Sometimes a picture is truly worth a thousand words.  As with any job on the golf course, when a team member is tasked with servicing the ballwashers, there are certain expectations.  However, nobody is asked to climb up so they can remove the bird poop from the top of the tee consoles. This act may be a very simple thing that few players notice, but it's rewarding to see people who still care about the quality of their work, and take pride in it ..read more

Earlier this spring, an equipment issue led to a stripe of fertilizer on some tees.  Since then, a few people have seen the lush green grass, and asked why we don't have the whole golf course looking like that.   The answer to this question really has two parts:  What's best for the plant (and often more importantly), what's best for golf.  On the course, it definitely isn't a "one size fits all" approach, as we have different fertility programs in place for greens, tees, fairways, primary rough, secondary rough, as well as the practice facility.  In the case of t ..read more

The Medal tee on #8 was recently reopened without a whole lot of fanfare.   As you may recall, last fall we stripped off the existing turf, releveled and seeded the tee, prior to covering it for the winter. While there may not have been a ribbon cutting ceremony, hopefully everyone is able to appreciate the firmer teeing ground and additional area we were able to create during this process.  Seeding may require more patience than sodding, however the end result is typically superior ..read more

For a while, it felt like we'd have a better chance of getting a hole in one, than finding the unlikely combination required to finish the PEM matting down the center of the Clubhouse bridge:  A warm day with little cart traffic.   Eventually our patience paid off, and the team was able to take advantage of a break in the action, quickly getting this "winter project" completed.  Given the durability of both the matting and decking, we shouldn't need to be working on this again for quite some time ..read more

It's early May, and that can mean only one thing: Time for greens aerification.   Just kidding.  The reality is that now is when members can reap the benefits of last year's late season aerification and covering of the greens during the winter.   This week of May is when we have traditionally aerified the greens each spring--which is always followed by a few weeks of "less than" putting conditions.  You won't be experiencing that this year. This is the second part of the payback for covered greens during the off-season.  The first "non-aerifying" of the gre ..read more

It may be a little hard to believe given the current warm temperatures, but this past week we had four mornings with frost delays.  People often ask how we can have frost when the temperatures we see reported are well above freezing. Another frosty morning, despite a registered temperature above freezing. Yes, as we were all taught at an early age, water does need to be at 32 degrees in order to freeze.  The discrepancy between what we see on our phones (or from our weather station) and what we see on the turf primarily comes from the difference in elevation.  Most wea ..read more

While the primary focus of the agronomy team is obviously the golf course, occasionally we are called upon to help with an off course task.  Most recently, this involved assisting with the installation of the gas line for the new pool heater at the Clubhouse. Step one was constructing a pad for the propane tanks: This was followed by digging a lengthy, circuitous trench over hill and dale for the gas line: While projects like this can be challenging to handle this time of year, it's always interesting when we get to take on something different.  As the saying goes, "If you want ..read more

With dozens and dozens of carts traversing the course daily, traffic  management is a constant battle.  To date, we have used the traditional yellow rope and stakes to shift traffic patterns, and give areas a chance to recover.  However we are now transitioning to small green and white markers to indicate where to drive (and where not to).   These markers are more aesthetically pleasing, and will hopefully be easier to shift on a regular basis than the ropes.  Please remember that these markers  are positioned to be driven around--you don't score three poin ..read more

The early part of April definitely lived up to its reputation for "showers" with 4.10" of rain in just the first four days of the month.  For perspective, this is slightly more than the average rainfall for the entire month--and over 100,000 gallons of water on each and every acre. April is not alone in contributing to a wet 2024.  Year to date, we are at exactly twice the average precipitation, having received 22.5" thus far.  While February was actually on the dry side, we were hit hard in both January and March, recording 7.3" and 9.2" respectively. What does this mean for ..read more

Our golf course operation accumulates a fair bit of soil.  This is primarily comprised of drainage spoils, aerification plugs, and during the past few years, material generated from the Master Plan work.   If we were in need of constructing some mounding, a tee, or other architectural feature on the course, this pile might be considered an asset.  However, when we are close to running out of room, it can become a problem.  Below you can see that the soil is spilling over onto our driveway and even starting to limit access to the fuel tanks. So we have been fortunate ..read more