Tis the Season!

Golf shop entrance tulips

Spring finally sprung here in the last month, so apologies for the delay between blog posts.  The staff and I have been quite busy preparing beds, bunkers, and turf into the in-season shape that they are accustomed to.  Seeding and sodding of areas left from our winter tree work should be wrapped up next week.  One large item we accomplished is Elcona's renewal application to be one of 6 Certified Golf Course Sanctuaries in the state of Indiana.  I am quite proud of the club's accomplishments within the last two years, from helping care for the Seed to Feed garden, to planting wildflower areas for increased pollinator habitat, to being smarter users of water and inputs to maintain the golf course.  We should hear in July if Audubon International agrees with my sentiments, and I will keep you posted.

Harold Marner on 16 aerifying

Steve Ott in the snow on 16

 Our staff completed aerification earlier this month, in less than ideal Spring Break weather.  I tell people time and time again how lucky I have to have such dedicated staff members.  A special thank you to Steve Ott and Harold Marner for sitting on the tractors for a couple of quite testy days outside.

Check plot on #13

Close up of seed heads

 Finally, I am sure you have noticed that the "Seeding Season" is here for the Poa that composes the majority of turf on the greens. As great as Poa annua is as a putting surface, one drawback is its annual seedhead production.  Poa annua is a winter annual, meaning it germinates in the fall, overwinters, and produces seeds in the spring for its next generation.  Think of Poa as a backwards annual flower you would plant in your landscape. 

Poa seedhead production

Plywood used to create check plot on #1

Using a temperature based schedule, we have applied three applications of growth regulator to suppress, not eliminate, these seedheads from impacting ball roll.  As the first picture to the left shows, I left 5 areas on the course untreated, as a check plot, to assess the success of this year's applications.  All of the checkplots show we have had a reasonable amount of success in limiting the amount of seeds impacting play.  SInce the process is not perfect, we try to further reduce their impact with topdressing applications and additional rolling.

If you are interested, the check plots on located on the large practice green, #1, #10, and #13 green.  If you have any questions, please contact me at ryan@elconacc.com.  Thanks, and have a great week!

Ryan

Time for Golf!

#7

I am happy to announce that the golf course will open on Friday, March 11 at 12 p.m. for play.  Tee times will begin at 9 a.m. this Saturday and Sunday.  The staff has done a great job with the clean up from winter's wrath, and the turf has started to show some growth thanks to well above average temperatures.  Over the next few days, we will begin mowing and rolling playing surfaces, and getting the bunkers back in shape in anticipation of a great 2016 golf season at Elcona.

15 green

One note of caution:  As we have focused solely on debris clean up, we have still many empty stump holes and areas where we have ground roots down that need to be filled with soil.  These areas will be flagged or roped so that they are easily identifiable for you, and they should be treated as ground under repair.  We will begin filling them next week, starting with the areas closest to the normal route of play.  If you have any questions, please email me at ryan@elconacc.com, or call the maintenance facility.  I hope to see you out on the golf course this weekend!

Roots being ground from the cart path exit at 15 tee

Ryan

Stump hole on #2.  Caution around these! 

Course Update, 3/7/2016

As the warmer than normal temperatures swing into our area this week, we are in total clean up mode.  As much as possible through the winter, we try to keep up with the downed sticks and debris that come with winter's sometimes howling winds.  This clean up takes the staff and I about 2-3 days. Snow is still present in shaded areas and hopefully will be gone by this afternoon.  With virtually no frost in the ground, drainage from rains and melting snow should be open, albeit at a slower pace. Rest assured, Tom and I will open the golf course when it is playable and the risk of traffic damage is minimal.  Golf is coming soon!

Old fence was tired!

Kyle and Greg working on the fence

Finished product on the south side

While the ground was thawing, the staff and I worked on a couple of other projects that may not directly impact the golf course, but were welcome changes that indirectly impact our operation.  First, some of you may have noticed that the split rail fence around the Miles Barn on the north end of the property was deteriorating rapidly and was in need of replacement.  With increased event bookings for that beautiful Elcona feature, it was time to improve the aesthetics of the surrounding area.  That replacement is complete on the north and west sides of the barn, with a few additional rails needed on the side facing the practice facility.  The fence turned our great in my opinion.

Digital job board in the Maintenance Facility

We also added a digital job board to our facility.  As many of you know, I love technology and applying any impactful uses to our operation to increase productivity.  This job board allows myself and our assistants to plan our staff's tasks from anywhere in the world, via cloud based Google Docs. If we see the need to change tasks mid morning, we can change the job board in the field at a moment's notice, instead of chasing staff all over the golf course to communicate changes, driving back to the shop to change the board, and/or taking additional time away from course set up or whatever tasks the morning requires.

This board also gives us the ability to perform more impactful training presentations in regards to operational and safety practices, club events, and the ability to communicate real time weather and radar information.

If you have any questions about these projects or anything about the golf course, please email me at ryan@elconacc.com.  Stay tuned for any information regarding the opening of the course.  It is coming soon!  Have a great day,

Ryan

Winter's End?

 A few of you have started to inquire on the start of the 2016 golf season at Elcona, and while it is still hard to predict an exact date, it is right around the corner.  But what signs do we look for in deciding whether to open or not?  

7 fairway.  Open sun leads to no frost.

6 fairway, a more shaded area.  Frost still present!

The main sign I look at is the amount of frost in the ground. Year to year, the level of frost in the ground varies, as you would expect.  The last two winters had a very deep layer with the extreme cold we dealt with.  This year, while much milder, we still had many areas of ground freeze, especially shaded areas.

The pictures to the left show the variability in frost layer as I walked the course last weekend.  The fairway on hole #7 is exposed to sun most of the day.  My soil probe went all the way to the ground, a good sign that any surface water left on the turf will drain down due to the lack of frozen ground.

The left side of 6 fairway is one area I keep good eye on in early spring due to its higher amount of shade.  The probe one went down a couple of inches, indicating frozen ground below. There was a fair amount of water in the surface, because until that frozen ground thaws completely, the water from melted snow and ice is trapped near the surface. In this situation, any traffic, whether foot or wheeled, will cause a rut.

Excess machine and foot traffic on frozen ground can also lead to root shearing on turf plants, which leads to poor turf quality and a longer window for the turf to green up. The soils also need to completely dry and firm up.  Wet soils lead to damage from machine traffic and compaction.  Playing surfaces also need a period of time to allow proper drainage so we can begin to work them into the firm surfaces you are accustomed to.

Spring is near, and with that golf is near too.  We will keep you abreast on the latest course conditions, and open as soon as the conditions allow.  If you have any questions, please email me at ryan@elconacc.com.  Have a great week!

Ryan