Winter Update and Course Opening

It's getting closer, but the snowfall this week is making it difficult to know when winter will end.  To date, we have had a very successful winter. Our normal tree removal has been completed, stumps have been ground and cleaned up, and all of our equipment has been serviced in anticipation of the coming season.

Tree removal between #9 green and #10 tee

Stump grinding on #15

The golf course remains healthy with the exception of a few small areas of disease on a couple of tees that are historically problematic.  The picture below was taken on #5 Blue tee and shows some active pink snow mold. The fact that we do have some minor disease is not a surprise given the several freeze/thaw cycles we have seen this year. it is not a cause for concern at this point, but we will pay close attention to it once the snow melts.

Active snow mold on #5 Blue tee

One project that was completed late last fall was the renovation of the Blue and Black tees on #7.  Because of the proximity of these two tees and the excessive wear and tear that the Blue tee receives, we joined the two tees together to generate additional tee space. This will hopefully lead to better turf quality and a better looking tee.  I am thrilled with the outcome and hope that you will be as well. 

New and improved Blue/Black tee on #7

Regarding the opening of the golf course for the year, it will not open until the frost layer is permanently out of the ground.  The current depth of the frost layer is only about 4-6".  The reason we wait to open the course is because damage could occur from excessive foot and cart traffic that would prolong the recovery of the turf in the spring from the harsh winter months.  Picture a container with a water-soaked sponge in it that completely fills the container.  If you press your fingers into the sponge, there is no place for the water to go except to the surface where you are pressing your finger.  In this analogy, the sponge is the water soaked soil, the container is the frost layer that prevents water from draining and your finger is a golf cart or excessive foot traffic.  Hopefully this gives you an idea of the displacement that can sheer fragile roots, unsightly rutting and poor surface conditions.  This is a common practice that has been employed by the club and my department for a number of years. 

Just because the course remains closed, you can still utilize the club.  Beginning March 7th, the club re-opens for activity on Thrurdays, Fridays and Saturdays during the month of March so come out and enjoy a great meal, hike/ski the trails or get some practice at the indoor hitting area.  Have a great remainder of the winter and stay tuned. Those of you that have subscribed to the blog by entering your email address at the top of the page on the right side will be the first to find out when the course will re-open.  See you soon! 

Audubon Trails: A Great Benefit to your Membership

Winter isn't exactly the time when most of you think about the benefits of your membership here at Elcona CC. Typically snow is on the ground, some of you have hunkered down for a few months and many of you have traveled to warmer destinations.  For those of you that are local during the winter, I would encourage you to continue to think about Elcona.

Sure, the clubhouse is closed for its annual shutdown in January and February but there are still activities that you can do to take advantage of your membership. Tom and Kayla continue to offer indoor lessons that are held in the warmth of the Cart Storage building. This is a great opportunity to keep your golfing muscles active and improve your game ensuring you will be ready to go when the weather breaks.

Grassland section looking south

Another benefit to your membership that I wish more of you would take advantage of is the availability of the Audubon Trail System. Regardless of the weather, these trails are open for hiking, mountain biking, trail running, snowshoeing and cross country skiing.

Grassland / Farmland looking west toward clubhouse

For those of you that know me well, you are aware that I am an avid runner. After the recent stretch of warm weather, a majority of our snow cover melted and gave me the opportunity to get back out on the trails and enjoy the winter scenery. The trail system consists of over 5 miles of trails that can be utilized in any way you would like.  Below is an example of the route that I like to run on a regular basis. I used my Garmin GPS watch to map the run as I went to give you an idea of what a 3 mile loop looks like.

3 mile loop

These trails are maintained on a regular basis and are always available for use. We recently completed a project with a local Eagle Scout to increase the Bluebird populations throughout Elcona's property. Several nesting boxes were added along the trail system with the hope that many Bluebirds will be visible in the near future.

Grassland looking north

Every time I am out on these trails, I am amazed at the elevation changes and land types that cover our property. Over the course of this three mile loop, you are exposed to wooded areas, grassland, farmland and a little bit of the golf course. The elevation changes provide a great change of pace, but aren't too difficult for the casual hiker/walker to enjoy.

Wooded section near campsite

If you are suffering from cabin fever, this is a great reason for you to get out. After all, it's your club, so why not take advantage of it?  Have a great rest of the winter and I hope to see you out on the trails. I know I'll be out there with regularity. Trail maps are available at the Main Office if you are interested.

Grassland / Farmland looking south

SodFest 2012

It has certainly been a while since I provided any type of update on this blog, and for that I apologize.  The Grounds Department has been exceptionally busy this Fall working on several projects. Most notably the sod work around the greens that has been an ongoing project since early Fall.

All of the green surrounds, or at least a 7-8 ft. pass around each green has been stripped and had new sod laid in an attempt to improve playing conditions during the summer months when certain types of turfgrass are stressed beyond what they can handle.  For more detailed information and a video explaining our circumstances, please click here to revisit a previous update from this blog.

Finished sod work around a green. A MAJOR improvement!

If you recall, three greens on the golf course (#2, 7 and 15) had "mowouts", or areas of lower mown turf, around them to make the playing conditions more favorable. These mowouts were established in areas where there was an extremely high population of bentgrass. By mowing these areas lower, the ball had a better lie and shots from around the green were more manageable.  These areas have since been stripped of the bentgrass and received new sod. Going forward, this sod will be maintained at rough height, thereby eliminating the mowouts.

The contaminated mowout around #7 green has been replaced 

with clean sod and will be maintained at rough height.

The 7-8 ft. pass around each green will be staged down in the spring to match up with our Intermediate cut that we have always maintained around the greens. I am sure you will notice a significant difference, not just visually, but in the conditioning as well.

All totaled, it took 76 pallets of sod just like this one to complete

the project. With that may pallets, you can see why the crew dubbed this 

project SODFEST!

Please contact me if you have any questions and I promise that the updates will be a little more regular in the future. There will be lots of updates to post as we have some minor projects with some of the tees, tree work and our usual winter maintenance around the shop and golf course. Have a great remainder of your Fall!

Green Speed: Please Consider the Following:

This is a longer than normal post, but I feel it is important that you please take the time to read it in it's entirety.

I have been wanting to address this for quite a while and this appears to be the appropriate time since I have been receiving numerous comments about the speed of the greens.

When I first started working here over 6 years ago, I was asked in the interview process if I was willing to post greenspeeds on a daily basis.  I said yes, but was always concerned about the consequences.  This was a new part of my daily routine and a new part of your daily golf game.  I can honestly say that a day didn't go by when the speed of the greens wasn't met with great criticism regardless of what "number" was placed on the Starter Hut.   No matter what the number was, it was immediately criticized for not being accurate. Some said the greens were faster than the posted number but a vast majority commented that it was extremely inaccurate and that the greens were significantly slower than the posted number. This routine had become the single most stressful part of my job and I was constantly amazed at how rounds of golf would be ruined before they even got started because of a simple number that wasn't to a players liking.  With strong encouragement from the USGA and approval from the Green Committee and Board of Directors, we stopped posting green speeds two years ago. Without question, I feel it has improved everyone's mentality before teeing off and it has certainly eliminated a lot of unnecessary stresses for myself and my staff.

 It has been and always will be a top priority for me to keep the greens as consistent as possible while maintaining a healthy playing surface. It is not uncommon for speeds to vary from day to day based on our rolling program and other external factors.  During a typical week of the peak season (see below) we will roll on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so please keep this in mind.  University research has shown that rolling more than 3-4 times/week in conjunction with a daily mowing schedule is the threshold before the turf can become overly stressed and show signs of decline .  This is especially true for Annual Bluegrass, the predominant turf on our greens, in the heat of the summer (remember last summer?).

Contrary to popular belief, I do not have complete control over the speed of the greens on a daily basis. I have compiled a list of factors that will hopefully help you become more educated on some of the things that impact the speed of your greens.

1. Staff: We are only at peak staffing levels for about 3 months (Memorial Day to Labor Day) which means that there may not be someone available to roll on the day you are playing, especially in the spring and fall.  We make every attempt to keep a consistent rolling schedule, but it doesn't always work as surprises can and do happen at any moment.
2. Moisture Levels: What can affect moisture levels? The two main culprits are rainfall/irrigation and humidity. It's no secret that firmer/drier greens tend to be faster and soft/wet greens lead to slower speeds.  We combat this as much as possible by hand watering the greens in the summer and using products to help move water down through the soil profile leading to a drier, firmer surface.
3. Weather: What happens to your yard after it rains? It grows and typically grows much faster than it did before it rained. Rainfall provides the turf with clean, usable water that helps to flush elements from the soil that tie-up nutrients, therefore making the nutrients readily available to the turf. Nutrients lead to healthy turf which can lead to additional growth.
4. Nutrition: The turf needs food to be healthy. Just as with humans, the healthier it is, the more active  it tends to be.  Healthy turf will grow more than unhealthy turf. 
5. Growth: Turf is a living, breathing entity.  It doesn't just grow at night when most of us are sleeping, it grows during the day as well.  This means that the greens will usually be slower in the afternoon than they are in the morning.  If they didn't grow, we wouldn't have to mow them every day.
6. Growth Regulators: Growth regulators work and work very well, but despite what you may think, they do not completely stop growth, they merely slow it down.  Over the years we have found a schedule that will provide very consistent results from day to day, minimizing surges in growth, but like everything else, the performance of the product is predicated upon several of the factors listed above.

The game of golf should not revolve around a number that was originally intended to measure consistency from green to green NOT the speed of the greens (this alone is a topic for another post).  Having said that, please understand that my staff and I try our hardest to give you some of the fastest (within reason), most consistent and enjoyable greens in the region on a daily basis, but sometimes outside influences lead to results that are temporarily out of our control. Please consider which factors may be at play if the greenspeed is not to you liking on a particular day. Lastly, I would encourage you to spend a few moments before each round on one of the practice greens.  They are maintained EXACTLY like the greens on the golf course and will give you a good reference as to what the greens on the course will be like.

Thank you for reading and please let me know if you have any questions or comments.