Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Spring 2015 Update

 We are very pleased that the 2015 golf season arrived early this year.  With temperatures in the upper 70s, we opened the course on March 14- that's the earliest opening date in a very long time.  If you've played golf already this year, you may have noticed that the course is a bit littered and the turf isn't green yet. 

We budget for our seasonal staff to return to work on April 1st.  With the course opening a week to two weeks earlier than normal, we simply haven't had the labor force to completely clean the property.  We will continually be clearing the course of debris left by winter and hope to have the cleanup complete by the time the turf breaks dormancy.  Thanks for your patience in this matter.

The turf is still dormant.  Grass is similar to other perennial plants in how it 'knows' when winter is over.  Think of it as an accumulation of warmth over time.  Once soil and ambient air temperatures reach the right point, our turf will begin to produce new tissue and the vibrant shades of green will return.  We really can't push conditioning (or green speeds) until the turf is actively growing.

Here are a few pictures from the course:

We have been out putting a fresh cut on all playing surfaces.
Filling stump holes.
Sprucing up club grounds with fresh mulch.
We have managed to get a jump start on aerifying fairways.
We have a bit of tree pruning which continues.