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.



Fertilization of Fairways

Due to the large scale of our fairways it is more efficient to contract out the fertilization of our fairways.  The 25 acres that comprise our fairways takes about 2 hours to complete and we can water in the product prior to any member play.



Unloading the Fertilizer Truck



Fertilizer Truck on #1 Fairway



Oak Tree at #13 Tee

Over the past 3 years we have been applying some growth products to help extend its life but nature has taken its course and the old oak tree will have to be removed.  This tree will be missed but maybe it can give us an opportunity to create another tee box.


#13 Tee



Some Nice Views of the Course

Things are really starting to look good.  Here are a few pics that I have taken over the past week.


#15




#15



#1



#14

Someone call the Doctor!

There are many diseases that affect the Poa/Bent turf that is on our greens, tees, and fairways.  Waitea Patch is a very common disease that we see in the spring.  All it takes is a good stretch of warm weather and these type of diseases have the ability to show up.

Waitea Patch

During the season these type of diseases are a none issue as we are routinely applying the proper fungicides to prevent theses diseases from becoming active.  However, early in the season we are trying to delay applying these fungicides, thus we see the signs of the disease becoming active.  Once the proper fungicides are applied, the healing process begins and within a 7-10 days the plant recovers.

Enjoy The Smooth Ride

The cart paths between #9 Green & #10 Tee have been redone and are very nice.  With the cart path work that has been done, we are taking the opportunity to improve the overall look of the area with new sod.



Looking toward #9 Green



Fertilization of Greens & Tees

Over the past two weeks we have been applying some micro nutrients to the greens and tees.  These types of products help to balance the chemistry of the soil profile and enables the root system of the turfgrass plant to be in the proper environment to sustain itself.

Turf Nursery