Welcome to the MHCC Turf Blog

2023 was the end of the Green Ash tree at Midland era. Planted en masse in the 1950s, they became the vast majority of the diversity that made up the property’s hardwood tree inventory. They also became a large part of the identity of the property and how this golf course played on a daily […]

Wow, what a winter, or lack thereof…. If you’re a fan of outdoor winter sports, sorry it’s been a dud. But with the 4″ of snow that fell last night, we were able to groom a walking trail on the front and back nine. There are no ski trails unfortunately, as the snow is too […]

There was light frost this morning, which means Fall is officially here. As a reminder, we are starting the process of topdressing and deep-tining fairways today. On average, we will attempt to finish 2-3 holes per day, as the process of deep-tining is very slow (.70 mph). If we see rain in the forecast (like […]

Unfortunately the thunderstorms rolling through the metro is coming at the worst time. We do need the rain, but we’re now over 3.5″ for the week, and the soils were so dry and tight that it’s taking a lot longer than normal for the water to percolate downward. We cannot prepare the golf course for […]

Today was our second, of three, trial applications to remove Bentgrass in the rough. 5 green surround, between 14 and 17, as well as to the right of 17, comprise the trial plots. As you can see, the Bentgrass is turning white, and will get even more bleached over the next several weeks. As mentioned […]

When we rebuilt the 14th green last Fall, we excavated a lot of soil, some areas as much as 18″. The sub-grade of the green was built, with surface drainage having positive flow to the drainage inlet, and sod laid over the top of that. During construction, a common challenge is making sure you properly […]

A plant out of place is a weed. We commonly think of dandelions, thistle, or crabgrass, when someone talks about weeds. They are fairly easy to identify, as well as controlling, without giving much thought. But the very definition of a weed is subjective. Sometimes those weeds are in the correct place if they’re contributing […]

This past week’s aerification was no fun. The record heat index, did a toll on not only the staff, but on the turf as well. We altered our normal plan to minimize the most dangerous aspect of the process, which is the dragging of topdressing sand, to minimize dragging during the peak hot hours of […]

(First, a huge shoutout to everyone who’s started tossing their broken tees next to the tee markers, and not in the roughs. Absolutely lovely to see an immediate impact, bravo!) Persistence is a big part of what we do in taking care of your golf course. It’s the constant in our line of work to […]