Aeration Update

Greens aeration went very well last Monday. All equipment functioned without a hitch, and the weather was fully cooperative. The guys did an outstanding job, and we were able to complete 20 greens in a 10-hour work day. This included - aeration, plug clean-up, filling all holes with sand, brooming, rolling, and watering. 

All factors coming together made for a smooth day. The sunny dry weather was especially helpful for the topdressing process.

The warm weather coming this week should help the healing process. We are optimistic that the greens will be fully recovered by Men's Kickoff and putting great. Tee aeration/topdressing was completed  two weeks ago, and we are still making our way through the fairways. 

Tee Renovation

Last fall we renovated 10 tees (1 lower, 3 ladies, 4 championship, 4 men's, 8 senior, 12 men's, 13 ladies, 14 championship, 16 new alternate, 16 ladies). As with all areas of the golf course, tees evolve over time and lose their original characteristics. Weather conditions, changing seasons, routine maintenance, golfing traffic, growing habits of turf species, and intentional modifications all contribute to this evolution. 


In the case of our tees, they have gradually become uneven, sizes and shapes have changed, and undesirable grasses have contaminated the hitting surfaces and banks. 

Example of a settled, uneven tee surface (#8 senior)

...same tee after renovation

This photo shows contamination of bentgrass and poa annua on the tee bank. This becomes quite unsightly, especially when it declines during the summer heat and stress.

Renovating tees also provides an opportunity to change their size and properly align them with the landing areas. Furthermore, the shape of the existing tee bank can be easily modified to accommodate these changes.

Below is #12 men's tee before (top) and after (bottom). Its previous size was too small to support a season's worth of play. Without the ability to spread hitting space in multiple areas, it became littered with divots and was very weak by mid-season. Its size nearly tripled and is now properly aligned with the landing area following the renovation.

We also regraded the banks to match the tee surfaces. #4 is a good example - the front bank is now consistent from side-to-side, whereas before was rounded and uneven.

In a nutshell, the process involved; stripping the existing sod, reshaping and grading banks and surfaces, final grading, and laying both recycled and new sod. The majority of the work was completed in-house, but we needed the expertise of a shaper for grading work and laser leveling. 
Below are several pictures of the process.

The photo of #1 above was taken today and is representative of the other tees completed. They are making great progress thanks to the mild winter and early spring. Our  goal is to open them around the 20th of this month, and with the weather we are having, it is looking very promising. Until then, it is very important that other tees and/or the temporary hitting areas are used to avoid damage and delay their opening.

The 10 tees we completed last year were among those in most need of attention. We plan to continue renovating in this fashion later this fall and subsequent falls until we are finished with all tees. 

Abnormally Early Green-up

Sunday marked the 5th consecutive day of record breaking highs. This has happened only one other time since weather data has been recorded and sets an outright record for March.

The heat has pushed golf course turf across the area into an unusually early growth spurt and green-up, which typically happens during the first part of April. 

The top photo was taken this morning - the bottom last year on March 16th. Both captured on #1 green looking back up the fairway.

There is plenty to be happy about for the early warm up - it's more comfortable, the turf is experiencing great root growth and recovery already, playing conditions are good for March, and so on. However, the challenge is keeping up with everything. Our spring staff has enough to do just to complete the annual clean up/start up tasks. Throw the mowing of over 36 acres of bentgrass into the mix, along with bunker maintenance, and course set up and it gets pretty interesting.

Despite the slight scramble we are in, we are all enjoying getting back on the course, and I am very thankful that the winter was so kind to the greens, tees, and fairways. Overall, we are off to a great start - as long as things don't stay this far above normal through August!

Greens Open Today

Greens were officially open for play today - one of the earliest dates in many, many years. Today's high topped out at 80 and was consistent with several upper 70's and a few other 80 degree readings in the area.

The early warm/dry spring has allowed us to get off to a fast start - almost too fast considering we are quite short-handed. Most of our seasonal staff members come back to work throughout the month of April. Regardless, we are making good progress with clean up and other spring activities.


By the weekend, we will have all of the playing surfaces cleaned and mowed, bunkers raked, and a couple sets of tee markers in place. Other course accessories (benches, ball washers, etc.) will make their way out in the near future as well given the weather remains mild.

#4 Prairie

You may have noticed this week that the prairie immediately in front of the 4th tees has been cut down. This is the first step in the process of re-establishing the area to a lower growing, prairie-like stand of grasses. Like the majority of our prairie areas, this spot consists of very tall growing warm-season native grasses - some as high as 6-8 feet in height. By August each year, this literally creates a blind shot to the 4th fairway and for lower trajectory hitters, can become an obstacle off the tee.

Photo October 2008 - showing the obstructive nature of the grasses, despite a couple minor trimmings during the season.

The next step will be to kill the existing stand, which will take several days to die off completely. We will then scalp the area down as low as possible, make soil preparations where needed, and finally plant new seed of the desired grass species.

First step complete - mowing grasses & harvesting debris

The project should not affect play, as the area extends only a minimal distance off the tee. We will have the entire area roped off for the remainder of the season to avoid traffic disruption to the new seedlings. With soil temperatures still fairly high and warmer weather hanging around, we should get a good catch going into the off-season.

The ultimate goal is provide a "naturalized" look that fits well into the rest of the property but that will no longer produce blind shots or a hazard for low hit shots.