No rain but at least it is warming back up

 

Our Champion bermuda greens are trying to break dormancy for about the third time this spring. The 30 degree nights last weekend did not help the greens at all and certainly put another sting on the rough. Soil temps were back in the 60's this morning which is good, but staying above 65 through the night is really a good key in getting the Champion to kick in to gear. Color and greens speeds will come as the weather continues to warm up consistently.

Our assistant in training on the North, Colin Costello put out some gypsum and potassium on Monday after a dusting of sand. This monthly application of micronutrients helps manage any salt buildup and aids in water use efficiency inside the plant.

Carlos and his father Juan got the cartpaths edged on the North this week. We are excited to button up all our winter projects and spend more time on details in the coming weeks.

The North guys also finished scalping down the bunker faces this week. We have now lowered our normal flymowers that are used to mow these banks in season so you should see a tighter cut here more consistently.

Over on the South we ventured over to 11 fairway and stole 2,000 square feet of zoysia sod. This pristine sod was used to patch up the thinner collars around the South that never got a strong foothold last season. 

Sod from the local sod farm was put back into the fairway. Using our own sod here ensures the right depth and transplanting the same day helps the recovery process speed up as compared to sod that sits rolled up on a tractor trailer for 24 hours.

The new sod should knit in relatively quickly (for slow zoysia). Many of these areas were not level and held water in the summer time. On #10 especially, we dug up and extended a drain there before leveling out the area for proper surface water flow. Managing these sand based zoysia collars is tricky but we have a good plan in place to keep them healthy, hydrated and growing properly so they can withstand some mower and golfer traffic and crowd out weeds through the season.

We fit a few more pallets of tall fescue on the truck to continue sodding the right side of 13 south as well.

Our new tee markers have been powdercoated and made it out onto both courses this week. The contrast to the old wooden worn out markers is stark but after a few days they are starting to blend in more. These markers are much easier to work around with the blower and the sprayer and they should hold up to the weather much better than the wood markers that needed to be stained 3-4 times a year.

In addition to the markers we also swapped out all the cups and flagsticks on the courses and putting greens. The flagsticks on the courses are the 1/2" variety and we have gone back to the blue and white flag and emblem (that matches the tee markers) on all the South flags. The putting green sticks also match their respective golf course for a more consistent look.

We are hoping for some kind of moisture relief over the weekend, enjoy spring break!

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