Moving Ahead With Getting The Course In Top Shape!

As mentioned in previous blog posts, the course has come through the winter in relatively excellent shape.  Many of our annual problem areas have already been graded and seeded in hopes to get them to fill in as soon as possible.  The area in the top picture is the drainage project we started late last fall on the 12 approach area.  This area is essentially the "Low spot" in the area so water tends to sit here. The soil underneath is heavy clay which does not drain at all.  We cut in very deep sand sump channels in the hopes to remove the standing water from the surface.  The area should drain much better and we are hoping the aesthetics and firmer and dryer conditions will promote a much better approach shot.  The middle picture is the 17th green which always looks great coming out of winter.  The 6th fairway as seen in the bottom picture is always a drainage problem.  The fairway has literally only 3" of soil on top of bedrock, so drainage here is not much of an option.  We re-seed the area each year and it fills in only to thin out in the fall.  Options here are very few here but we do our best with the cards we are dealt! 

Mike O'Neill, GCS

The Golf Season Is Approaching, Course Update.

Finally, we are starting to see that there is still actually grass under all that snow cover!  I was starting to wonder!  As mentioned in previous blogs, the course has survived the winter without the damage we had last winter.   We did however experience more than usual snow mold breakthrough on the fairways this year.  The fairways are treated with snow mold prevention fungicides but the prolonged snow cover was too much pressure for the product.  The snow mold damage is on most fairways but is not a big problem going forward as the damage is all cosmetic.  The grass in these areas will eventually grow through the blemishes and fill right in and look normal with some warmer soil temperatures.

Also note the picture of the "Footprints" on the 4th green above.  These footprints were caused by someone and their dog walking on the green while frost was on the green.  We police the course the best we can but for some reason, people seem to think they can walk across the course whenever they want.  This damage will grow out but will take some time and in the meantime will look quite unsightly.  As pictured above, there is still snow in pockets on the course and we will keep everyone informed as to when we will be able to open the course.  Lets think warm weather!

Mike O'Neill, GCS