Aerifying greens

Today we are aerifying greens.  All of the greens will be cored and cleaned-up by the end of the day.  We are also topdressing the greens with sand, filling in all the holes.  More sand will go down tomorrow to ensure all the holes are filled, creating a smooth putting surface.

Keeping up with the mowing.

The weather lately has the grounds crew in full maintenance mode which typically doesn't happen until May.  Usually this time of year, we have a small crew and would be working on projects and course improvements.  This year, we still have a small crew and we are trying to keep up with the mowing.  You may see some stumps that need to be cleaned up and sodded.  They will get done.  It depends what happens first, the temperatures get cooler and we can mow less often, or our summer help arrives.

Trying to keep up with the mowing.

The crab trees are already flowering.

Range is open

The range tee is now open for use.  Take advantage of the weather and work on your game.

A new look

As you head out for your first round of the year, you will notice a little change.  We have replaced the old yellow flag and flagstick with a red flag and a black/white flagstick.  New tee markers will also be arriving in a few weeks.  Until the new tee markers arrive, please tee off near the yardage plates at your respective tees.

The new flag on 11 green.

Open!

The golf course will open on Wednesday for play and YES, carts will be allowed.  With temps rising to 70 degrees along with sunny conditions, I hope you get a chance to get out this week and enjoy it.

Mowing greens on March 7th!

We mowed the greens for the first time this year, much earlier than normal.  I suspect we will mow the greens again next week Tuesday or Wednesday and then be able to open the course on Wednesday, March 14th or Thursday, March 15th.  The course will only be open to walkers though, it is still quite soft.

Eric Lowery mowing the greens for the first time this year.

August 27th Aerification

I know it is a little early to start talking about August, but a few questions have been raised about the neccessity of aerifying the golf course in the the last week of August.  Why in the middle of the season?  What about the outings to follow?  Why are the greens being aerified three times this year?

We are scheduled to aerify greens, tees and fairways on August 27th.  This is consistent with the timing in the past few years, nothing has changed.  The last few weeks in August and the first few weeks in September are the best times to aerify in this region.  The summer stress is diminishing, but the temps are still up and we still have longer days to expidite recovery.  If we moved aerification to a later date, we run the risk of the cores not drying out because of the shorter days and the cooler temps.  And if the cores don't dry out, we can't drag them in and clean off the surfaces.  We would then be left wtih a muddy mess and a very long recovery period.

Every function and outing is important to us.  We try our best to look at all scenarios when deciding to aerify.  As far as the outings and members functions that follow aerification, most notably the Member Guest Day on Septmber 13 and the Member Appreciation Day on September 16, we will be in good shape by then.  It has been my experience that the holes are completely healed within 21 days and after 14 days, they look and play resonable.  In the eyes of golfers, there is never a good time to aerify.  It always seems that when the golf course is just reaching its peak, we punch holes in everything.  We will have some great course conditions this year, it won't be just the week leading up to August 27th that will good.  Also, without the proper aerification, it would never peak.

As far as to why we are aerifying greens three times a year, this has to do with our soil structure.  We have poor water infiltration rates and a lack of air space in the soil.  In other words, we are behind the 8 ball with our soils and we need to catch up.  With out the proper drainage and air movement, roots will die back and the greens will suffer.  In the interest of the short term and long term health of the greens, we must aerfify three times a year.  Again, this is consistent with what has been done in the recent past.

When are we opening?

With the mild winter that we have been experiencing, there has been some discussion of when the golf course will be open.  My main concern is the green's ability to recovery from the traffic that will result from the usage.  If the grass is not actively growing on the green, it can't recover or heal.  Therefore we will open the golf course after we have mowed the greens twice.  As temperatures increase and hover around 50 degrees, it will only take a few more weeks.  But if the nights stay cool and it consistently dips below freezing, the grass will stay dormant and we will have to hold off on opening the course.

18 Fairway

A portion of the 18th Fairway, on both the north and south side of the creek was reseeded last October.  Round-up was applied on the existing rough and bentgrass seed was planted to extend the fairway closer to the creek.  After examining the condition of the grass underneath the tarps, I didn't find any grass.  The floods over the late fall and winter have washed away the seed and all the small plants that did come up.  As soon as the soil temps come up in the spring, we will reseed the area again.

18 Fairway

 No seed has come up due to flooding.

Getting Settled In

I'm just finishing up my second week on the job here at FCC.  I have to say that things are going great thus far.  I have not seen the river rise since I've been here and I hope it stays that way!

My hope is to use this blog as a communication tool to the membership at FCC.  Please visit this regularly to find the lastest information on course conditions and what's happening in the Grounds Department.  In the upper right corner of the blog is a place to insert your email address and "follow by email".  This will send you an email every time I have updated the blog, allowing you to stay current while saving you some time.

It looks like spring is not to far off.  I'll see you on the course soon.