Course aeration went great after a few weather hiccups to begin the week.  Sleet, snow and then rain greeted us Monday-Tuesday and by Sunday it was 85 degrees!  All greens were aerated and topdressed beginning Tuesday afternoon.  Fairways were aerated on Wednesday with near perfect ground soil conditions.  It has been several years since we have had such good results.  Keeping the course closed on Thursday was necessary and we thank you.  It will take about ten days for the greens to recover and grow through the sand.  

Tuesday afternoon and here we go.  Ten greens were aerated and completed on Wednesday.

The cores have been collected and we are ready for sand.

After topdressing and brushing and blowing the sand we seed the greens.  This seeder helps push some of the sand into the turf.

Sunday morning and they look like this.

Sunrise special Wednesday.  

While aeration was going on we also contracted an insecticide application on our white oaks for oak borers.  Future sprays will be completed by our staff.

Overseeded bermudagrass from last fall with several misses showing how well this seeding did.  Six acres were treated to suppress the bermudagrass on Saturday. A second application will occur in a month.

Compost to be spread on fairways beginning Monday.  This is something new we felt our fairways would benefit from.  This will be repeated in the fall.

Irrigating fairways Sunday morning.

 

 Warm weather has turned up the maintenance a notch or two on the course this week.  Insect activity rapidly increased so we sprayed greens and tees this morning, though our monitoring has not seen as much annual bluegrass weevil activity as in the past. Dimension herbicide was applied to nearly 40 acres of rough this week as well.  We use split applications as this gives better weed control than a single application.  The second application will occur in six weeks.  Soil temperatures are now in the mid-fifties.  This is a significant temperature for fairy ring fungal control.  Tourney fungicide was applied today to control this disease on greens.  A second application is necessary in three weeks.

It's a beautiful time of year.  Our tulips are stunning, and the viburnums are in their prime.  If you are unlucky to have allergies, it can be rough though. There is plenty of pollen in the air from grasses, trees and shrubs.  Next up will be the oaks with their catkins falling throughout the property.  White oaks have the reputation of being a very strong tree but have struggled over the last few years.  Too many crazy weather extremes have left an impact on them. We have lost quite a few and now borers are attacking many of them.  We are contract spraying as many white oaks as reasonable next week and will do the additional sprays in house.  

Tees were aerated and topdressed this week.  Fairways and greens are scheduled to begin Monday.

Greens were sprayed this morning and lightly watered afterwards. 

Look closely and you might see a dead weevil.

Here's a dead turf beetle.  The insecticide worked!

As the hardwoods leaf out the course looks much fuller.  Specific specimens now stand out.  The old saying about not seeing the trees for the forest couldn't be truer!

Two of our honeybee hives were relocated from our shop to the 12th hole just above the wildflower beds.  These hives struggled in their previous site-maybe too close to chemicals and equipment fumes?  Honeybees are very docile and rarely sting humans.  Keep an eye out for hornets, wasps and yellow jackets.  Thise are the ones to worry about and are controlled as best we can.

Our beekeeper introducing a new colony.

What a tulip display!

Prairie Fire crabapples on the 11th hole.

Jeff William's memorial bench dedication Thursday.

 

 Good morning!  Finally, some warm weather greets us after a frosty start this morning.  We are more than busy.  Everything seems to happen all at once this time of year.  Rough mowing begins Tuesday.  Hurray! Timely chemical applications are occurring as we work around weather, golf, and aeration.  Finding windows to complete these is like doing a puzzle.  Preemergent herbicides must be applied after aeration.  The first annual bluegrass weevil sprays must be timed based on historical records, routine monitoring and weather conditions.  This week looks promising for some of these sprays.  Wish us success as we all benefit from properly timed applications.

A frost greeted us this morning and held up our start.

Tee aeration begins!  Topdressing will be applied tomorrow.

We needed rain and we received it-over two inches!  This is our crew mowing the 5th hole on Friday morning demonstrating how well the new drainage works.  Normally this fairway couldn't be mowed for a day.  Seven approach was very firm as well.

Lots of encouraging things happening.  Our greens have a nice sheen to them.

Serviceberries and viburnums in all their glory.

A look at the first tee garden.  We have a plant delivery arriving later this month to add more interest to the course beds.

The tulips are shining this week.  Perfect timing for Easter.  

The start of an amazing display.

 

 Much needed rain is forecast for this week as the golf season kicks off.  Rough aeration is nearly complete with only some deep rough to work on.  The final growth regulator application on greens for annual bluegrass seed head suppression was applied today.  So far, our applications have been spot on and we are seeing little seed head formation on the putting surfaces.  Mulching continues and will be nearly complete by the end of this week.  Warm weather arrives next week according to the experts.  Get ready for some thick rough!

Rough aeration begins.

Aeration cores waiting to be drug with a harrow.  We are creating pore space to grow deep, white roots!

Francisco on the other tractor aerating tight areas.

Max seeding where trees were removed.

Lots of wind lately.  This house by the 9th tee sustained some damage when this tree uprooted Thursday.

Patrick raking the fairway bunker on five with Lu helping.  Notice how he is raking only the level portion of the bunker.

A minor change at ten tee.

With the mulch down all we need is a bench.

The crew mulching at the 1st tee.

New flags and a waxed putting surface!

Purple martin scouts have arrived.  This guy is probably wondering why he came so early with the cold weather we are having.

Tis the season for tulips.  Looks like our timing with Easter is about perfect.

 Opening day is right around the corner.  The course is beginning to grow and fill in.  This is an exciting week for the course as we open the 5th hole on Friday.  The sod has rooted in and has firmed up nicely.  The fairway was topdressed last week before the rain and we hope to do it again this week.  Fifteen is still a few weeks away.  Rough aeration begins Monday.  All of the greens were deep tine aerated earlier this week.  Mulching of all beds began Thursday and will keep us very busy the next few weeks.

The 5th hole about ready for play.

Shawn topdrssing the 5th fairway.

The new bunkers must be managed properly to give the most enjoyment.  NEVER enter the bunker or exit from the high side.  These areas have been compacted to ensure the ball will roll back to the flat portion.  Walking in these areas will loosen the sand and require additional work from our staff to firm up these areas.  More importantly balls will get stuck on the bunker's face causing a more severe penalty and much harder recovery shot.  Leave the bunker rake on the low side as well. 

Tamping and using the back of the rake to cause the ball to roll to the bunker floor.

Deep tine aeration of greens.  The tines go nearly ten inches in the green profile creating channels for root growth.

Five days later and the holes are nearly gone.

These are not aeration holes.  Unfortunately, these are ball marks.  We must do better.

Bermudagrass shoots beginning to emerge.

Watering new sod on 15 before we received needed rain.  

The 1st green showing the benefits of tree removal at 7:30 this morning.  Turf needs sunshine to thrive.  When was the last time this green had sunshine early?

 

  

What a change from last weekend! After a tough start we have moved directly into spring.  We should wrap up sod work this week.  Deep tine aeration of greens begins on Monday as we start pushing root development.  Wet weather is expected later this week, so we aim to accomplish as much as possible on Monday and Tuesday.  We are behind in prepping beds for mulch.  Winter weeds are out in abundance but will be tackled in force after the sod work is complete.  Hole five is getting closer and closer to opening.  It is filling in nicely but after walking on it this morning it needs to firm up.  All sod is to be rolled before it rains again this week. 

 

Fairways were mowed for the first time this week.

Pedro blowing red maple flowers off the 12th green before mowing.  

Our crew installing sod on the 7th hole.

Rony and Lu sodding the 5th green collar with bentgrass.

15 approach drainage doing its thing after Thursday's rain.  We received nearly one inch. 

Winter weeds are in abundance right now.  They germinate in winter and flower and produce seed before dying later this spring.  This is called henbit.

Here is another purple flowering weed sometimes confused with henbit called deadnettle.

This weed's leaves can be used in salads.  This is hairy bittercress.

Chickweed.

Of course, we can't forget about this beauty.  Annual bluegrass or Poa annua.

Friday morning with the moon and some fog.

The 5th hole about ready to play on.