Spring Adaptations

The 2020 golf season is underway. By no means is it a normal start, but one with several adaptations. Typically we have several weeks to prepare for opening day, but with the weather, and stay at home orders, this season’s start was anything but normal.

If you haven’t played your first round of the year yet, the golf course came out of winter in fantastic shape. Yes, the greens remain bumpy from last Fall’s deep tine holes, but will smooth out as we get into our normal maintenance routine. We need night time temperatures to get out of the 30’s, eliminating frosts, and getting the turf to start actively growing. That looks to happen over the next week, which will result in a much faster recovery.

With having a smaller than normal staff for this time of year, we’ve had to adapt to prioritizing tasks on a smaller scale, as we are not on our normal mowing programs quite yet, and unsure when we will be. Some of our staff is still at home until the stay at home order is up, and some, because of their age, do not feel comfortable working this season at all.

One major adaptation to our normal routine this Spring is regarding aerification. Starting Monday, we topdressed all of the tees.

Over the next week+, we will attempt to topdress approaches, and our fairway areas amongst play. However, we won’t be punching any holes this Spring, and we won’t close the course in May as previously scheduled. We will do everything we can to complete the process with as little impact to golf as possible. In return, we need your help. When we topdress fairways, and you see us dragging the sand in, we need you to let us complete the task. Picking up your ball and placing it past where we are working, will speed process up considerably. We want to get topdressing completed as quick as possible, on a condensed timeline, to minimize the impact to play. We will utilize the next few Mondays, before play is allowed, to get the largest areas completed, as well as utilize slow play times to get the smaller areas. Thanks for your help with working together on this.

The fairway expansions, if you have not seen them, will also need to be topdressed, but they will receive an aerification.

We need these areas to be much smoother than they are now, to handle a lower height of cut. A core will be pulled from the areas, which will help us roll the surfaces, smoothing them out. Again, we will try to utilize Monday mornings, and quiet times, to minimize disruption to play.

Every Spring is different, and starts at a different pace. This Spring is no exception. As we adapt to the situation in front of us, we still have the same goal – to provide as great of a  golf experience as possible, with the resources provided.

Mike Manthey

16 Replies to “Spring Adaptations”

  1. Brad Melchior says:

    Thanks Mike and Team! Course looks great, really appreciate how you guys adapted and modified your work schedules in these strange times and still excelled at getting it ready!

    1. Mike Manthey says:

      Thanks Brad,

      Lucky to have a dedicated team to make the best of the situation, and step up to the challenge.

      M.

  2. Robert J Etten says:

    Course did indeed come through the winter in great shape! Thanks to you and the team not only for the winter prep, but for getting so much done so quickly after the restrictions were lifted and getting us out to play, Mike!

    1. Mike Manthey says:

      Thanks, as always, for taking the time to get the behind the scene info and sharing it!
      M.

  3. Patrick Gray says:

    Thanks Mike, the. Purse did come through the winter in great condition. Keep up the great work!!

    1. Mike Manthey says:

      Thanks Pat,

      Great to you see you out playing again!
      M.

  4. Brin Gorecki says:

    Thanks Mike. I played Saturday and the course came through the winter in fabulous shape. Great job.

    Brian G

    1. Mike Manthey says:

      Hey Brian,

      Thanks for the support!
      M.

  5. Norm Chervany says:

    Thanks for the update! Well done!

    1. Mike Manthey says:

      Thanks Norm and great to see you out there!
      M.

  6. Fred Zonino says:

    The expanded fairways give us a hint of the coming changes. A continued effort and the fall finale are really exciting!

    1. Mike Manthey says:

      Fred,

      The expansions are definitely showing off what was hidden.

      Thanks for the support!
      M.

  7. Steve Lee says:

    Mike –
    Thanks for the update and all your hard work through this crazy Spring!

    I had a chance to walk the dog around a few times and the course looks great!

    Keep you and your team safe and we hope to reap the benefits of the great job you all have done, very soon.

    – Steve

    1. Mike Manthey says:

      Steve,

      Thanks for the note!

      Crazy indeed.
      M.

  8. gerald Pitzl says:

    The course looks fantastic. Having worked at a golf course in the past I know it takes a little time to groom the course. Keep up the good work

    1. Mike Manthey says:

      Thanks Gerald, I didn’t know you had a green thumb?!
      M.

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