TURF TALK - WINTER PROJECT UPDATE The days are growing shorter and we have had plenty of frosty mornings that have slowed the growth of all turfgrasses. We are now entering into the time of year where we clean up the rest of the leaves that have yet to fall and start focusing on projects. If you haven't noticed we have started taking down some trees that are dying, leaning, or causing turf conditions to decline. Tree work is a never-ending project, but we would like to update the membership on a few things we have planned for this winter. Behind #1 and #11 green we have removed the trees that were covered in ivy and were dying slowly. With the help of our clubs Horticulturalist John Leggoe we have put together a plan to replace the plant material with something new and improved. By the time spring rolls around our goal is to have those areas look much better than it has in the past. Drainage is going to be a large focus this winter as well. Some key areas we plan on attacking is the Approach on #11. Firming up that area will improve playability and help some of our golfers reach that green in two strokes. With the large trees guarding the right side of the hole, the turf takes longer to dry out, especially after a heavy rainfall. The angle of the sun during the winter also limits the number of hours in the day the turf receives sunlight. We also plan on repairing some existing drainage on #1 and #16. The sub-surface pipelines are compromised and will need to be replaced to firm up landing zones on those two holes. There are countless drain basins that need to be raised as well throughout the property. Our goal is to raise as many as we can throughout the winter to help with surface runoff and prevent damage to equipment and golf carts. This is a great time of year for us to spend time detailing bunkers and make them as consistent as possible. We will go through and check the depths in all of them to make sure they have at least four inches of sand throughout. This is a time-consuming task and is difficult to complete during play so we will try and knock these out on Mondays when the course is closed. The last thing we want is for one of our members to hit the Capillary Concrete liner under the sand and hurt themselves and/or damage their wedge. As a department we hope that all of our members enjoy their golfing experience every time they step foot on property. Sometimes Mother Nature doesn’t deal us a good hand, but we try and put our best foot forward each day. We hope you all had fun this past golfing season and we look forward to maintaining high level playing conditions in the upcoming year. As always, please remember to fix your ball marks and fill your divots.
Happy Holidays! Brandon Ingle, Golf Course Superintendent
THE HICKORY STICK
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