It appears that the beginning of May was full of false promises, the hot warm dry weather has abandoned us and is replaced with what seems to be a never ending rain event. However we press on and hope June will bring better times.
We had a Greens Committee meeting yesterday afternoon and one of the points that was brought up was the bumpiness of the greens, not the greens that have been aerated but rather the un-aerated greens. To explain the current poor conditions, it's important to consider all of the variables involved. Perhaps the largest variable has been the lack of adequate growing conditions for this spring. Last year at this time, the golf course had received precipitation on 24 out of 52 days. This year that number has been increased to 33. That's a considerable amount of sunshine missing from the list of things necessary to make healthy turf. The temperatures are also much lower than last year. In May alone the average temperature is 4 degrees lower then it had been last year. The poor light and temperatures effect the turf's natural growth patterns, slowing the pace which leads to inconsistencies. Add to that different species of turf on the greens. While each species will thrive at a consistent 20 degrees, some do better than others at 12 degrees, which will create inconsistencies in the canopy or putting surface of the greens.
We have followed our normal pattern of maintenance for spring opening, but the conditions just aren't there yet. In fact the conditions are so poor that the fertilizer applied two weeks ago is now just beginning to release.
While all of this will be moot after the aerification of the second nine on Tuesday, it is important to note for future springs how the environmental conditions effect the outcome of the turf during April and May.
The weather has damped more than just the soil, it's also put a soggy halt on the construction at 8 tee. The last opportunity to work on the tee was May 8th. David Eye took the harrows out to the site and dragged the area. The harrows turn the larger clumps into smaller clump and turn over any stone near the surface. David spent an afternoon completing this very kidney bruising job traveling in several directions. Then Tyler and Johnny came behind and cleaned any rocks from the area. When the Greens Committee met in early May to discuss which route the cart path would take, we were asked to make the tee decks bigger than the existing deck to accommodate more play and give more locations to hit from. In between the rains we have been hauling material from storage in the old tennis court area to use a base for the tee deck expansions. Currently we have about three quarters of what we need and will have wait for the soil to firm up in order to continue the project. Stay tune for further developments.
During the dry spell in early May we complete another years worth of tree planting as recommended by the tree committee. Our planting this year included both native and specimen trees that fit the needs to specific areas. Some of the 22 trees, like the white pines on number eight, were planted to fit into the existing plantings and protect the adjacent players from errant balls. Other trees, like the King Crimson Maple on the back of Number 5 green, were planted more as specimen trees with aesthetics in mind.
Our tree planting program continues from year to year and is based loosely on plans developed to increase the safety and challenges of the golf course. While the trees planted in the above picture may appear to crowd the right side of the hole from the white and blue tees, the desired effect is to stop both aimed and errant balls from ending up on the 9th fairway. To further discourage this, we have continued to plant trees between 9 and 1 fairways, adding five more long term large trees to that area.
In the last three years we have planted close to sixty trees on the golf course, all strategically placed to make the course more enjoyable.
Occasionally there are times when we must remove trees from the course for the same effect. We have heard that some members were disappointed with the removal of the two willows from the left side of number eight. As part of the renovations to the 8th tee we felt that the in order to encourage golfers to play more to the left side of the hole the willows would have to be removed. When things have dried enough to continue renovations, the fairway will be opened farther to the left to entice a more playable landing area farther from 7 fairway, where a number of errant balls have ended up.
Another area where the necessity arose to remove a tree was on the left side of number 10 fairway. a very old and large white pine had eventually succumbed to wound suffer many years ago. I video taped the event, Click here to view it.
Our video monitoring station is approaching completion and should be ready to go for next week. Stay tuned to see how that turns out.
And finally a word about the geese. It appears that our efforts with our goose-b-gone, decoys and goose fencing has met with some success. Initially there was only one goose living on the property and it seemed like that was all we had to deal with this year. However it appears that a few families have hatched goslings elsewhere on Fish Lake and are visiting here during the day to feed on the lush grass the course offers. This is a much smaller number than years past and we consider this to be a success. We will continue to discourage the families from living on the property and make sure that the members have the best day that they can.
We had a Greens Committee meeting yesterday afternoon and one of the points that was brought up was the bumpiness of the greens, not the greens that have been aerated but rather the un-aerated greens. To explain the current poor conditions, it's important to consider all of the variables involved. Perhaps the largest variable has been the lack of adequate growing conditions for this spring. Last year at this time, the golf course had received precipitation on 24 out of 52 days. This year that number has been increased to 33. That's a considerable amount of sunshine missing from the list of things necessary to make healthy turf. The temperatures are also much lower than last year. In May alone the average temperature is 4 degrees lower then it had been last year. The poor light and temperatures effect the turf's natural growth patterns, slowing the pace which leads to inconsistencies. Add to that different species of turf on the greens. While each species will thrive at a consistent 20 degrees, some do better than others at 12 degrees, which will create inconsistencies in the canopy or putting surface of the greens.
We have followed our normal pattern of maintenance for spring opening, but the conditions just aren't there yet. In fact the conditions are so poor that the fertilizer applied two weeks ago is now just beginning to release.
While all of this will be moot after the aerification of the second nine on Tuesday, it is important to note for future springs how the environmental conditions effect the outcome of the turf during April and May.
The weather has damped more than just the soil, it's also put a soggy halt on the construction at 8 tee. The last opportunity to work on the tee was May 8th. David Eye took the harrows out to the site and dragged the area. The harrows turn the larger clumps into smaller clump and turn over any stone near the surface. David spent an afternoon completing this very kidney bruising job traveling in several directions. Then Tyler and Johnny came behind and cleaned any rocks from the area. When the Greens Committee met in early May to discuss which route the cart path would take, we were asked to make the tee decks bigger than the existing deck to accommodate more play and give more locations to hit from. In between the rains we have been hauling material from storage in the old tennis court area to use a base for the tee deck expansions. Currently we have about three quarters of what we need and will have wait for the soil to firm up in order to continue the project. Stay tune for further developments.
 |
| Dave and his harrowing experience. |
 |
| Stuart, Mike and David getting ready to plant trees on number one. |
In the last three years we have planted close to sixty trees on the golf course, all strategically placed to make the course more enjoyable.
Occasionally there are times when we must remove trees from the course for the same effect. We have heard that some members were disappointed with the removal of the two willows from the left side of number eight. As part of the renovations to the 8th tee we felt that the in order to encourage golfers to play more to the left side of the hole the willows would have to be removed. When things have dried enough to continue renovations, the fairway will be opened farther to the left to entice a more playable landing area farther from 7 fairway, where a number of errant balls have ended up.
Another area where the necessity arose to remove a tree was on the left side of number 10 fairway. a very old and large white pine had eventually succumbed to wound suffer many years ago. I video taped the event, Click here to view it.
Our video monitoring station is approaching completion and should be ready to go for next week. Stay tuned to see how that turns out.
And finally a word about the geese. It appears that our efforts with our goose-b-gone, decoys and goose fencing has met with some success. Initially there was only one goose living on the property and it seemed like that was all we had to deal with this year. However it appears that a few families have hatched goslings elsewhere on Fish Lake and are visiting here during the day to feed on the lush grass the course offers. This is a much smaller number than years past and we consider this to be a success. We will continue to discourage the families from living on the property and make sure that the members have the best day that they can.
No comments:
Post a Comment