Golf Course News - 1/1/2009
Here we go, the start of a new year. So far this winter has been good for the golf course. The abundant snow has provided a nice blanket to protect the golf course from the harsh winter. As I sit and write this, the temperature is almost 60 degrees and the protective blanket of snow is disappearing quickly. The snow protects the golf course from harsh winter winds that dry the grass plants and kill them. This is called desiccation. The snow also protects the grass plants from extreme cold temperatures that occur.
On the maintenance side of things, we have been busy working on our aging fleet of equipment. All equipment will have the fluids checked and changed if needed and any worn or broken parts will be replaced. Once this part of the maintenance program is complete, we go into reel grinding. Every cutting unit that is on any of our mowers is completely disassembled to check the bearings and seals and then the reels are sharpened and reassembled so that they are ready for a new year.
In the coming weeks we will also begin to trim and remove trees on the golf course. Any trees that are sick, dying or pose a hazard to golfers are evalutated and removed if deemed necessary. When we are trimming trees an evaluation is made on the height of the branches, the shape of the tree and where it is located on the golf course. Once this evaluation is done, the appropriate branches will be removed. Tree trimming improves the aesthetics of the golf course and also the health of the grass because of the increase in sunlight and air movement. It also will maintain and improve the playability of the course.
Hope everybody has a good new year.
-Mark Siems
