Spring Update 5/10
- matthewbehl
- May 10
- 3 min read
Updated: May 11
It has been an extremely busy spring for the agronomy team and it's been a while since we have updated with a blog post.
8th white tee/purple tee update
The white/purple tee on 8 was sodded Friday, May 2. The tee surface received it's first mow this past Friday after a good rolling with our heavy salsco roller. The tee is rooting in nicely and will be lightly topdressed this week. The rough sod received with the sod delivery was not the highest quality. I have been in communication with the farm. The rough sod is being closely monitored for rooting and will need a little TLC moving forward. If the tee keeps progressing as planned, I am hoping to have it open by the weekend of the 24th or weekend of the 31st. Also, during construction a level ramp was build on the left side of the tee to allow for easier access to and from the tee. Once the tee is open we will do some before and after pictures of the area.
Green and Fairway aeration
Our spring green and fairway aeration is complete. We had two perfect day's Monday and Tuesday for aeration and fairways couldn't have gone better. Unfortunately, on the first day of aeration our greens aerator broke down on the 6th green. This left us scrambling to rent a trailer and borrow an aerator from another golf course. This led to a very long first day of aeration and not being able to complete as many as we wanted to do. The long day Monday rolled right into a long day Tuesday. On Tuesday, temperatures shot up into the 80's, humidity was low, and winds where gusting to 30 mph. Not only where we aerating, but ended up having to water to almost dark. Luckily we only had a few greens to finish up on Wednesday and could open the course back up for play. The fairway were cored with a 3/4 inch tine, the plugs dragged, and then the remaining thatch was vacuumed off the fairways. Greens were done with a 3/4 inch solid tine and holes were filled with sand. I have not tallied how much sand was incorporated into greens yet, but I estimate around 35 tons went in the root zone.
Most of the sand pictured below has been incorporated into the root zone
I suspect greens will be mostly healed by Friday, May 16th. We are still mowing with our topdressing mowers and picking up some sand. As soon as we can switch back to our regular greens mowers without damaging the mowers we will. At that point, height will be dropped and greens maintenance towards playability will be increased. Greens really just need a little sunshine and some warmer days.
Well 6
The well located on 6 is now fully operational. We will be utilizing this well when needed and will be updating on it's performance as we utilize it. Currently, the well is providing about 70 gallons per minute. Sections of the exposed white pipe will be painted to hide it's visibility in the coming weeks. I also plan to bury the last section of pipe behind the 5th green, but that may end up being a fall project.
Stakes along 5th Pond
As we have been working on increasing our water supply with the additional well we have also been working on fixing the intake line to the pump house. We are filing for a notice of intent to complete this work. In the process, the pond bank needs to be surveyed and bank and water line need to be identified. These stakes will be in place for a little while, but will be removed as soon as we can.
End of 18
The area where a tree was removed and section of cart path taken out has begun to be prepped for sod. The agronomy teams hope is to have this area prepped for sod by week's end and to be sodding the area early the following week.
Staffing
We have a very good, albeit small crew this spring. Hiring has been a challenge. Staff will start to fill in over the next two weeks and I hope to have the agronomy team fully assembled by Memorial Day weekend.
Audubon/Wildlife
Most wildlife has been picture shy this spring. A number of our bluebird boxes are being utilized and we have at least three nesting pairs on the golf course. The bat houses that were so generously donated will be going up soon as well. We have just been so busy with agronomy work to install.
