Course Conditions

First and foremost I'd like to thank all the members that were involved in the member clean-up. We had 2 dates and an unbelieveable amount of clean-up was accomplished. This extra help saved countless numbers of labor hours and it is appreciated by the grounds department.

Winter recovery is coming along, but is moving at a slower than expected pace in some areas (9,10 and 16 cool/wet). #17 green will be open on some dates as recovery has been faster than expected with the aide of the greens cover. #4 is showing signs of recovery in some locations, but is really slow in others. If we don't get warmer weather soon we will sod large areas of #4 green to get it open and playable faster. The largest recovery problem we are facing is the lower than normal temperatures. We will do our best to keep the cups in greens and give you a playable golf course, but the pins will be moved to temporaries if there is too much traffic slowing recovery.

Due to the amount of repair work from winter injury I think we are 1 full month behind in growing conditions and maintenance. We will continue to work towards getting the golf course back to the conditions the membership desires and deserves. As far as posting scores we will continue to have discussions with Ed and the golf committee. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

Course Conditions Update

With the recent warm-up, we can now see the exact amount of winter kill experienced for 2013-14. Some areas are damaged more than expected and others are rebounding quickly. The largest extent of the damage is the fairways on holes 3,4 & 5. The greens that experienced the most damage are as expected #4 & 17, but some greens are going to need more time to recover. The greens still needing time to recover are #1,2,4,10, and 17.

As far as golf carts they will be allowed starting April 25th, but we will need help from the membership. Beginning next week we will be seeding #3,4 & 5 fairways in order to repair injured areas. Until seed germination and establishment we will need carts to stay off injured areas. Carts will be allowed, but you must stay outside roped areas.

Due to the damage to greens we have made a criteria for opening. If there are at least 8 hole locations the green will be opened, but hole locations will be at least 25 feet from damaged areas. If there are 5 hole locations pins will go in on Wed., Fri. and Sat.. Greens that will be open on a limited basis are 3,7,9,11,12. These parameters will be used until the entire golf course is open for play.

Now that soil temperatures have increased above 45 degrees we will start the seeding process. We ask for your patience and most of all...help in this manner. Stay off greens that are closed and keep carts off newly seeded areas. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Course Update

Looks like spring may be upon us, but "old man" winter was not kind. The poa took a pounding from the harsh winter. It appears we have had minimal damage due to ice injury. The majority of the damage appears to be from dessication/low temperature injury. It seemed like every time we'd get snow cover the winds would blow the snow clear from the surfaces. This allowed the bone chilling winds and freezing temperatures to injure the plants.

Over the past 6 years we have been overseeding surfaces with a new variety of bentgrass named T1. From numerous NTEP trials and the recommendation of our local seed supplier this variety of bentgrass was deemed the best fit for our specific climate. T1 survived this winter without any injury. T1 has proven it's adaptability by thriving through the drought of 2012, extreme disease pressure from this past rainy season and lastly the harsh winter of 2013/14. We will continue this program in order to limit catastrophic losses, which can be experienced throughout our region.

An email has been sent to all members in order to inform you on current condition of the course and playability.

Here is a link to a USGA article on the situation facing most of the Northeast...click here

Sorry, I'm a couple weeks late with the blog. We got away for a few days and went to the beach. Apparently, we managed to pick the only week where the weather wasn't great, but it was much better than here.

Tree root invasion of bunker sand due to trees being located too close

I wanted to give an update on projects scheduled for this year. The fairway bunkers on #7 have been invaded by tree roots and are lacking sand. These bunkers have moved up the priority list and will be renovated in the next month.

The addition of fairway bunkers on #12 will not happen this year. These bunkers will frame the hole on the left side and give much needed separation between holes #12 & 13. The main reason these bunkers won't be installed is the lack of resources & time.

Notice the large "silt cloud" after Zebra Mussells have been evacuated using a high pressure jet (cost $1200 annually to flush line will now be eliminated).

The pond in front of #13 will be renovated and completed in the next few weeks. This pond will meet many needs, but most importantly reduce the impact of zebra mussells and help filter elevated levels of sediments found in canal water used to irrigate the golf course.

Most tree stumps have been ground and stumps holes filled and seeded. The remaining tree stumps could not be completed due to time constraints and location. A stump grinder is a very destructive machine that is difficult to control if it's not on level surfaces. We had safety concern issues on hill sides and with some time and weather the stumps soften and are possible to grind.

Greens Aeration

The greens are great. Why do we have to do beat them up? Here is a short video clip of why we aerify.

Here is a copy of an annual report giving very in depth and detailed information we use to formulate our agronomic plans for the season. Pages 4 and 5 of the report offer a summary of directed action in order to maximize putting performance and limit catastrophic loss.

Throughout this process I will update pics and describe our process.

Spring has Sprung

Middle of March and soil temperatures at the surface 1" are over 50 degrees. This is very early, but we'll have to wait and see if it lasts. Currently the grounds staff has a total of 4 employees to maintain the course and we have already mowed greens 3 x's, fairways once and tees once.

Course clean-up has begun, but due to the high winds there are many limbs and too much debris for a crew of 4 to maintain the golf course. We are scheduled to have 4 more employees begin on April 2nd.

You may often question why we cut a specific tree down? One reason is sunlight and air movement to fine turf areas. It is not possible to grow high quality turf in shaded areas. We begin thinning areas, which have trees to the South and East of greens. Notice the gap we created to the right side of the photo.

Since the golf course was overplanted, when 1 tree becomes infected with a disease or insects other trees surrounding it will also be damaged. There were 5 trees next to 3 ladies tee that became infested by insects and all had to be removed.

This past winter we removed 47 very large trees, cleared brush on #13, cleaned storm damage from last April, thinned material behind #14 green and the stumps have not been addressed.

Stump grinding is a very tedious demanding job, which requires a fair amount of labor. Beginning in the winter of last year we have had difficulty renting the large stump grinder in the picture above. The stump grinder costs $1300/week to rent, but rental companies no longer rent large grinders. The grinder we will have to rent this spring is very small for the job, but will have to do. Stump grinding will begin after the course has been cleaned from debris in the middle of April.

We will continue to work as hard as we can to get the golf course in the best possible conditon for the 2012 season. In the upcoming weeks we will be putting out golf course accessories, course clean-up, stump grinding, mulching of beds & preparing for aerification.

#13 TEE

#13 Tee prior to 2005 Tee Renovation,Tree Removal & Brush Clearing
Hole #13 The most demanding tee shot on the golf course. With the over grown brush on the left side and OB on the right side there was no true "bail out". Each side of the hole was just as penal and this hole can lead to the end of a solid round and slow pace of play.

2005 the Tees were renovated leading to better alignment and leveling of the teeing surface. This was a solid improvement, but as time proceeded the area continued to narrow due to over grown trees & brush.

For the past 3 winters we have performed 1 week of work clearing & restoring these areas with ecological friendliness kept in the forefront. The water quality has deteriorated due to the lack of fresh water renewal and large amounts of leaf debris accumulating in these ponds.

The winter of 2011 the final phase of this revitalization has been completed. All brush has been cleared and the areas will be planted with a conservation mix of seed to encourage all year round habitation of wildlife species. The water quality will improve as canal water will now be diverted to replenish water levels in the pond.

Visibility from the teeing grounds is no longer a limitation. A clear line of sight of your tee shot will aid in pace of play issues. Players will now have the ability to work the ball from left to right without disruption by trees.

March 2012