Update 10/10/14

Another great week on the golf course with a lot of good things done to improve the course in the long term.  All greens have either been core aerated or solid tined this week.  We also applied a nice sand topdressing to the greens after each was completed.  We have mowed and rolled the greens many times this week to help smooth out any bumps.  I will continue to topdress weekly until we can no longer get on the greens.  This will help protect the crown of the plant from the winds over the winter. We also fertilized all the roughs and tees this week.  Now is the time to apply fertilize to your lawns also.  The ground temperature has cooled down enough in that the turf is not growing as rapidly but the plant will still be able to take in the fertilize to help build carbohydrate storage and encourage good rooting, which is very important for next year.

We also started and completed the newly expanded drop tee on 13.  It will be roped off for the rest of the year because of the new sod that was used.  I am using the sod off the maroon tee on 16. I have

before

already made a "new" maroon tee for 16 by sodding the area around with some bluegrass sod.  We will use the rest of the bentgrass from the tee to repair the drains inlets on the fairways in the upcoming weeks.  The maroon tee on 16 is way too big and is wasted space and in the long run ends up costing us way too much to maintain a tee that really doesn't need to be that big.

after

In addition to the drainage work we will working on removing the hump that blocks run off water in front of 16 green.  The work that we did last fall has been very beneficial in getting water off the greens quickly.  If time allows we may work on 7 approach also.

The end of October and before the ground is frozen, I would like too core aerate the green banks this year.  We would break up the plugs and leave them naturally break down over the winter.

I  sprayed around 6 and part of 7 fairways using a herbicide to control "kill" the bentgrass in the rough.  This is our test area that we will be looking at rates and timing of application to use around the rest of the fairways next year.  This product controls only the bentgrass, not the desired rough type grass we want in the rough.  I will  reseed all the areas that we sprayed to fill in the voids from the dead bentgrass. What you will see very soon is that the turf will turn white in the areas that have been sprayed

We  have completed the first mowing of the fescue on the course.  I have not mowed down outside the cart paths areas yet.  These areas will be mowed using a tractor and brush hog mower.  The goal will be to continue to mow the fescue at least one more time before the end of the year.  Most of the areas on the course inside the paths have been sprayed to control weeds this fall.  We had very good control with this application with very few weeds left.  In the spring, I will continue our program to control any additional grasses or weeds that are left.

Overall, the golf course is in great shape right now I hope that you can get in a few more rounds this Month there is a lot going on right now with all the projects that we have in the works. If you have any questions while you are on the course, I am easily reached and will gladly
spend a few minutes with you.

Neil