October fall projects

I hope everyone has been enjoying some great fall golf here the past couple of weeks.  Even though we are over half way through the month of October, the temperatures have been well above normal.

The grass is actively growing and with the recent rains, has been a challenge to keep up with.  Many parts of the course need to be mowed 2-3 times per week, which is a lot for this time of year.  We haven't had a hard frost to slow the growth yet.  Turf color is still very green and the leaves are slow to change color as well.

Even with the turf growing like its early May, we are beginning to shift our focus to other areas of the course such as flower beds, leaf clean up, and tree work.

We are saying good-bye to annual flowers and planting mums and bulbs in their place.

Chris and Eric are having fun helping Peggy plant bulbs and prep the beds for winter.

Leaf clean up consists of blowing, mulching, and vacuuming leaves.  Our leaf vac will be a common sight over the next month.

Keeping the sand pulled up around the bunker edges is still a priority, especially after rainy days.

We have also spiked our greens last week to help keep the putting surface firmer.  Eric does a great job operating our spiking unit.

Here is a close up picture of what the greens look like after the spiker is used.  Just a tiny slice to allow oxygen into the root zone.  This practice also allows trapped gasses to escape from the root zone as well.

We will be adding new drainage in the swale between the tennis courts and the white fence just south of the entrance to the club.  Utilities have been located and marked so we will begin to add drainage this week is conjunction with work on the tennis courts.  This area typically lays wet, especially after heavy rains and longer irrigation cycles on the tennis courts.  

Another project coming up soon will be the addition of our new bag drop area.  Site prep is scheduled to begin this month and we will need to remove some plants from our new flower bed along the parking lot.  Most of these plants will be saved and placed around the new bag drop area next spring when this project is complete.

Tree maintenance will be ongoing this fall and winter as well.  Many trees that contain dead wood will be pruned, trimmed, and limbed up to help with the appearance and overall health of the tree.  Other trees that have declined to a point where they are now considered hazardous to members and guests will be removed and many new plantings will take place to fill their space.  We are currently working with an arborist to look at tree health throughout the property.  Here is a picture of a tree that has numerous tell tale signs that it is dead and needs to be removed.  This one shows a fungus growing on the side of the tree.

Bark that is falling off revealing a stressed and dying tree.

We are very busy with all of these projects going on, but there is still some good weather ahead for fall golf.  We hope to see you all on the course soon!