Friday, October 5, 2018

Greens Aerification and #6 Tee


Greens Aerification
Aerifier collecting the cores
Greens aerification was completed Tuesday afternoon and through the day on Wednesday, with 18 holes back open for play on Thursday of this past week. Our process went very smooth considering that we needed to work within the only 48 hours we had without any rain. All greens were punched with 5/8 hollow tines, pulling out the aerification plugs. All the plugs were cleaned and the sand was swept back into all/most of the holes. 

Brushing in the sand
Next week we will be doing some touch up work and adding sand to a few areas where it is needed. The putting green was completed about 9 days ago and it is healing nicely. Assuming we have some nice warm days ahead of us we should see the greens be completely healed in the next two weeks.

Putting Green on September 26th 
Putting Green on October 4th

#6 Tee 
There it is
As many of you are aware the 6th tee struggles to maintain adequate grass, this is due to the horrific environment that it sits in, back in mosquito ally. This tee sits back in the trees it has little to no air movement and receives little to no sun most of the day. It is constantly wet and has been in need of some attention. 

Seed lines are growing
We have got some grass growing on this tee and it is important that we see to it that we are successful. With all the major events on the golf calender being complete we have decided to close the tee for play the rest of the year.


Over the next few weeks you will see us put some fertilizer on this tee, and most likely we will get a cover on it when it starts to really get cold. As we tend to this tee gingerly we appreciate it if all players can use the temporary tee that has been shaved into the rough in-front of the large tee box. We also ask that you respect our fence that is being used to keep anyone from trying to get back there. As always we appreciate your support 

Tee cut into the rough
Respectfully, 

Golf Course Superintendent 
Nick Marfise 


Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Greens Aerification to Begin Later Today


We will be starting our greens aerification process later this afternoon after the high school tournament is over. We are starting today instead of waiting for tomorrow in order to try and beat the rain and weather that is predicted for the rest of the week. We are hoping to be finished sometime on Thursday. 


We have done several different variations of aerification on these greens, all of which have been done in an attempt to find what is the best type of practice for our facility. We want to continue to improve our greens playing surfaces from a health stand point and a play-ability stand point. We have also wanted to work out a procedure that works well with our small staff size.  The first thing we do is cover the green  in a heavy amount of sand. Second, we take our aerifier over the green, the aerifier has a plow on the back that catches the aerification cores and drags them to the sides of the greens for easy cleanup. 


After the green is free of debris, we brush in the sand and blow the surfaces clean. The days after are focused on rolling the holes for smoothness. If we get some good dry warm weather, here in October we should see the holes close up in about two weeks.  

Respectfully, 

Golf Course Superintendent 
Nick Marfise