Member Donating Time To Fill Divots!

Recently a member has approached me to help out with filling tee and fairway divots.  We have very small tees so it is very critical that divots be filled literally instantly to insure a descent season long quality playing surface.  I certainly appreciate his time doing this and I believe this will make a huge difference with our tees.  The message really is...Please fill your divots right away after it is taken.  I would recommend just taking the scoop of divot mix from the cart with you and after you tee off and no divot is taken, you can always fill another divot that was not repaired.  The picture above is of the 8th white tee after the divots were totally filled by the member filling the divots every Wednesday morning!  Please fill your divots!

Mike O'Neill, GCS

Divot Mix Changes.

The above photo shows what our typical tees look like on any given day.  We have extremely small teeing surfaces for the amount of play the course receives.  It is critical we have a viable divot mix that keeps moisture and doesn't dry out quickly.

The divot in the above photo is typical of the green mix we use.  I rarely see seed growing in this mix unless we go through an extremely wet period.  The decision was made years ago by the membership to go to a "Green" colored divot mix to look aesthetically pleasing and be user friendly.  The problem is, this mix is not a good medium for growing bentgrass from seed.

I have finally found a divot mix that I will be mixing with the green sand (above right) to create a much better growing medium for the bentgrass seed.  We will be mixing the two soild above to create a divot mix that will not dry out as fast and will promote excellent bentgrass seed germination.  This I believe in turn will allow our divots to heal up and fill in much better that just the plain old green sand.  The down side is it won't look as "Green" as the previous mix but it will actually grow grass!

Mike O'Neill, GCS

More Tree Trimming!

The mild winter continues as we capitalize on the unseasonable weather with continued tree trimming.  My staff and I have made it the number one priority to move through the entire golf course with the tree trimming and have been diligently progressing on this project.  You can see by the above pictures, certain areas of the golf course we trim more, other areas we trim less, it all depends on the significance of limbs in the area as well as how the topography funnels and collects balls.  The trimming has certainly been completely dependent on the golfers perspective and the golf course layout.

Let's keep hoping spring arrives early this year!

Mike O'Neill, GCS

Hole #13 Before And After Tree Removal.

Before

                                                                               After
We have been fortunate enough to have some rare access to the golf course in February and we have certainly capitalized on the opportunity to bust out some more grunt work!  We have removed 3 trees on the right of the hole and 2 trees on the left to significantly open up the hole to allow for ample room on either side of the hole.  Trees and limbs before were encroaching into the ball line of flight on either side of the hole.

Mike O'Neill, GCS

Winter Work....Our Work Never Stops!

We are in the heart of our winter prep work here in the maintenance department.  We go through every bearing and grease fitting ensuring we don't run into any problems during the season, causing problematic downtime.  This is the time of year we use to perform routine maintenance on every piece of equipment we have as well.  My staff does an excellent job of the details on all of our equipment ensuring we run smoothly during the season as well as long term maintenance of the equipment to allow us to get the most out of each piece of equipment now and in the future!

Mike O'Neill, GCS

Tree Trimming...Well Underway!

We have started the process of trimming trees up from the ground.  The goal here is to open up the area under the trees to allow a shot from under every tree on the golf course.  We typically address the worst trees or the dead limbs every year but this year we will be looking at every tree on the course to make sure they are all trimmed up for the enjoyment of the errant golf shot!

Tree Trimming.... A Priority This Winter!

Tree Trimming is an annual maintenance task here on the golf course.  The fact that we have mature hardwood trees on the course creates a lot of work year round from deadwood to limbing to safety concerns for golfers.  The trees on the property are constantly evaluated to determine the necessity of the aforementioned tasks.  This year we will be focusing on tree lines of each hole.  Tree limbs should not hang over or impede a fairway boundary in my opinion.  The goal will be to limb the tree up underneath as well as shape the trees with a boom lift the best we can.  A golfer should have a full swing under each tree as well.

This golf course was not designed with the intention of ending up with all these trees we currently have.  Not mush we can do about that  but maintain safety and keep the course as fair and playable for everybody, of all skill sets.

Mike O'Neill, GCS