We are back!  Sorry for the long time between our last blog and hopefully we were missed.  There has been plenty going on the course so lets get to the pics.

We have had all kind of weather extremes.  This was in the morning after an early storm.  We usually don't see rainbows over the clubhouse.

Our annual visit from The USGA featured discussions of bunker maintenance interestingly enough.  Since then we have spent lots of man hours moving sand and compacting bunker faces to allow less "fried eggs" and giving you a better chance of recovering.

Compacting the bunker face.

Before,,,,

and after!

Compacting the faces is working!  Check out the pitch mark and where these balls ended.  Bravo!

Some things never seem to change.  Here is a poorly repaired divot.  The sand has not been leveled which is harmful to the turf and the mowers.

Here is the same divot smoothed out with my foot.  Please take the time to repair your damage properly!

Improper practice that will require a long time to recover and again harmful to our mowers.

Correct practice that will recover rapidly and not hurt our mowers.

Newly sodded turf received an herbicide application to remove bermudagrass and summer grassy annuals.  These areas will be treated several more times on monthly intervals.

Have you noticed the improved look of our rough?  We purchased a brand spanking new rough mower that is exceeding our expectations.  This mower is remarkably quiet, stripes the turf beautifully, disperses grass clippings so there are no clumps, and saves a ton of labor when servicing.

We almost ran out of water in July and were one day from buying water.  Not anymore!

Thumbs up to this marking on the ninth green by Josh Peters!

The completion of the pollinating garden was quite an achievement by our staff.

Proud, Proud, Proud!

June has continued the cycle of up and down weather.  Currently we are in a heat wave that looks to break towards the end of the week.  The course suffered a few minor blemishes through the heat but it is hard to find fault in the overall look and playability of the golf course.  What a great job our staff has done getting the course in the condition it is in.  This may be my best staff ever and that is saying a lot!  Next week begins four intense weeks of tournament competitions.  Wish us good luck!

Routine solid tine aeration has begun.  This is performed every two weeks.  After rolling it is difficult to tell anything was done.

Here is a look at a green just aerified before rolling.  This necessary cultural practice promotes oxygen to the roots and helps the plant breathe.

Greens were groomed last week as well.  Grooming is performed to reduce lateral growth which produces a more dense upright plant.  This is done in perpendicular lines to provide the best surface possible.

Plenty of ants around the perimeter of our bunkers that required spraying last week.

With the addition of summer help we are able to really primp the course.  Here bunkers are edged to perfection.

Summer heat has arrived finally and the Patriot bermudagrass is finally growing.  We aerated, topdressed, and fertilized last week and it is ready to open.  The tee will be on grass Wednesday thru Sunday.

This area will be sodded next week.

One more treatment of Roundup and garden below the third tee will be seeded with an assortment of wildflowers.  The pollinating garden behind 15 green is nearing completion this week and promises to be a showcase!  More pics to come.

Before the second application of Roundup the area is lightly cultivated to allow additional weed seed to germinate.

A specimen male bluebird.

Another dose of rain today and a fitting end to May.  Cloudy, cool, and damp has been the story this month.  Hopefully the course will begin to dry up as June arrives.  We have been fortunate to dodge some of the bigger rainfall totals that some courses have experienced.  Nonetheless almost ten inches of rain occurred this month.  The crew has performed great throughout.

Consequences of too much rain-soft greens and ball marks needing to be repaired.

Lightning hit on a red oak between two and eight earlier this week.

This tree just fell down last week in the same area.

The sun did come out on occasion.  Here Jose B mows the third fairway.  It takes talent to mow a straight line too!

Julio and company have done some stellar planting throughout the course.  The pollinating garden is the next big task.  Another application of RoundUp is coming before we begin prepping the soil.

The wildflower bed will be worked on next week as well.

This is a welcome sight.  The bermudagrass is just beginning to grow and needs lots of warm temperatures to flourish.

Jack continues to be a work in progress with his people skills but there is no doubt about his ability to  move geese off our property!

Plenty of rain the last ten days-over six inches! The improvement in the way the course drains is remarkable. Can you say money well spent!  Greens aerification went great.  We can't remember the greens putting so well after this procedure.  The mowers will be back on the greens tomorrow.  Annuals and shrub planting will be going full bore this week and next.  Tis the season.  We will be grooming the course for the Member Member Championship this weekend.

DryJect aerifier in action.

Another view.  Irrigation water is pushed into the soil profile creating a void that is then filled with sand.

Once brushed and rolled this is the result.

Greens were seeded after aerification.

All collars were core aerified last week.

Yikes! Annuals have arrived and time to get them in the ground.

Honeybees are back! We are using local bees with help from a local beekeeper and are expecting better results.

This is probably the busiest period of the year maintaining our course. Just about everything imaginable involving turf and landscape management happens now.  We are still a little understaffed but relief is on the way!  We have a number of college students returning with Springfield experience over the next few weeks and boy can we use them.  Pollen has been severe this spring as I am sure you are aware.  Rain is in the forecast towards the end of the week which should help.

This has been the routine getting the course ready for play the last few weeks.  Here the guys move oak catkins from the putting surface before mowing.

An additional hazard that must be removed from bunkers before raking.

The bermudagrass has started growing on the range tee and will be ready for play by the end of the month.

Sod has been ordered to replace the back portion of the tee.

This is a disease of bermudagrass called spring dead spot.  Fungicide applications are made in late summer but are inconsistent.

The club purchased a spiffy new rough mower that so far is exceeding our expectations.  This is the first week we cut the rough twice.

Adding compost to some hard to grow turf areas in fairways.

Here's a nice improvement to the 15th tee.

Another view.

A new putting green nursery was recently seeded with Crystal BlueLinks bent and we had germination in four days!

A bed Augusta National would be proud of.