Category — Golf Course Notes

Jeff Snyder, Course Superintendent

Spring is in the air, the flowers are blooming, and the course is coming around. We just had our Master’s Tournament and I trust all had a great time. We have a solid schedule this year and our goal is to have the course in good shape every day. Budgets and personnel will be tight again this year but we are trying to keep our costs down, your costs down, and deliver a product you can be proud of. Please be aware it may take us a bit longer to get around the course with the bunker crew and weed eaters. You may see us a more but we will try to be as inconspicuous as possible. Poa is still our main problem on the course; it is in full bloom and giving the fairways their “white” appearance. We are using some regulators on the grasses to weaken the poa but by letting it seed out it makes the plants use up more energy and weakens them going into the summer. I have been in constant contact with Virginia Tech on this matter and to accomplish our bent transformation that they recommend. We will not be as aggressive with our fungicide program throughout the fairways to allow the bent grass to spread.  We need to limit the competition around them with the blues and ryes. This is a bit tricky because there may be times the fairways are a little thin. However, we plan on over seeding again this fall with bent grass and our “take” should be even better due to the lack of the competition. As discussed previously, this is a long-term process and when we get there all will be thrilled. Also, as the bent grass increases, our aggressiveness on the poa can increase as well.  The greens are improving every day with only a few needing more recovery time but they are coming along. Please remember grass heals slowly and ball mark repair is very important. Thanks for your patience and let’s have a great season.

By: Jeff Snyder, Course Superintendent

It is finally a beautiful day as I begin to write this article. I sure was getting tired of beginning the last few articles talking about snowfall and the Winter weather we were experiencing. The tide certainly seems to be changing and we are excited about it. As we head into the Spring most of the tree work has been completed and the stump grinding is all but finished. We still have some areas to fill with dirt and sod but they are being addressed. We finished applying gypsum to half the course the week of March 8th and if the supplier continues to deliver the entire course should be completed by the time you read this. Gypsum is very similar to lime, except it does not affect the soil pH. Our applications we’ve made over the years are beginning to pay off and these heavy clay soils we have are improving. We are also making a few changes with fertility and pre-emergent this year due to the bent grass fairway transformation we’re undertaking. I have spoken with many experts and our greatest success ahead lies with establishment. The pre-emergent from last Spring did have some effects on our original “take” and future re-seeding will be required. If we remove that product, let some disease run it’s course on the blue/rye/poa, push the bent we do have throughout the season, and then re-seed again this fall, our success will be greatly improved. If you remember this was going to be a multi-year process. Our goal is to get there as fast as we can and keep the conditions nice. There will be some problem areas with thinning out of the older grasses but this is necessary to eliminate the competition and allow the bent to spread. Please be aware of this! We have already begun our fertility and fungicide program for greens and tees but remember they are still growing slowly and ball marks and divots are very important. I will continue to update our course progress but most importantly let’s just get out there and enjoy ourselves again.

By: Jeff Snyder, Course Superintendent

Spring cannot get here quickly enough!! It seems lately we have had one major storm after another. As I write this article (February 8th) they are calling for another 3-6 inches on top of the 8+ we just received the weekend of Feb. 5th. For those who have been out of town we received ~9 inches the last weekend of January and received over a foot just before Christmas. Needless to say, we have played very little golf this winter and the next few weeks doesn’t look too good. However, we have been busy getting equipment ready for this season and have started bringing our gypsum in for the course. Obviously the course needs to be dry to spread but we’re ready to go when the weather permits. This is a “soils” application and our soil reports are showing positive improvements from all our applications. We have completed most of our tree work to this point. We still have a few big trees to remove on holes 4 and 11. This last storm brought down a couple dozen pines we need to clean up as well. As soon as the course dries we will get back to the above activities as well as mowing again. The course is very wet and carts have been restricted to the paths quite a bit. Remember the course and grass will take some time to “wake-up” so ball mark repairs will be very important during this time. I trust everyone is as anxious to get back to playing golf as we are!

By: Jeff Snyder, Course Superintendent

I trust everyone had a great Holiday season and the golf course staff is very appreciative of the member’s contributions to the Christmas bonus fund. We are currently in our “winter maintenance” mode. Equipment is being pulled in and serviced for the busy year ahead. We go through every piece from stem to stern to avoid any long “down time” maintenance issues during the season replacing hydraulic hoses, doing diagnostics, etc. All of this saves us time, money, and extends the life of all of our equipment. We currently have over a million dollars of equipment and it takes much time, money, and personnel to keep it all running in top form. On the golf course we are currently removing the dead and dying trees. Many of these trees are very large, the biggest and the one most noticeable is the Sycamore tree left of 11 green. The stumps will be grinded out, dirt brought in and sodded or seeded back We will also be working through the woods along most holes limbing and clearing out to improve upon the “park” feel we’ve been after as well as improve on the playability of the course. In December we finished some tree planting. Fifteen trees were planted around the course to either replace important trees or hide cart path areas these were on holes 3 and 12. We have more plans down the road but we are being cost conscious during these tough times. The course will be getting all the soil amendments recommended during the winter. Liming of fairways at one ton to the acre is slated as well as some amendments to tees and greens. Please remember this time of year the turf is virtually not growing. Replacing divots and fixing ball marks is very important for the course and will only help in its recovery and playability. Your help with this is very appreciated and I hope all have a safe winter.

By: Jeff Snyder, Course Superintendent

Fall is in full swing and the leaves are just raining throughout the property. We do our best all week to keep the greens and property as clean as possible. Busy days we will blow the greens a couple of times but if it’s too windy it can be very difficult. The course is healing over nicely from all the over seeding we did this year. We have gone back to many areas and re-seeded again to fill in as much as possible. The fairways have a great deal of bent grass in them and now it’s just a matter of time for the spreading to take place and grow over. Remember this is a multi-year plan and time is needed for the bent to run its course. I do like the fairways being mowed closer and having the ball stand up better. All the grass that could have germinated has certainly done just that and carts are now permitted in the fairways. I appreciate everyone’s help and sacrifice during this germination period it did make a difference! This off-season we will be making cut backs on staff but we have many plans as well as we move forward. Many of you may have noticed the marked trees throughout the property scheduled for removal. With the exception of the maple on hole 12 none are strategic, just weak or dying. We have plans to replace many of these trees and are planting much larger trees in our most important locations. The planting should be all completed by early December. The trees will be removed throughout the winter with the stump grinding and sodding to follow. Please remember that the grasses slow down tremendously this time of year. Ball marks and divots will not heal over so repairing ball marks and replacing divots is even more critical this time of year. Every one’s help in this matter is appreciated.