One of the great features of Highland is our undulating fairways. Before my arrival here there had been extensive drainage added on the golf course and from what I here, the property now drains much faster than in years past. We do however have a number of low spots that tend to hold water, particularly in the early spring during the snow melt. At that time of year the drains are still frozen and surface water tends to sit on the turf and inevitably kill off some turf grass. Today one of Grounds staff members Matt Deans, was out with one of our aerifiers "punching" these areas in preparation to over seed and top dress. We will be seeding the areas with a mixture of fine fescues. This is a very strong variety of grass that can be mowed at fairway height and is rather hardy. This grass will blend in very nicely with our current stand of Poa annua, native bentgrasses and bluegrasses in our fairways.
Last fall we utilized a “new to us” method of revitilization for our practice tee. Our contractor TDS, fraize mowed the surface of the tee to remove organic matter as well at to aid in leveling. The tee was then aerified and seeded to a new variety of creeping rye grass. We chose this type of turf grass as research shows rapid recovery and a low growth habit. We were able to get some great growth in the fall, but the tee is still not ready for traffic and full use. The plan is to utilize the mats until growth has filled in some of the voids etc. We will then begin to slowly set up hitting areas on the grass tee. For a while we will alternate between grass and the mats with a 50/50 ratio of use. Once the grass tee is established and is in adequate recovery mode, the practice areas will be back to normal. As always our membership’s patience is appreciated as we try to improve these areas for use.
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