Clean Up Continues

 

We are continuing to make good progress on the thinning of the tree line along 11 tees to allow more sunlight on 10 green and 11 tees.  Unfortunately this tree line is like an onion, the more we remove the more it stinks.  The bottom picture shows most of the trees are in decline that are along the property line and will have to come out.  We are being very cognizant of the safety issue off 11 tees and keeping a buffer from the white tees forward.   Once we finish removing trees, we will recontour the area and seed it to fescue.  Spruces will also be planted for screening along the fence line and a green mesh will be installed on the fence to block the view of cars.  If we can get an extra 2-3 hours of sunlight on 10 green by doing this will be a big improvement.  Stay tuned for further updates.

Mild Temperatures

 

With the milder temperatures so far this winter, we have been out making some nutrient treatments to greens and tees to protect them from foot traffic.  The cold weather Christmas week was the only reprieve the greens and tees have gotten this winter.  These sprays will give a little vigor to the plants so when spring time comes, the plants will have some reserves to work off of.

                                            

The fog in the picture above is something you would see during the summer months, but this was #1 last week when cold ground temperatures were mixing with warm air temperatures.  The fog was prevalent for a few days, leaving dew on the grass most of the day.  The past 2 years we have fought dollar spot on fairways and we saw new activity last week which is almost unheard of in January.

Bunker Repairs

 

The storm on December 23rd wreaked havoc on our bunkers.  The heavy rains that came in a short period of time washed out every bunker significantly.  Normally it does not pay to repair bunker in the end of December since we have a few more months until we can really get in and fix them, but with a lot of liners exposed and the heaving of staples we figured we would start to push up most of them and then do a full bunker rehab in early April.  Most of the liners are past their life expectancy and each time they wash, they degrade even worse.  In some spots there are no liners left, creating other issues.  Luckily we have Juan here this winter to start the process.

Let the Sun Shine In

 

Work has begun clearing the woodland edge between 10 green and 11 tees.  With sun angles being different this time of year it is difficult to see how this area will improve.  We will go in and remove all undesirable trees, leaving key screening trees for the neighboring billboard etc.  Once the area is cleared, we will clean up the floor, seed to fescue and install some screening plants along the fence along with a green mesh that we will install on the fence for further screening.  This will definitely have a positive impact on the 10th green that right now receives little to no morning sun.  We will keep you updated with our progress.

Divot Damage and Healing

 

This is the 11th tee.  Between the markers are the divots from 1 day of golf over Thanksgiving weekend.  If you look behind the tee markers, those are divots from other days during November that have been filled with seed and soil.  These areas on the tees will not be fully healed until May, but unfortunately golf will ramp up again in April, so it will be some aggressive growing of grass come spring to get the tee to look good for the 2023 season.  

It was ultimately decided to put out mats on par 3s and short par 4s this winter to help our tees get a break and be in good shape come next spring.  Once the mats arrive we will put them out and it will be mandatory to play from them until April 2023.  We will slowly install mats each year throughout the course based on the amount of traffic we receive during the winter months.  Fortunately for the grass, it has been a cold November and play is definitely down or our tees would be really beat up.

The Retirement of a Legend

 

Middle right of the picture is Victor Grant, one of the longest tenured employees at Arcola.  His 40 years covers working in the clubhouse and out on the course, with the last 25 years working as the irrigation technician.  Victor will best be known for his "questionable" pin placements over the past 25 years, even on days when he did not change hole locations.  Victors Revenge is a fun event the club has each season where Vic and the staff can set the course up as a Supers Revenge event.  While the event has turned into a more cross country golf, Vic still enjoyed putting a few zingers out there.  Above, Vic is working on the newly improved blue tee area on 13 and in his favorite position of figuring out wires etc.  Vic had kept a poor irrigation system going for many years until we changed our heads over to Rain Bird.  With all the improvements we made over the last 12 years, Victor had his hands full installing new irrigation or repairing the ones we broke.

Thanks Vic for all your work over my 13 years and the 27 years before I arrived!

Final Step of Fairway Aeration

 

The fairways were Verticut followed by an aeration and topdressed to finish off.  Loro is doing the final brush of topdressing into the holes before the fairways will be mowed for the first time in a week.  Next spring we will do a verticutting, with a deep tine and another topdressing.