9-29-19

Good Morning,

The month of September has come and gone very quickly.  It has been another month filled with rain and rapidly growing grass.  We have been mowing the entire course multiple times each week trying to stay on top of all maintenance practices.  As the week comes to a close, I’m very happy with the condition of the golf course and thankful for all the work by maintenance personnel.  If only the rain would ease up a bit and more golfers would play.

I talked to Matt Hagedorn at the end of the week and we are expecting him on site next week to start the tile work around #16 green and also complete some repairs in Waterway Park.  I have flagged or spray painted all areas where work will be performed.  The irrigation lines have been marked in hoping we can do some hand work to eliminate trenching through pipes or wiring.  I plan to install a drain in front of #16 green and run the tile to the NW and tie in to the line they installed a couple of years ago.

Equipment maintenance has been a time consuming process as of late.  I completed repairs on multiple rental carts and several mowers.  One rough unit was taken to the Street Division for some hydraulic repairs.  I am generally able to complete the majority of maintenance repairs but once in a while I need some assistance.  Thankfully the Street Division can usually fit us into their schedule and complete the necessary work.

We started some of our fall tree pruning over the past couple of weeks.  Most of the trees we addressed were smaller varieties that have “suckers” or branches that are in the way during mowing practices.  A branch whipping you in the face when you are looking the other direction usually leaves a lasting memory to grab the “loppers” to remove some branches.  As we move forward we will start concentrating on the larger trees and removing dead pine trees.

A couple of weeks ago we loaned our tractor to the Country Club so they could complete the aerification process on their greens.  I’m planning to aerify our greens sometime in the next couple of weeks.  The aerification process will punch holes down approximately 10″ into the greens and help with the health of the bentgrass.  I have not set an exact time frame yet and the process will minimally disrupt golfers.

The greens were sprayed with a fungicide, foliar fertilizer, and wetting agent on Thursday morning.  The fungicide application helps control the present of dollar spot while the wetting agent aids in the movement of water in the soil profile.  This will be our last foliar fertilizer application on the greens this season.  In the next couple of weeks there will be a granular fertilizer application on the greens, tees, and fairways.

Skunks continue to damage several areas in the fairways digging for grubs.  We have eliminated five do date but there are still a few more on the property.  The past week we have also dealt with crows digging at the practice tee area for grubs.  Next season these areas will be sprayed with an insecticide to eliminate the presence of grubs in the Fall weeks.

The pumphouse repairs were completed last week and there was some work done around the golf course.  I ran the irrigation system Friday night and the system ran better than it has in a long time.  The pumphouse is holding pressure and all the stations are running properly.  There are still a couple valves that need repair work but nothing that affects the performance of the system.  I’m excited to have the irrigation system running so well.  There has been a lot of work to get it to this point.

That’s a wrap on another week at the muni.  I’m hoping for no rain today as we are hosting our annual Chili Open.  Please contact me with any comments, questions, or concerns so they can be addressed in a timely manner.  Enjoy the remainder of your weekend.