At this time of year the collars start to show some wear and tear from the traffic, compaction and the heat and humidity of the summer. Collars typically recieve twice the wear of a green. Golfers tend to walk on the collar, we go over it with the greens mower, collar mower and the roller. Often turning is avoided on the collar, but sometimes bunker placement and greenside mounds make turning on the collar unavoidable. This morning we vented the collars with needle tines and followed up with an overseeding of bentgrass and a roll. This is a very nondisruptive process and will show great benefit in the long run.
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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