This time of year is always wise to look back, personally and professionally. As no two years managing a golf course are the same, we are constantly learning in a vacuum of variability. That leads us to improved strategies, investments with human and physical capital, as well as understanding what to expect in the following […]
Continue readingCategory Archives: Course Maintenance
The White Album
If you’ve been on the course in the past week, there’s a really good chance you’ve noticed a lot of bleached white turf, specifically around greens and on bunker faces. This is completely intentional. The definition of a weed is a plant out of place. In this case, Bentgrass growing in the rough, is a […]
Continue readingAerification. Fall Edition
You can see the growing pile of sand in the parking lot. That can only mean one thing; aerification is next week. 700 tons of sand will be worked into tees, approaches and fairways, and 100 tons of sand will be worked into greens and surrounds. It will take us all 3 days, sun up […]
Continue readingSummer things
First, congrats to everyone who played in the Raynor Cup, the flight winners, and our champs Jay and Lawrence. The staff had a fun start-in-the-dark morning to get everything prepared for the first shotgun. I recently took out the drone to get a different perspective than my normal routine of evaluating via on foot. Most […]
Continue readingThe Robots are Coming
If you’re at the club today, you may see robotic mowers operating around the clubhouse/putting green/driving range tee. We’ll be doing a demo to see how the mowers operate on our property, specifically around the clubhouse lawns. This technology is nothing new, but getting a distributor with support is. Implementing automated mowers can be beneficial […]
Continue readingPost-Aerification Update
Aerification started 7 days ago. The weather Monday was absolutely ideal with sunny and dry conditions. During the day, we cored the putting green, as well as 14 green, removed those cores, and filled them with sand. The tees and approaches were topdressed and solid tined in, as well as the front nine fairways being […]
Continue readingThe End of an Era
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 […]
Continue readingWinter Preparations
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 […]
Continue readingSurface Drainage
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 […]
Continue readingWeeds
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 […]
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