Tree Pruning

 Assistant Andrew Stilwell and Roberto Polanco are checking all trees for suckers and any dead wood.  We did this last about 3 years ago and really should be done every 2 years.  The monthly cost to rent the lift will cost the same as our tree contractor for 1 day.  With the cold temperatures, Andrew and Roberto are knocking it out of the park without leaving much tire damage.  We are thinking about 3 weeks to get the entire course and clubhouse area done.  Both are harnessed in and only elevating to about 25 feet since we did such a good job a couple of years ago.

Patience!

 

The crazy weather has finally allowed us to do the necessary winter aeration on the greens this week.  We planned on doing it a week ago and had topdressed the greens, however the soil was so frozen we could not get the deep tine to penetrate the ground.  After the rain Sunday and Monday we were able to get out and do all the greens without any damage.  This aeration helps prevent any water sitting on the greens from freezing during flash freeze events.  

10 Completed

 

The 2 fairway bunkers were removed on the right side of 10 and replaced with classical mounding for strategy and aesthetics.  

Making Progress

 

Classical mounding will replace bunkers throughout the golf course.  Here #4 is the first taste of more to come.

Refresh Is Underway!

 2025 will be a busy year at Arcola with the golf course renovation and new irrigation installation beginning in September.  Under the guidance of Andy Staples, our staff is undertaking some projects to help keep the project within budget and to give the members a taste of what Andy is looking to do throughout the course.  This is similar to what we did this past spring with the new tees on 7 and the ditch on 6 fairway.  Andy has identified bunkers we will eliminate and replace with mounding on several holes and below you will see the bunker on 15 is being eliminated and the bunker on 4 is being replaced with "Travis Style" mounds.  These mounds will add some challenge and visual references from the tee.

Club Championship Commitment

 You know we pride ourselves in providing tournament conditions each and every day.  Since aeration in August, it has been a big push to get the greens to perform as they normally do throughout the year.  We needed to get aeration holes to fill, greens to firm up and speeds to return to normal.  While the weather has been near perfect and dry of late, my staff is the key reason the course plays the way it does.  

My staff are often in well before sunrise and gone before most golfers tee off in the morning.  The past two weekends we brought in more staff than normal to ensure the fairways, greens and bunkers were as good as possible. I believe everyone who played will agree that "the greens were back" as they were firm and fast again.  That happens with the help of everyone on my team for weeks and months on end.  A big thank you to them as the 2024 season is now starting to wind down.

Localized Dry Spot

 

You would probably be surprised that the driest area on this fairway is right next to the sprinkler heads on 4 fairway and others.  The reason is when we aerate with the tractor, we lift up around the heads so we do not damage them, often times missing a few feet around each head.  Over time, thatch builds up and water cannot penetrate to the roots.

Here you will see we went out and hand aerified around every fairway head to ensure we can lessen this problem.  Of course next year we will have a new irrigation system and most likely the heads will not be in the same location as they are now so we will be starting all over again in another year or two.