March, I mean April has come to an end and nice weather is in the forecast!.  Our greens have been outstanding this spring and one of the reasons is our ability to aerify regularly. We completed tee aeration today and begin greens next week.  Now that the turf is growing recovery should be enhanced though it will be "painful" to putt these greens for a while.  Please bear with us as we complete this important cultural practice.   

 

Sunrise special.  All the tees were aerated and topdressed this week.

 

 

Two topdressers speed up the process.  Core aeration and topdressing improve rooting of fine turf.

 

 

We used about fifty tons of sand on the tees!

 

 

A completed tee after brushing.

 

 

Annual bluegrass has been prolific this spring but the tide is beginning to turn.  We just completed our second application of Trimmit growth regulator in our fairways.  The bluish-green turf is the bent beginning to spread throughout the Poa.  Bent favors warmer temperatures. 

 

 

Amazingly soil temperatures have been stuck around fifty degrees for the last two weeks.

 

 

The contractor has begun replacing all the integrated circuit modules with an upgrade.  This work will take about two weeks to complete.

 

 

Prairie Fire crabapples behind the 11th green have been spectacular!

 

 

A male bluebird nesting in one of our houses.

 

 

April showers are bringing April flowers and are they beautiful!  What amazing tulips we are having this year.  Lets hope it doesn't get too hot and we avoid a bad storm to maximize their bloom time.  It is an extremely busy time for our staff.  Some very important pesticide applications are going down that are very specific almost to the week.  Working around weather and golf makes it difficult to apply sometimes but somehow it always gets done.  This week we are applying an insecticide that targets the adult annual bluegrass weevil.  We have been monitoring this insect for a while and feel confident this is the time to apply.  We also use plant stages to help pinpoint when best to apply and the forsythia shrub is one of our indicators.  When forsythias are in the half yellow/half green stage we know this insect is in its largest abundance as an adult in its life cycle and most susceptible to the insecticide.  Greens, tees, and fairways are to be sprayed this week as the annual bluegrass weevil feeds in low cut turf.  About a month later we will apply another insecticide that is directed towards the larval stage of this pesky critter.  Wish us luck! 

 

That little black spot near the center of the picture is the adult annual bluegrass weevil.

 

 

The course received 1.6 inches of rain last night.

 

 

Blowing off red maple flowers before rolling on April 11th.  Sometimes you just can't win!

 

 

Soil temperatures are gradually warming but were still 50 degrees on April 16th.

 

 

The crew made wood covers to protect fairway and tee plaques when spraying.  A member asked what are we doing to protect them!

 

 

The bermudagrass on the range tee is showing signs of life.  Unfortunately it will be mid-May before we are on the grass.

 

 

Adding a sprinkler where our recently departed gazebo once stood.

 

 

Cedar apple rust on junipers in the cutting garden.  This disease must occur on junipers and cedars before continuing its life cycle on apple trees.  The disease was so severe we elected to dig up the junipers.

 

 

Tulips at the 18th tee just opening and...

 

 

several days later.  Wow!

 

 

Tulipmania at the 11th tee.

 

It has been another productive week on the course so far.  In true April style we have experienced a variety of temperature extremes and unfortunately too much cold.  We avoided much of the anticipated rain though and have been able to finally complete some winter projects.

 

Soil temperatures have risen almost ten degrees in the last week and the turf is loving it.

 

 

The turf is rapidly recovering from the disease called pink snow mold.  

 

 

Another view of a severe area recovering.  It is interesting that we treated fairways last year and still had disease present.  We will treat specific areas this fall to try and reduce the damage.

 

 

We applied Dimension herbicide for crabgrass control to all the fairways this week followed by a light dose of irrigation.

 

 

Here is an interesting problem we are experiencing.  These are earthworms by the hundreds in our bunkers.  We must remove them with a blower before raking. 

 

 

The creek on holes seven and eight is finally cleaned up.  Great job by our staff!

 

 

The bent is finally beginning to grow and is showing excellent color.

 

 

The purple martins are back...

 

 

and our tulips are beginning to bloom.  Spring has sprung!

 

Finally a positive change in the weather!  What a productive week we have had so far.  We have completed deep tine aeration of the greens and it couldn't have gone any better.  We applied a fungicide to all the fairways and have seeded weak areas of the rough.  Growth is still way behind which is allowing us a little room to catch up before the turf really gets growing.  Soil temperatures on Monday were only 41 degrees so only a couple of degrees difference in a week.  We had hoped to have tulips blooming by spring break but we are settling for daffodils!  What a winter!

 

Yep the soil is still cold.

 

 

It has been a great week to play catch up.  All the greens received deep tine aeration.

 

 

Aerating followed by intense rolling to smooth the putting surface.

 

 

All the fairways and greens received fungicide applications.  On Thursday we applied a growth regulator to suppress annual bluegrass seed head production.

 

 

Seeding rough with tall fescue. 

 

 

Winter work is not yet complete.  The ditch on #7 is almost ready for prime time.

 

 

Bentgrass is just beginning to grow.

 

 

Purple martin houses are out just in the nick of time.  Our martins are back!

Cool weather persists and plants everywhere are responding accordingly.  There is nothing we can do to expedite growth on the course until the soil begins to warm.  Currently soil temperatures are around 40 degrees and not much growth happens when the ground is that cold.  Around fifty and spring takes off!  The course is beginning to dry out so we can begin getting some equipment on the course.  Fairways will be cut Tuesday and should knock off some of the winter brown.  We are aware of the high populations of annual bluegrass that has invaded many of our fairways but feel confident once warmer days come the bent will begin growing and crowding out the annual bluegrass.

 

Soil temperatures must rise for plants to grow.  Forty degrees will not cut it.

 

 

While waiting for the grass to grow we have many chores to complete.  We are changing all the ball washers to black to match our tee signs.  Here Rony preps the old posts for new paint.

 

 

The course has been so soft that much of the clean up has been done by hand.   Here the crew cleans around the first green Saturday morning.

 

 

The soil has finally dried up to allow mulching of beds to begin.

 

 

Edgar cutting an edge in a bed to hold chips in the parking lot.

 

 

The irrigation system has been up and running for about two weeks.  Though we won't be irrigating anytime soon we use lake water to fill our spray tanks. 

 

 

Flagged annual bluegrass plants to be removed on the practice green.

 

 

Cutting out the plants and replacing with bent.

 

Daffodils blooming on a southern exposure.

Winter is gradually melting away.  We are ready to get this course open!  Today we removed the covers on greens 3,4 and 5 and all looks fine.  We replaced them at the end of the day to minimize any shock to the turf but anticipate them to be off permanently by Monday.  We ask for your patience as we start the golf season.  This winter has set us back two to three weeks and we have plenty on our plate.  We anticipate the entire course to be open by March 21st weather permitting!

 

Active pink snow mold on the 15th approach.  This disease can be found present in fairway drainage areas as the snow melts. Thankfully there is not too much out there.

 

 

The new sod around the collars appears to have survived the cold.  This will look better once it greens up and is mowed.

 

 

A spring ritual at our club.  The grass is greener under the tarp!

 

 

What a contrast to the rest of the course.

 

 

Five green after the tarp has been removed.