What a difference a week makes! Now that winter has finally decided to move on, the greens department (and the turf) have welcomed the sunshine and warmer temperatures while we work hard to prepare the golf course for Opening Day.

As mentioned in my previous blog, we find ourselves in the unique situation this year of being nearly four weeks behind where we should be at this point in the season. This late start has had an impact on how we have gone about preparing the golf course in order to have it ready for play as soon as possible. Below, I have summarized each area of the golf course outlining current conditions and our strategy to bring conditions up to what is to be expected for this time of the year as quickly as possible.

Greens

• Now that the turf has emerged from dormancy, we are pleased to see that all greens have overwintered well and are healthy.
• Greens aerification was completed on April 25. We will not need to perform any invasive aerification practices on the greens again until Thanksgiving.
• Over the next 2-3 weeks we will be working hard to improve the firmness and smoothness of the greens to expected conditions for this time of the year.

Tees

• Now that the turf has emerged from dormancy, we are pleased to see that all tees have overwintered well and are healthy.
• Tee aerification was completed on April 27.

Fairways

• Now that the turf has emerged from dormancy, we are pleased to see that all fairways have overwintered well and are healthy.

Flood damage

• All flood damage has been repaired.
• Select greenside bunkers on 8/10 will open a few days after course opening while we wait for new sod around the edges to root.

Tree Debris

• The April 14 ice storm generated more debris on the golf course than we would find after an entire winter! Unfortunately, just prior to that storm we had just finished raking the entire golf course for the second time.
• Given the short timeline to prepare the golf course as quickly as possible, greens staff have focused their efforts on preparing the areas that receive the most play first. The lesser traveled areas will be tended to during the week of April 30.

General Housekeeping

• Similar to the situation of tree debris cleanup staff will be working hard to get to sprinkler edging as well as curb and cart path edging in the next couple of weeks.

Course Furniture and Accessories

• Again, with the focus on preparing the golf course for play, staff will be putting out ball washers and benches throughout the week of April 30. The course fountains will be installed at this time as well.
• The course washrooms and Halfway House will be open.

The greens staff cannot wait to see everyone back out enjoying the golf course. Please be assured that we will be doing everything in our power to pull the aforementioned factors together as quickly as possible. Have a great 2018 golf season!