Finally, Some Sun

Hole #15

It feels like it has been weeks since we have seen some sun. There was no real point in updating this blog for the past few weeks as it was the same old story with clouds, rain, and no carts. We have carts today and hopefully through the weekend. 

This past week we received 1.35" of rain, the 1" overnight on Tuesday was a pretty big set back as it came down hard and fast, washing all of the bunkers, even the greens sides that have the liners.

Staff has done a great job if hanging in there, through all these rains and storms and by the end of the day Friday we should have all the bunkers put back together.

Staff pushing up and raking bunker edges 

We have spent the better part of the week getting caught up on mowing all of the rough and routinely mowing all of our playing surfaces. We have even had the opportunity to mow the new sod in the drainage areas down to fairway height. 

#9 Drainage

It will take a couple of weeks for this sod to fully mature to its new height, and grow out of the little bit of scalping that took place. 

Sodded area #1 Fairway 

Once it is mowed up the golf course is looking pretty good, hopefully the weekend rain misses us and we can get back to focusing on detail type tasks. We appreciate your support and thank you for your patience through this wet spring. 

Respectfully, 

Nick Marfise 

Golf Course Superintendent

Another wet one

The Sun just teasing us

It was another difficult wet week with an additional 1.5" inches of rain. Fortunately we have dried out enough to have golf carts on Friday and through this weekend. We were once again unable to accomplish many projects on the golf course and it was difficult to keep up with the mowing. 

Trimmed bunker face on #4

We were able to mow some rough, and get the bunker faces trimmed and edged. Fairways were mowed twice this week, and most recently on Friday. We are looking forward to a more consistent weather pattern in order to provide more consistent conditions. Have a great weekend, Happy Mothers Day!

Fairways being mowed 

Respectfully,

Nick Marfise 

Golf Course Superintendent

A Wet Week

#14 Fairway with standing water and flood debris

It was a pretty slow and wet week, we received just over four inches of rain for the week and that was after the snow had melted. Needless to say there was not much that was accomplished on the golf course. We were unable to get to any of the pending projects and we were able to do very little mowing.  

All standing water has gone down, and we do not think at the moment that there will be much damage done to #14. Our staff worked diligently to pump water, and clean any flood debris during the week. This weekend you will see us trying to get fairways mowed and some of the rough, while also trying to avoid a very busy golf schedule. 

Expect fairways to be shaggy and the rough to be, well, "rough". We appreciate your understanding as we play catch up over the next couple of weeks.  

Respectfully, 

Nick Marfise 

Golf Course Superintendent 

End of April

#15 Fairway

Looks as though we are going to end April the same way it started with a bit of snow. Hopefully mother nature will be kind and it will melt and be gone quickly. A lot was accomplished in the last few weeks, we had some pretty good weather and grass is starting to grow.

A green covered in sand and then aerified

Greens Aerifciation was completed on April 16th and 17th all 20 Greens were covered with sand and poked with 5/8 diameter tines. Aerification continues to be the best way to protect and prolong the Park Districts investment in these greens.This process will continue to help with our air and water infiltration as well as continue to keep the greens firm. 

Greens 10 Days Post Aerification 

In the coming days we expect the greens to be more healed and get back to a more normal routine mowing schedule. Our Fairways are getting more dense and growing everyday. We started the year very cautious and patient and it is paying off. We needed to mow a couple of times in the past two weeks. We have had good weather but, we still have not had consistent warm weather like in summer. We are confident with more consistent weather we will see consistent growth and improved grass density. 

#14 Fairway

Improved ball lie as fairways are groomed and mowed

In other news this week we have begun to get all related drainage projects sodded. We were able to susccesfully get hole #'s 1,3,4, and 5 sodded before the end of the week. We look forward to these areas maturing and the drainage improvements aiding in a better and more playable golf course.

#1 Fairway Graded and Sodded to Remove Surface Water

Hole number one fairway, after the fairway bunker is very flat on both players left and right and sides. By installing a sump basin and grading the fairways towards those basins we will be able to remove surface water after rain events .

#5 Fairway with Sodded Drain Lines 

Number five fairway is also notoriously flat and would hold water after rain events, resulting in poor fairway conditions. After installing 700 liner feet of drain pipe we are confident this area will remove surface water more efficiently. It will take a couple of weeks for the sod to root to the ground, only after the sod is rooted will be begin to mow it and train it down to fairway height. 

Respectfully, 

Nick Marfise 

Golf Course Superintendent

April Update

#14 Fairway this week

Spring is here and it seems as though it is going to be a more normal spring. In years past it has either been very cold, or it would warm up cool down and repeat. This gradual steady warm up is good for the grass and the golf course. This gives the grass a chance to get acclimated and build a strong root system.

Hole #6 about a week ago

As temperatures have warmed up we have begin to see our playing surfaces begin to green up and start growing. We need steady temperatures so that the soils get warm, when the soils reach a steady average in the 50's the grass will begin to grow more consistently

#6 Approach this week 

All fairway areas are definitely showing positive signs coming out of winter, we do have a few small low line areas that are still slow to get going. These areas still contain a lot of Poa annua, which is the grass we do not want, if they continue to be slow to get going we will be adding seed to them and try and out compete them here while it is early in the year. 

Low line areas #15 Fairway

#15 Fairway this week 

This weekends forecast shows positive signs for some warmer weather, we should see all playing surfaces growing and greening up even more. Once there is some better, steady warmer weather and all playing surfaces are "actively" growing we will begin to think about letting golf carts roll out. Have a great weekend. 

Respectfully, 

Nick Marfise 

Golf Course Superintendent

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Welcome Back!

New Tee Markers that will be put out later in the spring

The 2019 season is finally here. It seems like it took forever considering the cold, snowy, and icy winter that is hopefully behind us. The last couple of weeks, and the forecast has yet to bring on any consistent warmth, but there is enough change to suggest that warmer weather is near.

#4 Green covered in ice during winter

The course handled the winter rather well, we had lots of changes including rains that turned to ice, and snow that melted and turned to ice, but overall our grass looks like it is coming out of winter just fine.

#1 Green after the melt 

Over the winter the maintenance staff was busy with lots of tree work. You will notice that up and down all of our tree/rough lines we have trimmed all the low branches helping raise tree canopy's, allowing for players to find their golf shots, and allow for sunlight to get to grass located near and around those trees.

Staff trimming trees 

 Over the coming weeks we are hoping for warmer weather so that soil temperatures rise and the grass can really start growing. The little growth we have had is not enough to support golf cart traffic, it is also not enough to fill divots and grow through ball marks. Also you will notice that the grass in our fairways has taken on many different colors this early in the year. This is due to the different spices that are out there and how each is coming out of winter at a different pace. Some will be more dormant then others, and will be brown to yellowish in color.

Modeled look of a fairway 

Like most springs on the north shore we encourage and thank you for your patience with the cold  weather and a slow start to the year. We look forward to seeing you out there. 

Respectfully, 

Nick Marfise 

Golf Course Superintendent  

Winter Update

I think its officially here, we haven't had a "winter" in what seems like a few years. Not only are we having daily and weekly snow events but now we will have a polar vortex and the coldest recorded temperatures since 1994.

We are always asked what is the best kind of winter weather for the grass. With so many strange weather years over the last few seasons, its definitely hard to quantify what has been best, but we know that we don't want the grass to be exposed to the cold and wind or even ice for too long.

Greens roped off and ready for snow

Prior to the snow we received a few rain events, this is good because it gives the ground and grass a bit of moisture helping keep everything well hydrated. Then by having a good blanket of snow we know that the grass is well protected and insulated from the harsh winter wind protecting the grass from dehydration and desiccation.

Groomer in Action 

With snow on the ground we have been open for ski season. All of the golf course greens were roped off to keep skiers off of the greens, and we wait for a six inch base before grooming to insure that there would be limited damage to the grass/ground underneath the snow.

Due to the volume of snow we have been grooming regularly, almost once a day but on average four  days a week. We will not be grooming trails during the brutally cold days, but we will continue to groom based on snow and the amount the trail is used.

Respectfully,

Nick Marfise
Golf Course Superintendent

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 

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 

Fall Over-Seeding

Seeded lines in #8 Fairway 

It is that time of year where fall is quickly approaching and many golf courses have already begun fall projects, and most have started and some have even completed their Aerification practices. Our greens aerification will not take place for another two weeks, we plan to aerify our greens the week of October 1st.

Seed coming in on #14 Fariway

In the mean time we are over-seeding the fairways to help improve our overall density. This time of year is great for growing grass because the soil is still warm, but temperatures are cool, giving plants a much needed break from the summer.  This time of year we should get a good months worth of growing weather before it gets cold and plants really slow down.

Seed filling in, in a bare area

By the end of this week all of the fairways will have been seeded, we are seeing germination and growth in less then seven days, and are happy with the results so far. As our fairways mature over the next four to six weeks we will be in better shape to start next years golf season.

Respectfully,

Golf Course Superintendent
Nick Marfise

September Update

#3 Approach

Unfortunately it has been another wet week the golf course has received three inches of rain over the last several days and hasn't had much of a break to dry out. We were able to mow the Tees, Approaches, and Fairways only once so far this week, and it is still unknown if we will be dry enough by Friday to mow much more.

Wet Fairways have resulted in a week of no riding golf carts 

On the bright side the extended forecast looks really good for not only growing grass but also playing golf, dry and cool.

Several areas on the course have been improving and our fairway recovery methods have definitely paid off. The stress has warn off and many of the fairways are looking better. We have also gone back to a more normal mowing pattern (when we aren't wet) on fairways and have lowered the mowing height slightly to help get the playing surfaces a bit tighter.

#4 Fairway 

Our seeding efforts have paid off as we have seen lots of positive growth. Most recently we have started to seed the fairways again in an attempt to help get the thin areas addressed and more mature.

#15 Fairway

 #15 Fairway seedlings  recently mowed 

As the course dries out we will be getting caught up with mowing all playing surfaces, we will then resume fixing and improving related areas on the course.

Thank you for your support

Golf Course Superintendent
Nick Marfise