Course Update

We have completed our greens venting for the month of July and this process has been a key component of our program while we endure some of these hot and wet conditions. It is one of our favorite tools to use because it is hardly noticeable after a day, yet the holes remain. As you can see in the photos below.

After we rolled the greens and you can barely see them.

On a few holes such as 1,2 and 18 intermediate you may have noticed areas that are brown with yellow and whites leaves. These areas contain bermuda grass and are being treated to allow our selected grasses to fill in coupled with a little overseed to speed up the process. Starting in a week there will be more of these areas on the golf course which we will seed back into them to gain a more consistent intermediate and rough. For the next month please bare with us as we work through this process.

Bunker Repair X 2 and Greens Venting

Starting last Saturday we have been working on bunkers pretty much 85% of the week. And with this latest storm which dropped over 2 inches of rain has been a nightmare for me and my staff. Nothing like repairing them and then going back and redoing the process all over again. It typically takes us 2-3 days to restore them to a some what playable condition. So when you do come out over the next few days please excuse our mess as we continue to move around the course. A little back ground on bunkers is that they typically last about 7-10 years depending on the severity of the design. We fall in the category of severity, such as we have a lot of bunkers with high flashing and when the rain does come quick there is no possible way at this time to keep the sand from moving. We are also lacking in the drainage department which you will notice standing water that has to be pumped out.You will see some do better than others as far as wash outs but every bunker has some sort of problem. This could be much worse but since we have gone to brooming the bunkers, it has kept the wash outs to a minimum in some areas.  In a nut shell we are due for new bunkers in the immediate future.

Another monthly task that is taking place is the venting of all of our greens. You may have noticed already that 3,6,8 have already been completed. This will disappear in a matter of days and relieves compaction and also allows air to penetrate the sand profile. This process is key until we approach our second annual greens aerifiaction in August. We will do a few greens a day and have everything complete by Monday July 23. Stay tuned for pictures of this process to follow.

"Bunker Bees"

From The USGA:

Here is what the USGA has seen that has prompted some discussion in our area:

Issue:  "Bees" infesting golf course bunkers and frightening golfers who are afraid they will be stung.

Solution:
Educate golfers that the wasps that inhabit bunkers are actually Eastern Cicada Killer wasps.  Although their large size and swarming can be intimidating, they are non-aggressive.  Unless these insects are directly handled, they try to avoid contact and will not sting people.  Control of these wasps is very difficult and really unnecessary unless they are burrowing in areas such as putting greens or fairways where they can cause damage.

Course Update

The course held up quite well with the exception of a few trees and debris everywhere. On Saturday we worked to get the back nine open for play Sunday morning and made the front playable following. The back nine really did not have to much damage, just a few trees here and there and to the right of the 18th green we lost two spruce trees. The front was a little different because of the vast amount of mature trees. This was by far the most debris that I have seen since I have been here. We are currently cleaning up and should be finished sometime tomorrow for the front side. On the back side we will work on the bunkers following the the clean up efforts from the front. Here are just a few pictures that we took. And we hope to be somewhat cleaned up by the end of the week.

The pro shop helping out the clean up efforts on the 8th Green

Another tree fell on hole 17.

Sign, ball washer and trash can survived.

Tree to the back right of the Pro Tee on 11