Golf Course News - 9/1/2009
The “old timers” tell me not to wish time away, but I am sure glad that this month is wrapping up. It seems like there has been one problem after another. If it wasn’t mechanical it was Mother Nature. As I’m sure everbody has noticed, we have been attempting to aerify the golf course. Greens went almost perfectly and should be healed very quickly. We have made two attempts at getting fairways done and have only managed to get the front nine accomplished. I guess the next time I want it to rain I need to schedule an aerification. In the coming weeks we will be attempting to do the backside.
It is hard to believe, but the trees are starting to lose their leaves and the forecasted low in the coming days is 39 degrees. It seems impossible but it sure looks and feels like fall. Fall also signals the start of grub season. As we go through the coming weeks the damage will become more evident. The grub damage will look like areas that are under drought stress. Although the unmistakeable grub damage is not even caused by the grub, but instead the raccoons, skunks and opossums that are looking for a snack. The damage that these critters cause are the areas that look like they have been tilled. Although we spend a considerable amount of time and money preventing this problem in our greens, tees and fairways, we do not have the resources to protect the entire golf course. We will clean up the damaged areas and late this fall we will reseed the areas, so the grass will be established and ready for play next spring.
Fall also marks the loss of staff, which makes prioritizing what needs to get done on a daily basis even more critical. Ensuring that all of the mowing gets done is always the highest priority, but getting to the detail work that finishes the golf course becomes a little harder to get to. It is not that we don’t see the detail...it’s just the simple fact that we no longer have the manpower to get it all done.
Some of the best golfing weather remains and I hope to see you out on the course.
-Mark Siems
