Practice facility update

Under normal conditions, the range is typically opened on April 1st.  However, we usually have to delay opening as we tend to be wet in the spring which causes plugged balls and stuck range pickers.  Due to the current wet conditions, we will not be opening the range for this weekend.  As soon as the ground conditions permit we will allow practice to begin on the range.  Thanks for your patience. 

Greens aerification completed

We completed greens aerification yesterday, applying sand and aerating with 3/4" solid tines.  Today we focused on filling in the remaining open holes and continued the process of spreading the sand around and smoothing the greens back out through rolling. 

 

As you saw in my last post, quality roots are a direct result of proper soil structure through aerification.  The mess we are making now is going to help us produce excellent conditions for the next 7 months. 

 

Pins will be back in the greens tomorrow; over the next few days will continue working in the sand and rolling the greens.  Reminder - this upcoming Monday we will be aerifying fairways. 

And we're off

The greens have been mowed, the cups have been changed and the pins are in, welcome back! 

 It felt good changing cups today, perfect morning for it. 

 

What a sight this was, only those of you in the turf industry will appreciate this, this is awesome.  Proof that aerification works.  

Landscaping installed

Despite the frigid temperatures yesterday, we spent the day installing new landscaping at the clubhouse.  The new landscape bed will serve as a visual barrier between the parking lot and the golf course, after a few years of growth, this bed will fill in and be more appealing to the eye.  The old saying concerning perennials is: The first year they sleep, the second year they creep, the third year they leap. 

We have a few more plants to install next week and a fair number of perennials that won't be available until June. 

 

Evan put his welding skills to work and fabricated new forks for our loader.  Our current forks are a little banged up from years of tree work.  These new forks will only be used for unloading pallets off trucks and other needs that require a level set of strong forks.  With Evan's skills in the shop and the proper tools, we are now able to do more fabrication and heavy maintenance. 

Course to open this Friday

After some discussion this morning and a view of the forecast, we have decided to open the golf course for the year on Friday, March 24.  Friday looks like a decent day, although breezy, with temperatures reaching 70 degrees.  From that point on, we will remain open for the year.  We are expecting to see rain over the weekend and into much of the following week, if that pans out, we will remain open but carts will be restricted.  We will be allowing carts on the course this Friday.

Please note: we will be aerifying greens this Monday and into Tuesday, weather permitting.  We also have fairway aerification scheduled for Monday, April 3 with clean-up into Tuesday. 

If we don't see you on Friday, we hope to see you out here soon!

Tree work

This brief cold spell gave us an opportunity to remove a few trees this past week.  We create a list of potential removals in the fall and if the ground firms up enough over the winter, we go ahead with the removals.  While we did not get everything down that was on our list, we did get some of the less desirable / failing trees off the course, the remainder of the list will be saved for next winter. 

One tree that received approval recently was a Spruce to the right of the 2nd green.  This tree was not only encroaching into the green complex (covering up a portion of the right bunker), it was also causing damage to the cart path beneath it.  We will be re-paving this path in the spring, it therefore made sense for us to remove the tree at this time.

After a few tree removals earlier this week, we brought in a stump grinder yesterday while the ground was still firm.  This morning before the snow hit, we filled all our stump holes with soil.  Because of the tree work this week, stick clean-up went slower than anticipated.  While we had a few bodies on it all week, we still have some ground to cover.

One of our major projects of the winter is near completion - equipment maintenance.  We have a few more regular maintenance items to scratch off, then we can spend some time on fabricating items that will make our equipment safer and more efficient. 

Reinforcements arrive

We have the help of a few of our seasonal staff members that are on Spring Break this week.  Extra hands go a long way to get large projects, such as stick clean-up, done in a timely manner.  We sent everyone outside today to get some of our worst areas done before the snow hits.

 We completed the clean-up on 4 holes, using a total of 58.5 man hours today alone just on stick clean-up.  I am hoping the snowfall is light tonight allowing us to continue cleaning up the course.

 

My timeline laid out on Saturday may change depending on the snowfall tonight and upcoming temperatures.  We may not be able to aerify next week as I hoped as the forecast seems to be cooler now.  Again, I will keep you posted.

 

Same post, different week

We had much of the same this past week - wind, trees down, and restarting our clean-up efforts.

 

During Tuesday's wind, another large Spruce came down.  We made great strides cleaning up the course late last week and into this week only having to start over after Tuesday.  Baring any large wind events in the near future, we should have the course cleaned up by the end of the day on this upcoming Wednesday. 

 

We may start bunker maintenance later in the week, possibly aerify greens on Tuesday the 21st and look at opening the course the week of the 27th.  I'll keep you posted. 

Fertilizer pick-up date

For those of you that ordered your home lawn fertilizer program through FCC, you may pick it up this Saturday from 8-10am.  The fertilizer came in last week and is ready for the early spring.  If by chance you cannot make that date and time, just let me know and we can make other arrangements.

If you would like to participate in the program and have not done so yet, let me know soon as we do not have many bags remaining.  Thanks to everyone that participated - we received over $1,700 in free product as of this post.  We will be using those funds to purchase product (fertilizer and chemicals) for this upcoming season, helping to keep our costs down. 

Here are the highlights of the plan for those that may be interested:

• Four applications, less than $20 per application
• Everything you need to keep your lawn healthy
• Plan of application, we tell you when and how to apply
• One stop shop, pick up all the products you need in one stop
• Great value, save over 50% vs. purchasing at a home improvement store
• Supports local business, all products are manufactured in Fostoria

For a one-time charge of $79.00 per 10,000 square feet, you'll receive:

1. Mid-April app, 30-0-0 with Dimension pre-emergent (crabgrass control)
2. Early-June app, 21-0-4 with Mallet insecticide (grub control)
3. Mid-July app, 24-4-12, late summer feed
4. Late-September app, 18-0-2 with Trimec (weed control) the best time to control weeds is in the fall

*Each application consists of 1 bag which covers 10,000 square feet.  Measure your lawn to be sure you order the correct number of bags.  Calibrate your spreader to apply 5lbs of product for every 1,000 square feet.  Always read and follow label directions.

High winds cause damage

Just when we thought we were ahead of the game this year, almost having the course cleaned up and ready for the next project, we get hit with high winds.  We saw multiple trees down and debris all over.  Stick clean-up will have to start over from the beginning.   It seems there was a stretch through Findlay that received high winds and part of the club fell right on that path.  All our damage was on the north side of the course, with nothing being harmed south of 5. 

Crab Apple near the bridge on 8.

 The sun came out for a little bit today as we cleaned this one up.

 An Ash fell onto the fence and road behind 9 tee.

 Half a Pear tree on 11.

Spruce between 5 and 13.

Ash on 18

 A large Spruce uprooted behind 10 green.

We got the Spruce off the cable lines and off the neighbors yard, the remainder of it will be cleaned up Friday morning - we are hoping for firmer ground to get our loader up there and finish the job. 





Wayne was back on the job today after a few months hiatus and spent the day inside - coating all the tee markers with a layer of epoxy, making them look new again.