Week of November 27th: Frosty Mornings
- Michael Curtin
- Dec 2, 2023
- 2 min read
Lengthy frost delays were a normal occurrence during this final week of November. Today is the first day in over a week that the course will not be under a frost delay. Just as these delays affects golfers they also cause the agronomy team issues with completing our desired daily tasks. This last week we have have been focused on completing our winter pesticide applications while also continuing to clean the course of leaves and other debris. As of today all greens, tees, and fairways have been sprayed. This also includes the driving range tee, targets, and a few high profile rough areas. Greens will be sprayed an additional time next week and top-dressed with sand if weather conditions permit. These tasks will be some of the final steps we do in preparing the turf for winter. As we move into the winter season we will continue to update this blog but will shift to a biweekly schedule.
Natives:
The nice weather on Friday was a good opportunity to cut down the last of our natives areas. This is a yearly maintenance practice that is done to control their growth and help deal with contamination from undesired weeds and brush. These areas will be sprayed with a preemergent next season to help prevent the encroachment of those weeds and brushy plants.
Cleanup:
Fall cleanup continues around the course keeping the crew busy with blowers, rakes, shovels, and the leaf vacuum. The turf areas in play are mostly free of large accumulations of leaves. The crew has been cleaning out some of the remaining large pockets of leaves and pine needles around the course. Even with most of the leaves and pine needles under control pine cones continue to fall in large amounts.
Other Work this Week:
Irrigation tech Marcelo Barrios has been replacing leaking saddles identified during blow out when soil conditions allow. Only a few known leaking saddles remain.
We received our early order delivery of pesticide products that will be used next season. This delivery was five pallets worth of products that needed to be broken down and organized in our chemical storage building. With two spray rigs also parked in this small building it can get very cramped.
Work was started on clearing out the brush growing on the 15th purple tee hill. This area will be cleared of brush and leaves to expose the rock features of the hill. The brush will be chipped sometime in the spring during our normal round of spring brush chipping.
Course Wildlife:
We don't have a picture, but an otter has been seen swimming in the pond on 15 in the last two weeks.