The bunker maintenance program continues to make good strides this fall. The front nine green side bunkers have all been edged and excavated. The edging has revitalized the aesthetics of the bunkers and will create a strong visual improvement. This week we will continue with excavation of green side bunkers, begin to remove contaminated sand piles and begin to test the drainage.
The first couple of frosts hit the golf course this past week. With this we are expecting to see the majority of leaves begin to fall this week. The Turfcare team will be out daily blowing the prime play areas tidy. We will push leaves into tree lines and begin to mulch.
There are a couple of low overnights forecasted for the last week of play. We will be close to experiencing frost on a couple mornings. If we do experience frost we will look to minimize maintenance as much as possible to minimize the delay to the tee sheet.
Have a great final week of golf for the 2024 season.
Above average weather continues to dominate this fall. With this the demands of the Turfcare team continue to be the same as mid-summer. We are currently working with 7-10 staff daily trying to maintain the course to the best standard as possible while handling the work load of what generally takes 20 plus people daily in the peak season. We will continue to prioritize greens while ensuring we make the right decisions for the success of the turf with winter looming. Mowing frequencies have been reduced as have rolling practices. It is essential we do not let the weather impact sound fall decisions that will aid in successful overwintering and setting the stage for a successful 2025 golf season.
The first frost will probably hit the course in the week ahead. A reminder that traffic on frosted turf will cause death to the turf plants. When we get into frost we will make the best effort to minimize maintenance and get the game of golf going while minimizing the delay. Again these decisions will be made with the best interest of the golf course at the forefront. Some delays may be longer than others depending on the programs required for the day.
With frost and the month of October we are expecting to begin the battle with leaves. We will do our best daily to blow all prime play areas free of leaves and keep the course as playable as possible as it relates to this annual fall challenge.
Respectfully,
Shawn Major, AGS
The Turfcare team had a successful start to the aeration program on Sunday evening September 15th. We were able to complete removing some material from the 10 greens on course that required it. Unfortunately the rest of the aeration program was impacted beginning on Monday September 16th with rain events. We were able to apply sand to greens then the rain started. This unfortunately prevented us from completing the aeration program and also prevented us from working sand into the canopy. This week while we deal with the results from the poor weather greens will be inconsistent. We still need to achieve some turf health check marks as a part of the aeration program to set the stage for winter. This Monday September 23rd the course will remain closed for the day while we work to complete the fertility and aeration practices.
Respectfully,
Shawn Major, AGS
This Sunday September 15th at 2:00 pm aeration will begin. We will begin with the putting green and then head out on the course at 2:30 pm following the last group of tee times. On Sunday we will core the greens on course that require it. Monday all greens will receive a heavy sand followed by a vent and some fertility. At the same time we will also begin fairway and tee aeration for the fall. We were not able to complete aeration of fairways in spring with conditions from winter. With new shallow rooted poa we expect we could see some setback of turf through this necessary process. The fairway and tee aeration program will continue daily until complete.
Managing wear on our par 3 tee boxes is difficult. We are seeing a packed tee sheet daily which results in more divots than our undersized par 3 tee’s can handle. In an effort to manage this wear, tee locations will continue to be set on different decks when required to aid in attempting to maintain the best stand of grass possible for fall and begin to recuperate turf for next spring. Please continue to fill the divots smooth with green sand and thank you for your understanding with this necessary setup detail.
Respectfully,
Shawn Major, AGS
With the end of August upon us we are beginning to see many of our summer team members exit for school. We would like to thank these students for their time this summer and choosing Niakwa as their employer of choice for the 2024 summer season. With the reduction in staff the remaining Turfcare team members will prioritize greens first on a daily basis and we will work our way out from there. Mowing frequencies will be reduced and detail management will become difficult to maintain. Our focus will remain on providing the best possible golf course each day for members to enjoy with the resources we have available.
As we prepare for club championship this weekend we would like to wish all members competing best of luck and play well. We are hopeful that we can firm up surfaces and provide a good test of golf for all competing in this annual historic club event.
Respectfully,
Shawn Major, AGS
This past Monday August 12th the Turfcare team took advantage of the maintenance morning to relieve some compaction and stress from greens. Over the past three weeks, while welcomed the lack of rain had greens compacted and we were dealing with lots of isolated stress spots. This program will allow the greens to take water, get some much needed oxygen and reduce the compaction stress. To start the week as a result of this the greens will roll slower and remain soft. A couple days of repetitive mowing and we should see the greens firm up again. Next Monday we are hopeful to complete a light topdressing to smooth greens roll out.
Respectfully,
Shawn Major, AGS
Please be aware that a liquid fertilizer and growth regulator application will take place to greens this morning August 6, 2024.
Thank you,
A stretch of extreme heat has been great for the game of golf and course maintenance. Over the past 12 days we have been relying on irrigation to keep the property in condition which is a welcomed change from the first couple months of the season. With the heat stresses the Turfcare team has made a couple of product applications to protect and assist with plant health through this window of time. We are happy with what this product is doing as we have seen minimal turf damage from this period of extended heat.
Greens ball roll continues to be a challenge. With the humidity being high each day we are losing minimal water from the putting surfaces. The plants continue to be succulent. This past Monday we applied a light topdressing to aid in smoothing the greens out and hopefully aid with an increase in speed. With the forecast to start August seeing a minor cooling trend we are hopeful we will be able to fine tune moisture levels which will also aid in increasing ball roll.