Great weather continues as we enter Thanksgiving week.  Most of our projects are going very well as we enter the home stretch.  Construction of the 13th tee as well as sod work on the 10th hole begins Monday.  Expect plenty to be done next week!

We are wrapping up slicing the fairways with the ShockWave.  This operation breaks up some of the layering in our soils and improves water infiltration and promotes deeper rooting of bentgrass.

The Shock Wave is a very powerful piece of equipment and brings plenty of rocks to the surface with the help of Rockmeister Richard Purple.  Dick envisions buried treasure!

Remember the tenth hole like this..

That was then and this is now!

The last pine takes a fall.

The contractor spent the better part of day two working on the root systems of the pines in preparation of sod.

The forward tee on seven during construction showing the sub grade and drainage being installed.

Removing perfect sod on the 13th tee and relocating to weak collar areas.

Perfect sod work by your staff.

This is a female Ginkgo which has NASTY smelling fruit.  There are actually two females on the course and are on the first and second holes.  Bob McNamara gets an atta boy for trying but there were no winners this time.  Keep reading this blog for more opportunities to win a dozen balls so…

you don't have to ball hawk like Dave Page!

Lentz's Revenge was the best yet.  I hope the coyote didn't catch your ball like yours truly!

What a spectacular start to November we just experienced.  It was a great week to work on the course and the turf liked it too.  The leaves have begun to be problematic so much of our labor is directed to keeping the course as leaf free as possible.

Leaves are blown into the deep rough where they are then mulched.

It has not been a particularly great fall for color but this Ginkgo tree is an exception. 

The Ginkgo tree dates back to prehistoric times.  Most of the leaves drop almost at once.  There are both male and female trees.  Be the first to locate the only female on the course this week and win a dozen golf balls!

This bald cypress resembles a needled evergreen and in the fall a dying evergreen.  It however is a deciduous tree that will leaf out in the spring.

Before purchasing equipment we demonstrate many different types.  Here Jose mows the 12th fairway with a John Deere.  We plan to purchase some fairway mowers in the next fiscal year.

Fairways not solid tine aerated in September were completed this week.  We also did the greens.

We have had mixed results with our honeybees.  This colony has done really well after a slow start but the other colony collapsed.

There is sometimes a fine line whether a putt drops or not.  Here a depression from a dropped flagstick from the previous day could be the cause.

Lentz's Revenge is Wednesday and we hope you are there!

It has been a while since we have experienced a nice rain and the course is all the better for it.  We almost completed replacing the fescue sod around the practice green and the rain couldn't have come at a better time.  We will continue to work on weak rough areas prior to the holidays.

 

Before the new sod is laid the old turf is removed using a sod cutter.  We then aerify and rake the soil.  A starter fertilizer is then applied before the sod is laid-green side up of course!

Keeping foot traffic off is a must until the sod has rooted in.  Quincy reminds me of my kids!

A killing frost ended our summer annuals for the year.  Tulips will be installed next week.

 The first hard freeze causes the greens to appear mottled and illustrates the different genetic composition of our greens.

 The greens were groomed to reduce grain and true up ball roll. This practice is done at perpendiculars for the best effect.

Grooming will reduce grain and help reduce spike mark damage but will not prevent aggressive footwork.  Please tamp down any damage if this occurs.

The driving range tee has been overseeded with perennial rye and looks good from a distance.  This should thicken up and allow us to play on the grass earlier in the spring.  We are mats only for the rest of the year. 

Another amazing sunrise.

Another great week of weather has the course playing firm and fast.  Following club championship we will pick back up with more sod work.  The rough grass around the practice green will be replaced with  fescue similar to what is on the course.  Hopefully this will help you save a few shots when playing the course. We will leave two areas to enter and exit the putting green and one of the bunkers to practice in.  
These areas will be replaced once the new sod is ready for foot traffic. The surrounding rough will not be available for play until next spring.

We have made great strides in our battle to reduce annual bluegrass in our fairways.  The yellowing in the fairway is the annual bluegrass under suppression with bentgrass filling in.  Continuing to be aggressive with these regulators is a must.

Bentgrass filling in a divot.  Growth regulators increase lateral growth of bentgrass and inhibit annual bluegrass.

Light weight mowing and full sun are necessary for bentgrass success.

We had some tree work done this week.  Here a sick pine is removed in fifteen minutes.

Going…

Gone!

We have four check plots where we are trying to selectively remove annual bluegrass with the herbicide Poa Constrictor.

Topdressing approaches on Tuesday to build a firmer base for our turf.

This bunker face is at least eighteen inches higher than it was originally.  We will repair this in November.

From a drought to too much rain in one quick week.  Such is the nature of this business.  The course received 6.2 inches since Wednesday and now we are begging for the course to dry up.  We are working hard to get the greens in prime Springfield condition as we prepare for our club championship and are seeing improvement in the greens daily.

It is a beautiful site to have the sun shining and the lake full of water.  We did not have to purchase any water during the drought.

Our greens are very chlorotic from all the rain and are benefiting from the sunshine.

Besides the yellowing of the turf we experienced some etiolation or mad tillering in our fairways.  Etiolation is the rapid growth of weak leggy stems from lack of sunlight.  Regular mowing and sunlight cures this.

 The ninety degree rule is impractical and doesn't work.  Please enter the fairway once you past the green post and stay IN the fairway until you reach the white posts near the green.  Once in-once out!  That has a nice sound to it and was 'borrowed' from a neighbor club.

 Foxes continue to be a nuisance.  Here a repair was done in the seventh green for the second time.

A sinkhole developed on the sixth hole from all the rain and exposed a contractor mistake from twenty years ago.  The blue pipe is the irrigation mainline that was trenched in.  The trenched damaged the concrete drainage pipe underneath and it eventually failed.  A real head scratcher.

The fairways are making great progress.

September is winding down and we are in real need of significant rainfall.  We have not had a one inch rain event since late July.  For the month of September we have received just under one inch.  Of course it is raining as this is being typed.  Too little, too late for much of our seed work.

Not a pretty sight.

Our pump intake is easy to see.

Yoshino cherry trees defoliated due to the drought.

Pin oak under stress.

Josh seeding some stressed areas in the rough as we wait for rain.

The bermuda driving range tee has been overseeded with perennial ryegrass.  Here Josh is dragging the seed into the turf canopy.

One week later we are seeing germination throughout.

Here is the super's best friend Jim Groody repairing divots in the 7th fairway.

A sure sign of fall- collecting chestnuts near the 17th green.

The sod has rooted in well on the 4th hole and is ready for play.  Please keep pull carts off this sod for 

now.

 There have been plenty of earthworms in our fine turf areas this year.

Our greens have recovered beautifully from aeration.  Fairways are being mowed in the push-pull method to protect our rough seeding.