Opening the Course

Welcome back Members! The past month has been busy preparing the course for the opening so we apologize for the lack of new articles.  The winter, while seemingly long, was nothing like last year and the course is in good shape.  Aerification holes are still somewhat present on greens from late last fall but with climbing temperatures and more sunlight, they are expected to heal over quickly. 


To prepare the course for the opening the staff has a multitude of tasks to complete, as detailed in the list below. 

• Uncover Greens
• Roll Greens- Smooth the surface in preparation of the first cut
• Mow Greens- Generally an easy task but the topdressing sand used to protect greens over the winter has to be worked into the soil profile or used to fill open aerification holes before a mower can be utilized. 
• Spray Greens- A healthy shot of fertilizer and fungicides with specific activity towards cold- season pathogens. 
• Mow Tees
• Spray Tees
• Mow Fairways
• Clean chips from stump grinding, back fill the holes, pack and level to grade
• Prep these stump holes for seed or sod (sodding has already started but due to cold temperatures seeding will be an on-going task throughout April and possibly May)
• Debris Clean up
• Rake Bunkers, fix washouts from the spring thaw
• Pressurize the irrigation system
• Fix irrigation leaks (almost inevitable to have a couple leaks every spring if the ground has frozen deep enough)
• Clean mulch beds surrounding the Clubhouse
• Prune back Rose Bushes (+500 on the property!)
• Clean and place all golf accessories (flag sticks, tee markers, ball washers etc.)

The list could go on but as one can see, preparing the course for golf after winter is a daunting task.  Thankfully, we have a veteran and very skilled crew returning this year and they are more than up for the task.  See you on the course, enjoy.