Clean Up of 3 Green Area

We have removed the planter that was situated behind the 3rd green, which will allow us to improve the playability of the hole.  While the planter served its purpose for many years, it does not fit into our style of golf course now that is more natural in nature.  Also, the flowers on the rhododendrons and azaleas only flowered for the late spring and offered no color in the summer.  The plants were over grown and becoming unsightly.  Now, rough will be added to the hillside and an expanded collar that will allow approach shots that normally would be in the rough leaving an impossible chip to now roll back onto the green.  We were able to reuse many of the plants along property lines and buildings for screening.

Lets Hope for Rain

Being dry for almost 6 weeks, we have really tried to limit our irrigation usage to help toughen up the grass.  However, we do have to use it and over the course of 6-7 weeks of using just pond water, it can have negative effects on our soil and plants.  You will see from our recent irrigation water test, we have problematic levels of Chloride and Bicarbonates.  These lead to premature wilting and seal off the greens, effecting drainage and nutrient uptake.  A nice natural rain will help flush all our soils and alleviate the problem.

Feeling the Effects of the Storm Already

Boy we need the rain, but looks like we are going to have to pay the price to get it.  High winds during the overnight and so far today have started to make a mess of the course.  The oak on 1 will come down today.  More importantly we need the rain to supplement our roughs etc.  We have not irrigated in almost 3 days in preparation of the storm and we are dry right now so hopefully they get this forecast right!

Ball Mark Plugging

We spent the better part of today plugging out ball marks on the 11th and 14th greens.  These are short par 3s that get pounded on a daily basis.  After plugging the ball mark out, we fill the hole with a sand mix that contains seed and fertilizer.

Verticutting Fairways Today

Good progress today on day 1 of verticutting fairways.  We completed 12 fairways today and will finish the rest by lunch tomorrow.  After we mow one or two more times, it will be hard to tell we did anything to them.

Test Plots

On the 8th fairway today we did a test plot using ammonium sulfate fertilizers to try and deter worm castings from occurring.  Over the past few days, worm casts have come out with a vengeance and will become a playability issue and wreak havoc on our mowing equipment.  Insecticides are expensive to apply and we decided to experiment with fertilizers first and see if watering practices will have any impact.  Stay tuned for any results...if any.

US Mid Am Qualifier

Qualifier under way this morning.  Thanks to my crew for putting in the extra hours this holiday weekend trying to play catch up after Sundays rain.  Greens are a little soft for my liking today, players should be able to go low.