Greens aerification

Monday was the day for our planned fall greens aerification and what a perfect day we had.  Usually when we get those 75 degree fall days, the golfers want the course to themselves, but there are certain days where we would like to have those days as well to get things done, and we hit it just right on Monday.  All the greens were aerified, 60 tons of sand were applied and worked into the holes, the greens were rolled to start the smoothing process, all 25 acres of fairways were mowed and we had two guys mulching leaves all day - a very productive day for sure.

Because we skipped the typical late-August aerification this year, we double aerified the greens.

One set was a deep-tine aerifier, making a 3/4" hole about 10" deep.

The other set was done by our own walk-behind machine, making 3/4" holes about 5" deep, covering about 10% of our surface area.  Sand was applied prior to making the holes, allowing the tines to push the sand down.  Once the sand was dry, the surface was dragged to move the remaining sand into all the holes.

Tree planting

This week we were able to plant all the trees that were delivered late last week.  It's a great time of year to plant trees, the roots will still grow while the need for water and the overall environmental stress is down. 

We planted 14 trees in all.  Some of the locations may seem odd at first, but take into effect a long range view and which trees may not last much longer, it will eventually become clear.

Three 'Princeton' Elms were planted.  This variety has a moderate resistance to Dutch Elm Disease.  This Elm was planted between 10 app and 11 tee.  The Ash trees nearby won't last much longer.

 

This Elm is to the far right of 14 tee near the service road.

 

The last Elm is between 2 and 17.

 

This is what a mature Elm will look like - this is next to 17 tee.

 

This 'Autumn Fantasy' Maple is to the left of 13 fairway.

A larger Maple will look similar to these Maples along 11 fairway.

 

Three 'Shademaster' Honey Locust were planted, this one near the bridge on 1.

This Locust is right of 13 tee, the Pears nearby are failing and will be removed.

 

This Locust was planted to the right of 15 fairway about 200yds out.  A Maple next to it is being removed.

A large Locust will look like this one on 3.  I really enjoy Locust, they give you an open air canopy and filtered sunlight - great for golf courses.

This is a 'Green Mountain' Sugar Maple planted left of 13 fairway near the service road.  A few more trees along this stretch are failing, we wanted to plant a few nice trees in this area to break up the view of the range.

 

This Maple was planted near the bridge on 3.

A mature Sugar Maple will look like this one on 4

Two Bur Oaks were planted, this one right of 1 fairway, 150yds out.

 

This Oak is near 17 tee, the two Ash along 3 fairway behind it are being removed.

 

A large Bur Oak will look like this Oak on 16

 

We also planted a Scarlet Oak to the left of 17 fairway.

Two American Beech trees were planted, this one left of 11.  The trees nearby won't be around for long.

This Beech is right of 14 back tees.  A few trees nearby will be removed this winter.

One of the largest Beech trees I have ever seen is on FCC's property.  A golfer won't ever see it unless they search for their ball deep in the woods along the left of 18.

I hope someday the trees we planted will grace the proprty like this giant.

 

Fall photos, tree delivery

Took a few photos of the course yesterday:

4 Fairway

5 Green

18 Fairway

 

Last week we picked out 14 trees to be planted on the property this fall, they were all delivered today.

These trees will be planted next week, throughout the course.  The species includes: Oak, Maple, Beech, Elm and Locust.  I will make a post later concerning where they are to be planted.

Fall color, and the clean-up

What a beautiful time of year to be out here!  If you need a break from the daily grind, spend sometime out here enjoying the fall colors.

But with all those changing leaves, it also means they are falling.  Our process of clean-up involves blowing the leaves into areas that we can mulch them back into the ground.

99% of our leaves are mulched back into the ground with our rough mowers.  A few areas around the tennis courts get picked up.