Course News

Course Update – September 16th

This past Sunday late afternoon and all day Monday the Turfcare team completed the fall aeration program on greens.  On Sunday cores were taken out of the older poa greens and the older bentgrass greens.  On Monday we completed a sand application to all greens followed by a deep tine vent.  Over the next few days we will battle the sand and poor quality of cuts on greens which will result in inconsistent and slower putting surfaces.  While we were able to complete the cultural program on greens we came up short of applying the fall fertilizer applications required.  These are scheduled now to take place next Monday in the maintenance window.  

With the time of year we will begin to raise the height of cuts on greens this week.  We will make an incremental increase for the time being.  With this increase in heights green speeds will begin to slow down.  While the weather outside continues to be superb it would be a critical error to continue to chase greens speeds and performance this late in the season.  For the remainder of the golf season the focus is on plant health to ensure that we are in the best possible position for a successful winter.  Please continue to repair ball marks and fill divots as the turf has begun to slowdown in growth and recovery time is also reduced with the shorter days. 

Tee and fairway aeration began on Sunday with the greens program.  We have completed the first 8 holes on the property.  This program will resume over the next 7 to 10 days until we have completed all items.

We would like to thank the membership for the time to complete these programs which in turn provide Niakwa with a healthy property for the game of golf. 

The leaves have begun to fall at a more consistent pace.  The strong winds to start the week have them littering the property.  The Turfcare team will continue to send blowers each morning to clear the leaves off the prime play areas.  Once we have completed all prime play areas we will then blow the leaves further into the rough and tree lines where they can be mulched.  On days of heavy wind please note it will be difficult to keep play surfaces free of leaf debris.

Course Update – September 9th

Our first fall frosts have hit the property this past weekend.  Frost delays have long been a part of golf.  The goal for the Turfcare team when we have a frost delay is to minimize maintenance and get the game of golf going as soon as possible.  There are factors that affect the decision as to how fast we can get game of golf out.  Repetitive frosts will most certainly lead to an occasional longer delay.  We can only minimize maintenance so many days consecutively.  We are also in the time of season when product applications become difficult to fit in around frost and windy days. These applications during the fall are critical for successful wintering of the golf course.  If we need to apply a product and have not had cooperation from Mother Nature this is another scenario that can cause a longer delay.  We know that traffic on frost covered grass will cause death that can take 6 plus weeks to recover.  This time of year it will not. Please refrain from walking on turf when we are in a frost delay this fall.

Range deck will return to mats next Monday September 15^th.  This will be setup during the course closure for aeration.  Reminder that the course is closed Sunday September 14^th in the afternoon and all day on September 15^th for aeration.  The greens are in desperate need of these cultural items and we hope the weather will cooperate.  Fairway and tee aeration will begin on these days but will not be completed.  The aeration process of fairways and tee’s will continue until completed this fall.

On the other side of aeration we will begin to back off on height of cut on greens as we move towards our winter heights.  While the forecast is decent for the next 10 days we will stick with our program of backing off this time of year to assist in setting the plants up for a successful winter.  Daily mowing will no longer take place we will alternate mowing and rolling practices dependent on ball roll and growth.

With the two light frosts we expect the battle of leaves to begin shortly.  We will do our best to blow all prime play areas in the morning.  Leaves will be blown into tree lines and rough areas then we will turn around and mulch them throughout the day.  At times there will be heavy masses of leaves in tree lines.

We continue to deal with fox damage each morning to greens and bunkers.  The repairs of the greens will be priority in the morning and we will attend to bunkers when time allows.

Course Update – September 2nd

The month of September is a challenging one for the Turfcare team.  With the return to studies the staff has seen a reduction in size of over 50% daily.  Keeping up with the details and the expectations of the course will be difficult.  On a daily basis to prepare the prime playing surfaces we rely on having a minimum of 15 team members.  This does not include other items such as spraying, watering and mowing rough.  On any given day for the remainder of the season the Turfcare team will be lucky to have 12-14 staff available.  Many items will become reactionary and our main focus for the remainder of the prime playing days will be to care for the greens and work our way out across the property from there.

This is a good time to remind the morning golfers of the pace of play policy in place to allow the small team size time and room to prepare as much of the course as possible for all members.  We will continue to hold members who are playing the front 9 quicker than 1 hour and 45 minutes.  Waiting on the game of golf for maintenance moving forward will not be efficient and with the reduction in team size we need as many efficiencies as possible to keep the conditioning acceptable. 

Bunker raking has been reduced to one or two days per week.  With this knowledge members can assist the conditions by simply taking your time to rake a bunker if you have played in it.  Not raking bunkers is an unacceptable practice that continues to take away from the property this season.  The condition of bunkers for the remainder of the season will fall heavily on the membership to care for.

Greens while the focus are beginning to see a reduction in rolling with the staffing numbers.  We will continue to mow greens daily until we see frost and growth slow.  Green speeds will fluctuate daily depending on if the rollers are able to go or not. 

We would like to thank the team members who have returned to studies for the help this summer and wish them all the best.

Course Update – August 26

With the end of August comes the return of studies and many of our Turfcare staff have begun to leave us for the summer.  We would like to thank the team members for their efforts this summer and wish them all the best with their studies.  With the reduction in staff, membership can expect course conditions to change.  We have gone from a team size of approximately 20 per day down to 12 depending on the day.  It takes 15 people minimum to mow all prime play areas not including items like spraying, watering and rough mowing. Bunker raking will now be minimal.  This is a great opportunity for membership to show their course care skills and assist the course conditions by ensuring that you rake the bunker once you have played in it.  We will be lucky to rake bunkers in their entirety once or twice per week moving forward.  There will be few opportunities to rake them ahead of golf and they will become a secondary task.

Details such as bunker weeding, string trimming and hand mowing will be reduced.  These items will become reactionary and secondary to prime play areas.  Rolling frequencies will be reduced and at times we will alternate mowing and rolling practices to accommodate other demands on the property. Greens will continue to be priority and we will work our way through the rest of the property when time allows on other items. With shorter days and cooler weather on the horizon we are hopeful that the mowing demands created by ample August rain will slow which will allow us to focus on other details through the remainder of the season.   

Course Update – August 19

The wet month of August continued with another 1 inch rainfall this past Sunday night.  The golf course is beginning to fall behind in grooming and mowing practices with the repetitive heavier rain events.  This accompanied by the loss of maintenance Monday to the long weekend last week and a large corporate event this past Monday has the Turfcare team behind in many aspects of maintenance.  Greens being the most important we are now well behind in cultural practices.  Ball roll will not be as true and greens as fast as we would like this time of year.  The lack of topdressing, the inability to control moisture means until we have a window of time to resume with cultural practices and get cooperation from Mother Nature we can expect them to be softer and slower.

Rough is growing fast with the abundance of rain.  We are doing what we can to keep up with it.  This week we will be doing laps around each hole to keep the immediate play areas as groomed as possible as we will not have the time to complete the rough program across the course.  With more forecasted rain late in the week we will push to mow as much as we can.  When we are this saturated mowing practices are reduced to minimize negative impacts from the equipment and reduce the amount of repair work required.  Once we have a dry stretch of weather and the ground conditions improve we will regain control of the grooming practices across the property.

Course Update – August 12th

Some very welcomed rain events fell over the later part of the week and into the weekend.  These rains have significantly transformed the aesthetics of the course.  In total just shy of 3 inches has fallen in the last week which is greater than what we had received the entire summer to date.  With the repetitive rains playing conditions and grooming are a little behind.  Greens are saturated, soft and have slowed down until we regain control of the moisture.  Rough has increase in growth rates and we are doing our best to stay on top of it.  We are hopeful for a good week this week weather wise to allow us to tighten up the grooming across the property and set the stage for a great month of August.

Course Update – July 30

A very welcomed 1 inch of rain fell this past weekend on the golf course.  The timing could not have been better following some extreme heat through the same weekend.  Greens have slowed up a bit with this moisture but should begin to firm up and increase in speed as the week progresses.

The 5^th green has now been in play for a week.  We are happy with how the green is handling the traffic and weather variables.  We continue to feed this green more fertility as we continue to establish it.  We have seen some of the weak areas develop which is great.  A reminder to keep rickshaw’s to the rough and cart path and avoid taking it on the collar of this green.  Please continue to repair all ball marks as this will help with the long term success of the green as well as keep playability true.  From day to day we continue to make the best decision for the green.  Some days this green will not be rolled to protect it through its continued establishment.

This past maintenance Monday we applied a light topdressing to greens.  The first few days of the week we battle poor cuts as a result.  As we make the turn to the latter half of the week we should see quality of cuts improve setting the stage for a positive long weekend ahead.

Respectfully,

Shawn Major, AGS

Course Update – July 22

As we make the turn to the last week of July we are beginning to see the lack of rain fall show across the property.  While the forecast is for some rain this week the poa and unirrigated areas of the property are struggling to retain health.  The Turfcare team has been busy hand watering, applying additional water and setting up extra roller basin sprinklers to assist in managing these areas. At this point the water we apply is not enough and we are in need of a few good soakers. With this, traffic and travel patterns begin to show.  We ask that you keep you cart to paths where possible and do your best to travel in areas of fairways where we are irrigated.

The 5^th green is ready to return to the 18 hole rotation here at Niakwa just 81 days after seeding.  As has been the case in the past there are expectations that need to be managed and etiquette that needs to be at the forefront to ensure the success of this green while in play.  Ball marks have to be repaired.  This is non-negotiable. If you see one fix one!  Rickshaws and walking traffic must stay to the rough and cart paths.  No taking pull carts over the collar of this green site.  At times there will be enter and exit traffic control posts.  If you see these around the green do not enter the green site from that location.  From an expectation stand point this green is rolling well and has been in the range expected.  At times it may not match up with the other greens on course.  This can be expected for the remainder of this season and into the start of next season.  There are some areas of weakness where the green meets the collar.  This is normal and will be visible as you play.  This will continue to establish and will not be detrimental.  As the case has been in the past with new greens, we will balance playability and plant health to the best of our abilities. 

Over the past 7 seasons we have now replaced 8 of the poa greens on the property.  7 of those greens opened within a window of 75-90 days and have had no long term negative impacts.  As has been the case with all those opened in the past, the 5^th green being back in play will provide the majority of the membership with the satisfaction of playing their true 18 holes of golf.  From an agronomic stand point we are confident this green can support golf with smart management strategies and will have no long term negative effects on the success of this green. We would like to thank the membership for its continued support and patience while we established the newest green here at Niakwa and we hope you enjoy the new 5^th!

Respectfully,

Shawn Major, AGS

Course Update- July 15

This past Monday the Turfcare team assisted Green Bay farms in the removal of geese from the golf course.  This program which is supported by the government saw us capture and relocate just over 90 birds.  Following the relocation of the geese we installed two goose deterrent floating laser devices in the pond.  These units have been used successfully on other courses throughout North America. It is our hope that with the relocation and the deterrent we will be able to minimize the mess on course from geese.

The 5^th green continues to establish.  We are in the final stages of preparations with this green.  We are experiencing some minor mechanical issues as we train the green down which is common.  These areas will recover as they get used to their mowing and living environment.  We are utilizing caution with this last step to ensure we do not see the turf go backwards.  If things continue to progress we are hopeful that this green will return to play later next week around the 24^th of July just 79 days after the seed was placed in ground.   

Course Update – July 8

With the continued drought type weather we are beginning to see a lot of wear across the property in areas where we do not have irrigation coverage.  The Turfcare team has begun to utilize extra hoses and roller basins to run water in areas of the property that do not have coverage.  While this effort helps we are still in need to a measurable rain in the near future to aid in the health and presentation of the property.  We are also limited on how much we can run these additional items with the game of golf.

The club policy for cart users is to remain on paths and in fairway’s when ever possible.  As we continue with this dry weather this policy could not be more important.  Without water areas of rough that continue to be travelled in are wearing down and we are beginning to lose some turf in these locations.  Please read the course expectation’s that are listed in each cart and try to refrain from aimlessly wondering through the rough as you enjoy your round.

Respectfully,

Shawn Major, AGS