Course Update 10.10.14

This limb came off the Cedar Elm right of 13 Green in Thursday's storm

I apologize for the long lapse in updates. Overall, things are going well and we are in full swing getting the course ready for the fall season. Hopefully today's post will provide a good overview of course conditions and happenings. 

Storm Damage 

The wind from last Thursday night's storm took its toll on the course. We lost three entire trees, had damage to dozens more, and had debris covering most of the course. The crew did an excellent job cleaning up the mess and getting the course ready for the annual Member/Member tournament the next day.  The new tractors and other equipment purchased earlier this year allowed us to safely and efficiently tackle the job. All in all the damage could have been worse, and we did receive a half inch of rain - our biggest rain in two months.

Joe and Jacob Nava work on a large Cedar Elm in front of 4 fairway. The far left tee may play a little different now...

Water Situation

August and September were exceptionally dry. The lake has dropped back to three feet below normal and we are now on the brink of relying on our transfer pump once again. Our irrigation budget and water allotment are in good shape, but we are definitely in need of a good rain to help prepare the course for the winter months

Greens

The greens are certainly benefiting from the shorter days and cooler nights. We have experienced substantial recovery from the summer heat over the last 30 days. We are now in a position to shift gears from promoting recovery to focusing more on performance. 

High Rough Areas
After much discussion, the decision has been made to return to uniform mowing height on all rough areas. We will be re-evaluating the location of these type of areas over the next several months. We will be providing more information about this decision in the next couple of days via email. Click here to for more information: High Roughs Letter

Sod Work

This week we planted several areas on the front nine to Celebration bermudagrass. We focused on weak or thin areas near the fairways on holes 1, 2, 7, and 8. The grass will not completely blend in until the spring, however it should help the course play better over the winter months. Please avoid driving on the new sod. We will be keeping these areas heavily irrigated for the next couple of weeks.

Duane inspecting the prepared sod areas on #2

Planting the new grass on the left side of #7

Driving Range Tee

We overseeded the lower driving range tee and the two small tees near number nine fairway this past Monday. The warm temperatures have helped the seed germinate quickly, and I anticipate re-opening these tees in the next 10 days. We are also working with Colligan Design to develop plans that will increase the square footage of the lower tee from 10,500 square feet to approximately 18,000 square feet. We should have conceptual drawings in the coming weeks. 

Other Course Happenings

• Fall fertilizer applications completed on greens, tees, fairways, and roughs
• Preventative weed and disease control products applied to greens
• New course accessories - flags, flagsticks, cups, etc - Prisms will be installed on flagsticks next week
• All cart paths edged
• Tennis facility clean up - mowing, edging, trimming hedges, tree pruning, removal of vines, etc completed earlier this week
• Wet areas on 7 and 13 - we have made changes to our irrigation system that will help the low areas on these two hole remain much drier
• Continuing work on plans for our maintenance facility

Coming soon

• Fall preventative weed applications to tees, fairways, and roughs will be completed in the next two weeks
• We are scheduled for the "Planet Air" aeraration procedure on greens on 10/27
• Tall Fescue seed will planted next week in several shaded areas on the course beginning next week
• Finalizing bids for tree work along entrance road, clubhouse, parking lot, pool, and tennis facility