Late July Course Update

Staff hard at work prepping for Day 3

 

Another Walter O. Wells Invitational is in the books, and on behalf of the entire Grounds staff, congratulations to all the flight winners.  We hope that everyone had another memorable experience this past week. 

 



New path and landscape bed along 9 tee

One of the neat projects that the staff completed this month was reshaping and edging the landscape bed along 9 tee.  With the resurfacing of the cart path, it was necessary to remove the old timbers that lined the path.  In lieu of new timbers, we decided to line the edge with fieldstone.  Many of you asked where we got the stone, and how much we spent on it.  That is the great part about this project.  Over the years, these stones have come from adjacent fields from Elcona's property that the farmers have piled up and given to us.  Other stones have been found on property from doing various renovation projects.  Many thanks to Greg Stump, Elcona's horticulturalist, for his efforts planning and executing this great improvement to the golf course. 

 



Normal and over-regulated bluegrass, 5 green

Finally, many of you have asked me about the rough directly next to the collar around greens.  This Kentucky Bluegrass rough has the playability similar to Bermudagrass and is quite stemmy, as the picture on the right shows, which can result in balls sinking down and creating quite the tough pitch shot.  This is a result of over-regulation of the plant.  Growth regulator is applied to the greens on a weekly basis to help produce the playing conditions that are expected.  In late Spring, additional growth regulator was applied to keep the rough in check and help us keep up with mowing.  As a result, these regulators limit leaf growth and promote root/stem growth.  What has resulted this year is something that I have not seen in my career. 

 

In the short term, we have applied a slow-release fertilizer to promote new leaf tissue growth and help keep balls from sinking down into the canopy.  When fall weather hits, we will be aggressively verticutting around the greens to remove plant material and promote further new growth that will not have this growth habit.  Finally, green surrounds will be aerified to increase air flow to the rootzone and reduce the compaction from foot and machinery traffic.  All of these cultural practices will help alleviate our current situation and improve playability around greens. 

 

Ryan

Cart Path Resurfacing Complete!

          Our cart path resurfacing project was completed yesterday.  The new paths around 1 green, 9 tee, 10 green, 13 and 14, and 18 tee turned out great and are a great improvement to the golf course.  The NiBlock crew was finished by 3:45 with the asphalt laying, and the paths were rolled completely smooth by 5:45. 

          The paths cured nicely yesterday, and will be available for use today unless otherwise marked. Our crew in the next few days will be buttoning up the edges around the paths with soil and sod.   Below are some pictures of the process and the finished look on these holes. 

Ryan

Crew paving new extension on 18 tee

13/14 path

14 tee path

14 loop

13 from the tee

10 green

9 tee

9 tee

18 new extension

1 green

1 green

Cart Path Resurfacing

13 after tree work

On Monday, July 7th, NiBlock will be on property to resurface and repair cart paths.  The path work will be at 1 green, 9 tee, 10 green, 18 tee, and the entire path from 13 tee to the end of 14 tee.  This work was originally scheduled for late fall 2014, but with the increasingly deteriorating condition of 13 and 14's path, the work was moved up. 

This work will take approximately a day and a half to complete.  If you come out to enjoy the golf course, you will notice different traffic routings along these areas.  Please watch your step and your surroundings for their crews. 

When finished, the new paths will remain closed for a couple days to cure the asphalt and ready them for cart traffic.  If we have inclement weather on the 7th, NiBlock will return to complete this work at the earliest possible date.  Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in advance and once completed, these paths will be a welcome improvement to the golf course! 

Ryan

Our staff clearing out trees near new path on 13

Audubon Press and Hiking Trails



      One of the many aspects of being at Elcona CC that I truly take pride in is the club's active participation in the Audubon Cooperative Golf Course Sanctuary Program.  Beginning with Tom Zimmerman's vision and efforts in the 1990's, through all the hard work that Greg Shaffer, volunteer members of the club, and the Grounds staff performed to achieve Certified Sanctuary status in 2012, it demonstrates our commitment to environmentally friendly maintenance practices and protection of our native wildlife. 

Ryan explaining how the raingarden filters sediment

We recently had our Recertification Visit, which went quite well.  A special thanks to Todd Sullivan, Emma Wynn, Greg Shaffer, and Greg Stump for their participation and discussion during our visit.  Eric Kurtz, Stormwater Coordinator for the Elkhart Co. Soil and Water Conservation District, was our guest and he was quite impressed with Elcona's efforts, as his article in their monthly newsletter states below:






Article from: Grass Roots for Conservation – Elkhart County Soil and Water Conservation District June 2014

“The Elcona Country Club became a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary in 2012. This education and certification program promotes environmentally-sensitive golf course management, including wildlife conservation, water conservation, water quality protection, and chemical use reduction and safety.

Every two years, the club is required to be recertified, which includes a visit by an independent third party. Elcona asked the SWCD to perform the visit on May 27. Our inspector (a non-golfer) sure got an education, and was very impressed with the ways the club is protecting resources. They started working toward certification in the early 1990s, which shows a long-term commitment.

Among other efforts, the club has greatly reduced areas that they mow, increased wildlife corridors, installed bird and bat houses, left “wild” areas next to ponds, educated their members, and increased the precision of chemical applications. They also rely on a weather station and the latest smartphone technology to make sure they are watering just the right amount for their needs. These efforts have helped their environmental impact as well as their bottom line, as they have reduced overhead for mowing, watering, and other practices. Our relationship with Elcona started when the club reached out to the SWCD in 2012 to help with a rain garden. They had a unique situation – they wanted the rain garden to take runoff from an area where they regularly wash off their mower decks. The SWCD, along with Indiana Master Naturalist volunteers, helped the club install a rain garden that met their needs. This visit demonstrated to us that their commitment to stewardship is more than skin-deep, but has permeated their practices and the way they do business. They welcome contact from anyone who wants to learn more.”

 

     Also, The Goshen News recently took a tour of the property and wrote a nice article as well, which you can read here.  We hope to hear very soon on achieving our Recertification, and continue to finding projects to further extend our stewardship. 

 

    

Audubon trail map on the back 40

One such area that is a large piece of our Audubon efforts are our hiking trails to the east of the clubhouse.  Greg wrote a tremendous blog on these trails in 2013, but for our new members I wanted to make sure you knew of their availability for family hiking, biking, and cross country skiing in the winter.  There are 10k of trails to explore, which the picture to the right shows.  This is yet another option for your recreation that Elcona offers you as a member.  Come on out on a nice afternoon for a nice walk! 

Ryan