Spring Greens Aeration...a week later!

A week has passed since our annual spring greens aeration. We have had a mixed bag of weather, hot, dry, cold, wet and even frost!
These conditions make it challenging to aid in healing, but with the more recent consistent warm temperatures we are seeing solid recovery. We were fortunate to have decent weather to complete the process on time, allowing us to fill all the holes created by the 1/2” hollow tines. As there are some minor depressions within some of the holes we will be beginning our bi-weekly topdressing program early next week. Our team is mowing and rolling our greens daily, while slowly lowering our height of cut to our summer norm. We all know that spring cultural practices are not popular among golfers, but these all important tasks are the building blocks for high performance greens conditions throughout the heart of the golf season.
Check out this video produced by the USGA on Aerations effect on putting...

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The Practice Range Tee

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.

Winter is here...

Happy New Year! The winter weather has certainly arrived with sub zero temperatures and snowfall accumulating...We were very fortunate this fall with a balmy forecast, work continued right up to the Christmas break is steady fashion. Our most recent phase of drainage work was completed in due time. Dry and warm conditions made for clean and quick work. Areas of focus this fall were the rough, fairway and green on the 14th, some smaller rough areas on 11, 17 and the upper landing area of the 3rd fairway. Our tree management plan is in full swing with the removals of some dead Ash trees. An important part of our tree plan is to re-plant a more desirable species in these key areas. The trees have been tagged for delivery as soon as possible in the spring. Our winter greens preparation plan was completed in due time as well. We have performed all of our fall cultural practices and winter prep tasks to give our greens the optimal chance of winter survival. In addition to our ann...

Golf Course & Grounds Department Update

During the winter months our department keeps busy with a number of tasks required to help ensure the upcoming golf season goes smoothly. Through the course of the winter myself, our Assistant Superintendent (Paul) and our Equipment Manager (Alan) attend a number of professional development opportunities to further our knowledge, techniques and practices. We are also required to submit all of our Chemical application and Fertility data to the Ministry of the Environment to conform to the Integrated Pest Management Council. Another substantial task is the complete refurbishment of our course accessories, benches and equipment. All of our course accessories are painted, cleaned or replaced to ensure a functional and aesthetically pleasing setting is presented for our membership. Every single piece of equipment is serviced, sharpened and gone over with a fine tooth comb for safety defects, etc. This winter has been far different than the previous two that we experienced. Fortunatel...

HIGHLAND CC GROUNDS

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