I am sure that alot of our members have noticed the areas of the rough marked out with blue flags. These areas are going to become Native grassland areas of our golf course. There are 5 different areas marked around the course to be left unmowed. These areas are not going to be neglected, just not mowed. We are going to do some weed control until we can get a strong stand of native grasses to choke out the weeds. I think that once the grasses grow up, they will add some contrast to our property. For the most part they are out of play, but I am sure a few of us will find ourselves playing out of the long stuff. All that I ask is that our members avoid driving power carts into the areas. Foot traffic is fine, but cart traffic will matt down the grasses and prevent proper growth. You will also note that we have installed a number of bird boxes, we hope to attract some different species of birds to the property that may not have found a home here in the past. Once these areas have grown up to a noticeable height, we will remove the blue flags and enjoy our established Native areas.
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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