Irrigation Used to Cool the Turf

With the hot, humid weather upon us we will be using the irrigation system to help cool the turf canopy.

# 8

The irrigation heads will run in a sequence down the fairway at either 3 or 5 minute intervals.  This is a necessary maintenance tool that allows us to maintain the turf quality during these tough weather conditions.

Needle Tining Greens

needle tining greens

In order to promote healthy greens, needle tining greens is a very important agronomic tool that we use.  It allows the exchange of air, eliminates compaction, and creates avenues for root growth. 

8 inch deep holes with minimal surface disruption

These holes will allow the greens to get oxygen to the root zone without disruption of ball roll.  We will do this every 3 weeks and sometimes more if the weather conditions are overly wet.  Once we complete the needle tining we roll the greens to smooth the surface.

Views of the Course

The forcast is calling for some very warm weather and it started today.  We had a great week of weather and here is some of the pics that caught my eye throughout the week.

#17

#15

#8

#13

Sunrise on the course

#7

#2

Cubs vs. Sox! Are You Ready?

#14

The golf course is primed for this weekends match up.  Bring your A-game as the course is just about as good as it can get.  Have fun and just remember to stay below the hole.

Cruising in Overdrive

Over the past 10 days the Grounds Department has been in overdrive.  With the lack of rain we have had combined with the abnormally high temperatures over the holiday, summer time maintenance has been taking place in May.  Consider that the normal high temp for this time of year is 75 degrees and that prior to yesterday we have had only .2 inches of rain over the past 18 days and it is easy to understand why you have seen the crew dragging hoses.  I feel the holiday weekend was a real success with the club as I seemed to notice heavy usage of the golf course which is excellent but I did feel at times that I might catch fire with the 97 degree temperatures.

Controlled burn of our native area by #4 Tee earlier this spring

Following the weekend, we completed some very important maintenance on Tuesday.

Needle Tine Greens

10 inch deep

 

Fertilize Greens

Topdress Greens

Completed Green @ #3

We do all these things to maintain the overall health and playability of the greens which will aid in the greens ability to withstand the summer heat that lies ahead.

Did I mention overdrive?  I was able to see my daughter play in her soccer tournament in Oswego but it did entail some driving back and forth to the game and the course both Saturday and Sunday.  It was all worth it as the course was in excellent shape and my daughter's team finished in 2nd place.


Legacy U-10 team from New Lenox.
Lexy is bottom left.