March 2013

At of the end of March, the only real proof that winter happened remains on just a select few holes where the turf is covered by about 8 inches of snow.  The bulk of the golf course is already clear and ready for some conditioning and care.  We have suffered some snow mold damage in some bluegrass areas due to the many warm days and generally mild conditions this winter, but already the course shows signs of drying out nicely.  These areas will recover with a little help within weeks.  The bentgrass greens all appear to have come through winter in excellent condition.

We have begun the cleanup process of many areas and are resuming the project work that we began in the fall.  All of the rough grading work is complete on the new tier at the practice facility and the expansion of the ‘II’ Tee on #16.  Final grades and drainage will begin soon with sand capping, irrigation and sod coming in April for these areas.  We anticipate both projects will be playable by the middle of July.

We are also currently underway on a project to help provide better early-season hitting and an overall enhancement to the teaching area at the Practice Facility.  As the weather turns sunny and more and more people want to hit balls, the turf around the PF building takes a horrible beating because it has no recuperative potential this time of year.  The improvements we are making there will begin to address this need.

This spring we will be focusing on course conditioning and fundamental items such as aerification, vertical mowing, topdressing, and drainage.  We also have planned some tee improvement work on holes 7, 8 and 9 that will provide more level, usable space.