Thank you for your giving us time to accomplish some much needed work this week.   As planned, we will re-open Friday for play.  Our effort this week has centered around the greens, but we also made treatments for weed prevention to the majority of the course.  Neither of those chores can be done with play and both take a lot more than one day to complete.    Greens were aerated with two different methods.  One, the mini core aeration, focuses on improving the top 1" of the profile where organic matter is too plentiful.  Another, the deep tine aeration ..read more

Summary...Next week the course is closed from Monday-Thursday for much needed maintenance.  If all goes well, we may be able to open Thursday at some point.   For those that want a little more detail... Next week we are scheduled to aerate greens and will also be using a process called sand injection.  The aeration will involve the "mini core" process that we started using last year.  This step will create some space in the top inch with minimal disruption to the surface.  The sand injection step will involve a contractor using a machine that forces sand into the ..read more

Timelapse of the project on hole 8  The project lasted 3 weeks, but multiple rainy days interrupted us.  I also fumbled the settings on the camera one day so I lost some good footage.  The bulk of the days that we were able to work are captured in this time lapse video.   We will be seeding the area in front of the tee this week or next with hard fescue and some wildflowers.  The sod on the tee is looking good, but still needs some time to take root.  I mowed it myself on Sunday for the first time so we are getting closer to opening it up.  Pati ..read more

We don't desperately need irrigation yet, but starting up the system takes time and almost always involves a few unexpected hurdles.  For that reason we always try to get the system up and running a week or two earlier than when it's needed.  This year we were well aware of at least one issue that needed repair before we turned anything on.  The 8' section of discharge pipe was leaking in 3 places and has survived the last two seasons with repair clamps (band aids) in place.  Getting this custom made pipe replaced was not an easy task due to it's location.  Alan, Dave ..read more

The majority of work has been completed and we are opening up hole 8 for play again.  It's in  recovery for a few weeks, but it's playable in a modified state.  The gray, blue, white, and green tees are located on mats near the path and the yellow tee is located in the fairway.  When the new tees will officially open depends on how long it takes the sod to secure itself to the soil.  Roots must grow deep enough for the sod to be stable when struck with a golf club.  I certainly hope that happens in record time.   All new sod right of the green is conside ..read more

Week 2 is almost complete and we've ONLY lost 4 days to rain or rain related hold ups.  We started with a 10 day forecast that looked promising.  February is a risky month to do this sort of thing, but our options are limited.  It's Friday evening and rain is about to start falling again.  Sod farms will be challenged to harvest just like we are challenged to prep ground when it's muddy.  Hopefully we catch a break as all that's left is sod at the tees essentially. Despite the mud, this week we've managed to...  complete the re-grading at the right side of the gr ..read more

A lot of progress was made this week on hole 8.  Tees have been reshaped and the bunker has been removed along with all the sod in the area to be disturbed.  We had to bail out around noon today(Friday) due to rain.  Brian (our contractor) may be able to do some shaping over the weekend if the rain doesn't make it too messy.  We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of irrigation heads and fittings so that we can get that installed around the tees asap.  Rain looks likely this week so chances are good that we will have some delays between now and the finish line.  St ..read more

Monday, February 5th will be an action packed day.  We have 300 stumps to grind with the help of Professional Stump Grinders who we've used for the past few years.  They will work both Monday and Tuesday throughout the course.  We also have Adam's Tree Care coming to help with 13 dangerous dead trees that we cannot cut ourselves.  Ernie will be busy with the bridge on 18 while the tree and stump work is underway.  It's also a possibility that we'll see some asphalt repair work on Longstreet Dr. where the irrigation project crossed the road.  As all of this is happ ..read more

Our efforts to remove dead trees is ongoing and we are making great progress.  So far this winter we've made it through hole 16 getting dead trees we can access.  There are a few that we'll need dry or frozen conditions to get to, but we are well ahead of schedule with this process.  Most of the dead trees are hardwood so we are cutting them into firewood length pieces and stacking them behind our shop.  We are happy to have members come by and grab what they can use.  If you'd like some, reach out to me first and I'll guide you on the best route and time to get them ..read more

Obviously things are under a nice blanket of snow at the moment.  That's helpful to the turf as it gives some protection from the single digit temperatures we expect tonight.  Temperatures over the next few days and another threat of snow and/or rain on Friday make it easy to say that there will be no golf course to play this week.  If the long range forecast for warmer temps late next week comes true, then that is my best guess for when we might be able to play some golf.  Stay tuned for more updates as we get closer to conditions that might allow for golf.   ..read more