It is a really busy time on the golf course.  Last weeks deluge has really piled up the work.  The course received around six inches of rain for the week.  With Memorial Day arriving this weekend we have our work cut out for us.

Yep its dead.  The cold winter took a beating on our driving range tee.  The tee is scheduled to be sodded the first week of June and will be open by Member Guest.  Replacement poles and netting has been delayed due to the wet weather.  

Tree down behind the 14th green on our turf nursery.  We lost two large oaks overall.

The large pile of limbs was finally chipped up.  Two pin oaks in the parking lot were removed and all the stumps on the course were ground up as well.

The same old song and dance of this spring continues.

Greens were successfully aerated on May 8th and healed quickly.

There have been questions asked why we have eliminated the intermediate cut around the fairways.  It is difficult maintaining tall fescue at such a low height of cut and inevitably transitions to weaker turf.  We do mow one pass around the fairways three times a week during peak growth periods to keep this area from being too penal.

Wildflower bed on the third hole.  Different flowers, different month!

Please don't go ball hawking in the flowers!

Tulips are now available to the membership.  They may be picked up in the upper parking lot nearest the pro shop.  Come and get them!

The crew is putting in extra time to get the flowers in by the holiday.

What a picture of Jack ridding our course of geese.  Gill is in the pond too just not in the pic.

 

  

Plenty of weather extremes since our last blog.  Unfortunately most of it has been cold related with a little summer tease.  Rain finally occurred in the form of a drought buster.  It has been years since the bunkers were so washed out and our crew did an outstanding job getting the course back into shape.  Most of our mulch beds washed out as well.  Like ole Forrest said managing a golf course is like a box of chocolates- you never know what you're going to get!

Three and a half inches of needed rain!

This represents nearly all of our bunkers on Monday.

Mulch in beds washed out as well.

Ponds went out of their banks.

Lots of debris in all of our lakes.

Before the rain we were able to extensively aerify most of the rough.

Contract fairway aeration followed with mixed results due to the extremely dry conditions.

Nonetheless everything cleaned up well and recovery should be fast with rain and warming temperatures.

Tees were aerified and topdressed on Thursday and Friday with great success.

Crystal BlueLinks bentgrass continues to impress.  We have developed a nice root system with just enough thatch in our fairways- dare we say "Mission Accomplished!"

One benefit to the cool spring is the extended bloom on our bulbs.  Daffodils and tulips have performed beautifully this spring.

Tulipmania!

Wildflowers on the third hole are ready to bust out.

The first of many species to flower has begun.  This is called wallflower.

Our bees are doing well and we expect to extract our first honey next month!

 Purple martins have returned in abundance indicating warmer weather is on the move.

Gill has proven to be a great addition to our staff and is a natural goose dog but needs to differentiate between geese and ducks!

Opening day- what a turn out!

Unseasonably cold weather has been the norm for March.  Finally there is some relief coming later this week.  Beginning today our crew will start deep tine aeration of greens and rough aeration.  This should help stimulate the turf to begin waking up!

What a beautiful frost we experienced this morning.

Our biggest snow of the winter season occurred in spring last Wednesday.

Fortunately snow doesn't last long in late March.  We were playing golf by Saturday!

Soil temperatures are still really low.  With milder weather coming later this week soil temps should rise and the turf will begin to grow.

On Monday we had a tree company prune trees on the driving range in preparation of new poles and netting.  We will raise the existing net fifteen feet.

The irrigation system has been charged up and is ready to be used.  Murphy's Law in action as the only head that came on during the start up was a sprinkler on the 18th green in view for all to see!

Tractors and aerators are ready for action.

Saw these cart tracks and all I can do is shake my head.

Jack and Gill are best buds.

The March lion keeps roaring along.  Strong winds and cold temperatures have been the tale this month.  The crew has done a great job cleaning up after the wind storm on March 2-3.  The driving range net took a hard hit and will need to be repaired.  Thanks goodness for insurance!  The crew is back to  "Mulch Madness" so expect the fragrance of mulch in the air- It smells like Spring!  Weather permitting we begin aerating the rough next week.

The wind storm provided its share of challenges.  Dry conditions allowed bunker sand to be blown out of the bunker which required the guys to blow it back and preserve the grass edge.

Most of this pile is from a weeks worth of cleaning up.

We now have more wood to split as well.

Soil temperatures are really low right now.  This is the 11th green on March 10th.  Soil temperatures at this time last year were 49 degrees!

Here is the 11th green on the 14th.  Interestingly the turf has lost some of its color.

A particularly cold winter raises some concern of possible winter kill of bermudagrass on our driving range tee.  Here we have taken several plugs and brought them inside next to a window to force it out of dormancy.  We will have an idea if it survived in about two weeks.

Please abide by the rules even if our dogs don't so our course will be in the best condition possible during the season.

Mulch Madness at its best!

A bat house near the 12th tee.  There are two in this area.

This is an owl house found in the same vicinity.

March has arrived and it truly is entering like a lion.  Initially this blog was gonna highlight 'Mulch Madness' but mulching has taken a backseat to the wind storm we are experiencing.  Now please out like a lamb!

Twas the last day of February and we were mowing the fairways.

Greens and collars were mowed with an amazing grandeur.

The benches were complete and ready for action....

and the roses were pruned with such impeccable care..

once mulching had started it must be Spring!

Even our red tailed hawks knew winter was done and nesting was to begin.

But suddenly the wind arose with a gust...

we knew that winter wasn't going away.

The driving range net was a tattered mess...

not to mention two posts snapped at the base.

Bunker sand was blown out of its place.

What kind of joke has been played on those who play this great game?

Ah the daffodil knows that begging for spring in early March is fools gold!