Cart Path Only Starting November 1

Starting in November we will be cart path only on the River Course and no carts allowed on the Rock Course.  The reason we do this is to protect the Zoysia Turf.  The crown of the turf (growth point of grass blades) is the heart of the plant.  Golf Cart traffic can severely damage the crown and the result is dead turf in the spring.  So to insure a quality playing surface for the upcoming season please stay on the paths.  Thanks for your cooperation.  Above is a photo of the dormant zoysia.

 

Fall Projects

Fall is a busy time of year for us.  It is the time of year when the cool season grass makes it recovery from the long hot summer.  So far this fall we have aerified, fertilized, and topdressed all the greens, fertilized the zoysia (fairways and tees) for the last time this season, seeded all thin areas in the rough with a slit seeder, and finally finished repairing #9 on the River Courses fairway bunker.  The above photo is of Rob aerifying the greens and the bottom photos are of some of the work that was done on 9 bunker. 

Removing all old contaminated sand

After pulling out old drainage we put in new and covered with pea gravel 

The finished project after we lowered the bunker faces to reduce washouts and added sand

Greens Aerification and Range Tee Info

Just a quick reminder that we will be aerifying the River Greens on Monday the 16th of September and the Rock Greens the 17th.  Also Wednesday the 18th will be the last day the Turf Tee on the Range will be open for the year. Starting on the 19th we will shut it down to overseed with Rye Grass. However you will be allowed to hit from the Synthetic tee at the back of the Range.  Thanks for your patience Sam

Natural Area Clean-Up

 If you have played golf recently you probably noticed that all the natural areas have been cut.  This is an annual process that we will do to keep these areas free from weeds.  Once we cut it we are then able to spray the areas with a post emergent herbicide to kill all the weeds.  And if it ever decides to cool down we will then seed some of the thin areas with a Fescue grass. So, that eventually we will have a nice stand of tall grass that is free of weeds.  Please keep the carts out of these areas.

Driving Range Prep

The first job we perform every morning when we get to the course is on the Range Tee Top.  The 1 acre tee takes a beating everyday.  Keeping the turf plush and thick is nearly impossible, it is one of the many challenges Superintendents face.  What we have been doing this year is as follow:

• First we blow off the divots from the previous day
• Second we solid tine the area that was hacked
• Third we take a slit seeder over the bare areas
• And Forth we topdress the area with sand
• On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we mow the tee
• Every two weeks we put down a starter fertilizer (18-24-12)
• The ropes get moved forward everyday to allow for a fresh area of grass to hit on.

So far this year I would say it is looking better than it did last year.  It is definitely a challenge and with experience through trial and error we hope to have it in better shape year after year.  Below are photos of the work that is performed.

Blowing off debris and divots 

Solid Tine/Venting damaged area

Slit seeding bare areas

Topdressing with sand