We have a lot of trees on the property and as a result we also have a lot of shade, especially at this time of year. As the angle of the sun decreases and daylight hours drop 2 greens in particular do not get enough sunlight. The back sections of greens 14 and 15 struggle in September and October. In fact the southwest areas will not see any sunlight until all the leaves are gone. I won't go into details but the most important sun for plant growth is early to mid morning and as you can well imagine those 2 greens are sadly lacking for that. We've identified a few "branches" that need to be removed this winter. If you notice more open space on these holes next spring keep in mind that the greens will be healthier in the spring and fall.
Issue #2
The irrigation patterns and sprinkler control on the tees and tee surrounds are a problem. Consider all the rain storms we had this summer. Now think of how dry September has been. As a result we've had to use the irrigation system frequently over the last 20 to 30 days. Not a problem on and around greens as we like to keep things firm and the irrigation improvements have helped tremendously. The fairways have been okay as well but there has been some extra water here and there at times. To make a long story short the tees and tee surrounds were actually better off when it was raining so frequently. The deep watering was great for the tee surfaces and the consistent albeit heavy rains didn't really affect the surrounds. Fast forward to fall. More shade, shorter days and dry weather. The configuration of sprinklers and the lack of individual sprinkler control has resulted in the mess we now see around several tees. If we had the manpower it would be better to hand water the tee surfaces just to keep some surrounds from turning into a quagmire. Of course the ideal solution is to improve the irrigation system which is what I will be pushing for in the future. We need individual sprinkler control and correct placement of modern sprinkler heads. Until that time we will have "problem areas" and more tree pruning to undertake.
Aeration Update
- The fairways should be completed by the end of Wednesday. Many members have asked about the extra machine we are using. We own a tractor driven power slicer/verticutter that we decided to use on the fairways in order to open up the surface and get the sand topdressing down into the profile quicker than usual. Yes the sand goes down first then we verticut and aerate. Its working out very well. During summer the lighter sand applications only require an irrigation cycle to move the sand down.
- The tees and approaches will be core aerated beginning on Tuesday.
- The greens will be aerated on October 2nd and 3rd, weather permitting.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR GREENS AERATION:
9 Holes will be aerated each day. The 9 being aerated will be closed for the day so if you want to play 18 holes you will play the other 9 twice. We really appreciate this accommodation by the membership. The short days, risk of frost and absence of golfers on the closed 9 will give us the time we need in order to do a thorough, complete job of aeration. Thank you.
Enjoy the week,
Wade
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