It's been a long time since...

Long time, no blog. Once construction wrapped up, I thought I would have more time in my day to do things like write. Alas, I forgot that the weather was eventually going to warm up and the grass would start growing. With the summer season upon us (it's going to get here one of these days, but it's 63 degrees at 3 pm on June 6th and raining cat and dogs) most of our attention has turned to keeping the place maintained and not having too many projects going.

One thing that we are doing that I'd like to bring to your attention is the use of growth regulators on the tees and fairways. We recently applied a product that is designed to slow the growth of the grass, primarily the Poa. With the growth of the Poa suppressed this gives the bentgrass a competitive advantage and allows it to grow over the existing Poa. With any luck we will be able to increase the bentgrass population and give you a better playing surface. So if you think the fairways have looked a little off color the last couple of weeks, you are correct. This product will turn the Poa a yellow color, similar to what it would look like if it was showing signs of drought stress.

Notice the leafy, dark green bentgrass versus the yellow Poa.

Something that I touched on in the current newsletter, but will touch on it again, is the basic etiquette of course maintenance. The three easiest things you can do during your round to keep the course in the best condition possible are; fix your divots, repair ball marks, and rake bunkers after you play out of them. When fixing ball marks and divots, repair yours and one other. If everyone did this, at some point you would only have yours to repair. And when you fill a divot, make sure it is filled to level then tamped down with your foot. If they are not filled completely, the edges burn out and there is little benefit or reduction in healing time.

One good, two half hearted attempts, and a couple of non efforts

Saying the weather has been screwy this year is akin to saying water is wet. But I think it's gotten to the point where even Mother Nature's creatures are confused (along with plenty of humans as well). It never ceases to amaze me the things I get to see out here.

Mr. (or Mrs.) Turtle, are you lost?

Above is a picture of a good size snapping turtle crossing a fairway, not a huge deal. Except it's crossing the 5th fairway, heading toward the road and mountain. I think he or she can't figure out what season it is and has decided to go sun on the rocks of the mountain to warm up.