Fall Update: 10/24
- Michael Curtin
- Oct 24
- 3 min read
Leaves:
Fall in New England is well underway and with that comes plenty of leaves. Everyday the crew is busy blowing and clearing off play surfaces of leaves and other tree debris. Unfortunately, at this point in the fall the leaves fall at a rate that makes it impossible for us to completely keep up with. We do the best we can to keep play areas clear, but there will be times where accumulating leaves interfere with play like piles of leaves collecting in bunkers or blanketing sections of the fairways. We had a engine failure in our leaf vacuum first thing this fall but that has now been replaced and the leaf vacuum will be a common sight on the course for the rest of the season.
Course Aerations:
Greens, tees, fairways, and approaches have all received another round of aeration this fall. Greens were punched with a small solid tine while tees, fairways, and approaches were all core aerated. Tees and approaches also received a layer and topdressing sand before being dragged and rolled. Fairway aeration as usual was contracted out to Sportscapes Unlimited.
Frost:
Another golf favorite that comes with fall is the occurrence of frost. As a reminder moving across frost covered turf is likely to cause significant damage to the turf. Frosty mornings require us to delay both the start of maintenance and tee times until the course turf is safe to be traveled across. Please be understanding if after a cold night your morning tee time is affected by such a delay. Even if the forecasted low nightly temperature is above freezing frost can still form on the turf surfaces. This is because those forecasted temperatures are for air temperature which is generally measured at a height of four to six feet. However, cold air is denser than warmer air and thus sinks resulting in the temperature right along the ground to be colder than the air above it. Hence why the forecasted low for the area might be in the mid to high 30's but the course still ends up having a frost delay. These delays are done for the overall benefit and protection of the golf course for the entire membership.
Projects:
A number of projects across the course this fall have either been completed or are underway. On the 1st tee the area right of the forward tee has been grown in and the area near the white tee is almost ready for sod.
The top of hill along the 2nd cart path has been prepped and seeded. Behind the 4th green and a section of rough along the 15th cart path are also currently being prepped with loam, compost, and other seed work. The first drive off area on the left of 9 is currently being prepped for eventual sodding as well.
New pavers have been installed along the front steps of the clubhouse main entrance. This work was done by SLS Outdoor Living which is based just a little ways up Route 1 North. More sections of walkways and brick are planned to be replaced with matching pavers in the future. The next area planned for replacement is the sunken section of brick pavers below the front entrance portico. Below are some pictures of the work.
Wildlife Pictures:
