Greens Conditions

With the early stages of summer weather upon us, we will continue to see an increase in both green speeds and roll quality. Poa seedheads have arrived now that there is an increase in warmth. This does lead to bumpier conditions; however, using certain cultural practices can help to mitigate the effect they have on putting quality.

Frequent brushing to stand the turf canopy up before cutting as well as grooming to remove excess material will benefit these conditions. Light weekly topdressing will continue to help smooth out the putting surfaces while contributing to plant health. With rain events hopefully becoming a little less in volume and frequency, we will be able to manage the surfaces to firmer conditions consistently.

Rough Clippings

With the wet spring, being able to cut consistently has been a challenge, especially the rough. When the ground is saturated, as we have seen frequently this year, cutting the turf is more detrimental than beneficial. At the start of the season we were fortunate to have cooler weather with very little growth as a result. Now that things have warmed up and there is plenty of moisture in the ground, the turf is growing at an incredible rate. With both mowers cutting as much as possible, including extra work on the weekends, and clipping dispersion using blowers, we are seeing a return to regular conditions.

16 Tee Complex

We recently came to the decision to remove the forsythia bushes to the left of 16 tee and replace them with fescue. The bushes were overgrown, which was an aesthetic issue; and, they were encroaching on the path beside the yellow tee. With the slow start to the growing season this year and the significant amount of shade in the area, the germination of the seed has just begun in the last few days. Frequent seeding and watering will be utilized to ensure a quick filling in of the area. Behind the bench has been mulched and the area in front of the black deck has been trimmed down and seeded to fescue. These are frequently over saturated areas with the water level behind 16 tee, where the fairway drains. Mulching this area and converting some of it to maintained fescue will make it much more visually appealing.

Drones and Data

This Wednesday (June 12) a drone pilot will be spending some time on the golf course with a drone for data collection and compilation. We are utilizing this new technology to gather a topographical image of the golf course and to update our tree inventory. The flight will be completed during the day and is completely automated with no impact to golfers on the course.