Justification for a Tough Decision

Change is never easy, especially when it comes to impacting something that you have grown accustomed to and have developed an appreciation for.  With that being said, sometimes change can mean opportunity.  This was the case regarding the tree removal project behind #12 green and along side #13 tee this past winter.  We had a clear opportunity to improve the health of a very important green.

Unacceptable turf conditions due
to poor air movement

Unfortunately, this opportunity was born out of a couple of very stressful periods.  If you recall the previous two seasons we struggled to keep the turf on #12 green alive during the abnormally hot/humid conditions that we faced.  Truth be told, we came very close to losing the entire green on several occasions.  If the fan were not present, I feel very confident that the past conditions would have been far worse.  Last winter, with approval from the Green Committee and Board of Directors, it was decided to significantly reduce the tree population in this area.  This was a very difficult decision to make knowing how it could potentially impact the view of the 12th hole from the middle of the fairway.

#12 before tree removal

With careful consideration to the backdrop of #12 green, a plan was put in place to remove a majority of the trees in an attempt to take advantage of winds coming out of the west, northwest, north and northeast.  I had great confidence that we would achieve our desired results, but there was no way to tell...until the week of July 1st.  The first half of the week gave us three days with temps in the mid to upper 90's, while the second half brought 4 days with temps in the low 100's with humidity.  This unprecedented stretch of weather wasn't exactly conducive for maintaining turfgrass, especially our greens that are comprised of Poa annua.  However, it was ideal weather to test our decision of removing the trees.

#12 after tree removal

Looking back on that week of horrendous weather and surveying the turf conditions of #12 green the following week, the green survived the test and has unquestionably gone from what was easily our weakest green to arguably our best one.  The best news of all is that the fan was never used, although I did consider putting it out.

I will stop well short of claiming that we will never have another problem with this green, but at this point it seems pretty clear that the decision to protect our asset was the correct one.  I would hate to think of what the condition of the green would be like now if we hadn't made such a tough decision.

Please click on pictures for a more detailed view.

Drought Update and Cart Traffic

Mother Nature continues to be very greedy when it comes to sharing her rain with us.  While other parts of the country have more rain than they could ever want, we have just been classified as being in an extreme drought situation.  You probably won’t believe me when you read this, but I would much rather deal with this scenario as opposed to the heat, humidity and rainfall that we had last year.  As of today, July 2nd, our last significant rainfall occurred on June 1st when we received a whopping 1/2" of rain. 

In extreme patterns like this, thanks to the irrigation system, we can be in control of where the irrigation water is placed, how much goes out, and when it is applied. Based on your comments to me, the general consensus is that this year’s course conditioning has been well received. With that being said, we will continue to “ride the wave” that we are on until the weather dictates that we need to adjust our management practices.

This is the perfect time to remind everyone about some simple, but often overlooked courtesies when it comes to driving golf carts. When turf is stressed from heat and lack of moisture it is critical that carts stay out of these areas.  By driving through stressed areas, the turf is subjected to greater stresses that could cause significant injury or even death.  Other courtesies that should be followed all year and especially during stressful periods include: parking to close to the greens, driving more carts than necessary in a group (ex: 5 carts for a 5-some), driving carts where they don’t belong (next to greens/tees and in the tall grass areas), carelessly applying the brakes too hard and leaving skid marks etc. All of these should be common sense, but you would be amazed at how many times I witness all of these on a daily basis.  

5-some with 5 carts. Even if you have
a cart pass, please be social
and share a cart.

Whether accidental or blatant, please
use the brakes carefully.

Please keep cart traffic in dry areas
to a minimum.  Severe damage
could occur.

This is not a recommended shortcut.

Please use the CART-paths when
parking at the greens and tees.

Practice Makes Perfect, But Only Where Appropriate

This is not the Practice Facility

As I came upon #18 green this morning during my usual morning tour of the golf course, I was greeted by these lovely divots right in front of the approach to #18 green.  I realize that this green is the "shiny new toy" that everyone wants to play with, but please consider the consequences.

This green has only been open for a little over two weeks and is still not completely "mature".  While the health is good and the roots are actively growing it still has a ways to go to reach the maturity of the other 17 green on the golf course.  Excessive traffic on this green has the potential to cause poor plant health as we head into the stressful summer months.  The proverbial adage of "monkey see, monkey do" plays a big role here as well.  Because this is a high profile area, if individuals are consistently using this as a practice green to figure out all of the nuances, other members will be inclined to do the same.

Lastly, you have probably noticed that as you finish your round, the edge of the hole on this green is in far worse condition that the other greens.  This is caused by all of the practice putting that goes on throughout the course of the day.  The more often balls are removed from the cup, the more often the edge is damaged and can actually cause the hole to become smaller. 

Please take this into consideration and choose to use the fantastic Practice Facility that we have for you to work on your short game instead of the golf course.

Am I Losing My Mind?

What do you notice about this picture?

Take a minute to look at the picture and see if you can find anything different or new (No, Waldo is not in the photo).

Anything?

I can hear it now: "He's crazy! It's only May and he's already gone off the deep end. There isn't anything different!".

While this response wouldn't surprise me and I assume that many of you have probably already had that thought that regarding me, the picture does show something VERY different and VERY important.

What are you supposed to be seeing?

The flag at #12 green is blowing in the breeze even with leaves on the trees!  For those of you that have been members at Elcona for a while, this is probably something that you may not have seen before, or at least not on a regular basis during the summer.  The wind on this particular day was blowing out of the northwest, which is common, but in the past, the dense trees between #12 green and #13 tee and understory plants that were growing along the fenceline all but eliminated every breath of air from reaching #12 green leading to extremely poor turf conditions on and around the green.

Remember all of the tree work that was done last winter in this area? This is exactly what we were trying to accomplish.  Here are some photos to remind you of how many trees we removed. Click on the pictures for a larger view.

 Click this link to go to a previous blog post with several more before and after photos.

At this stage in the game it would appear that we have accomplished our goal, but we still need to wait and see what kind of curve balls Mother Nature decides to throw us this season.  We certainly do not want a repeat of the last two summers where we struggled to keep this green alive. At least this season I feel we have a good head start on what may be coming down the line.