to bring back our part time labor.  Tulips are currently being pulled and may be picked up in the upper parking lot as we make ready for summer annuals and some other landscape plantings.  We finally completed fairway aeration on Monday with perfect conditions.  Its nice when the weather cooperates! 

 

Perfect conditions to aerify the remaining fairways on Monday.

 

 

What a difference from the last time we did this.  Fairways will be fertilized later this week.

 

 

Luis aerified the driving range fairway on Monday as well.

 

 

Julio, Francisco, and Rony digging up tulips.  You may pick them up in the upper parking lot.  Store them in a cool, dark place and plant in November.

 

 

 

 

 

The cool wet weather persists on.  We will attempt to complete fairway aeration on Monday.  If it rains we will try again on Tuesday.  There may be some interference with morning golf but not much if Tuesday is the day.  The cool weather has slowed the turf growth down a bit which has been helpful.  Warm weather looks to finally arrive late next week.  We anticipate bringing some staff back the following week as the work load increases.

Our first fairway since April 17th.  Three weeks!

 

 

Greens were mowed for the first time since aeration on Monday and came out great.

 

 

The cool wet spring has been tough on the sycamores.  There is an abundance of anthracnose causing poor leaf growth.  Fortunately these trees are able to produce new leaves.

 

 

The new bed we developed last spring is quite a display.

 

 

Wildflowers are starting to bloom on the third hole. The other wildflower beds are struggling to get going and may need to be seeded again.

 

 

Mulching continues.

 

 

Hazard lines have been painted for the first time.

 

 

Our resident deer on the 16th hole.

 

 

 

 

 

Good Sunday afternoon.  Just a quick note on some observations made on Friday.  The course handled the rain pretty well but was clearly in need of a day to drain and rest.  The turf is just now starting to grow.  Cool weather along with the use of growth regulators has helped reduce some of our mowing.  With more rain coming mowing the rough is essential.  Wet conditions prohibited us from mowing everything last week.  Wish us luck!

 

The closure on Friday permitted the crew an opportunity to edge all the greenside bunkers. 

 

 

Another view of some nice detail work by our great crew.

 

 

A view of five fairway.  Fairways were last mowed on April 17th!  Growth regulators illustrating their usefulness.  Fairways will be sprayed again on Monday.

 

 

The cool weather has really slowed down the bermudagrass.  This is the driving range tee with cool season grass dominating over the brown bermudagrass base.

 

 

The greens are healing nicely.  We will begin mowing them this week.  Expect fast and smooth surfaces later this week!

 

 

Text book Waitea Patch on our greens. This is purely environmental and will go away with warmer weather and sun.  Fungicides will help too.

 

 

 

Someone forgot to tell April it is on average the third driest month of the year.  An average April experiences about three inches of rainfall.  This April we received just over seven inches!  Compounding the rain were cooler than average temperatures.  Throw in Coronavirus and we have a month we'd like to forget.  All the rain made fairway aeration a challenge.  Our crew performed admirably and did a phenomenal job under the circumstances.  Several holes were unable to be done and are rescheduled (again) for Monday May 11th.

 

Another 1.25" of rain.  We were fortunate to get the fairways cleaned up before the deluge.

 

 

The 2nd fairway after additional dragging-not bad!

 

 

Josh and Jose B dragging the 9th fairway under the gun.  Wet conditions prevented us from starting work until almost lunch time.

 

 

After the cores are busted up the excessive thatch and soil are then collected and deposited on the cart path.  One more drag and the job is complete.

 

 

Eighteen fairway completed.