Week of April 24th
- matthewbehl
- Apr 28, 2023
- 2 min read
May 2nd and 3rd we are scheduled for greens and fairway aeration. The weather doesn't look the best with showers predicted both days. Ideally topdressing sand would be allowed to dry before being dragged into the holes. What type of tine and how aggressive we get on greens will be determined by the weather. Fairways will be core aerated with a 3/4 inch hollow tine, the aeration cores dragged, and then blown to the center of the fairway where they will be swept up. Recently on an agronomy webinar on soils and thatch accumulation the speaker stated "that having holes and sand visible is a positive and that members really do not want to be members of clubs where they don't see holes and sand because of what would be coming!" For those that don't know the "what is coming part" is turf failure and or reconstruction. Once greens aeration is complete we will be doing some soil tests and track the progress we have made and lay out our future aeration plans.
This week we started maintenance to our greenside bunkers. Work was done to the front bunker on 9, left of 13, front right of 14, left of 12, and all the bunkers on 4.
Below is a gallery of some of the bunker work:
Work on the third hole continued this week. The entire right side of the hole was loamed and prepared for seed. This area will most likely be seeded next week after aeration. The work to the left side has begun to germinate. Once the right side has been seeded we will start preparing the areas on the left that we are going to sod. Please remember this project will take time and agronomy to the golf course as a whole most always come first. I am happy with the progress that has been made and I feel now the membership is starting to get a good idea of the vision for this hole.
Some other work that was completed this week includes:
Bunker noses sprayed for broadleaf weeds
Greens sprayed with bensumec for preemergent control/poa
Fungicide, insecticide, fertility applications to greens
Insecticide treatments to areas around greens for annual bluegrass weevil and nuisance ants
Extensive irrigation work
We started off the season with a very small crew and it looked like we were going to experience some labor challenges. Since then we have had an influx of employees and are staffed very well (actually turning people away). While still very green the crew is progressing very nicely. One of my goals starting the season was to focus on building an even stronger team. I am currently very happy with the staff and the progress they have made.
Some photos from the week:
