HIGHLAND CC GROUNDS

The end of the 2011 golf season has come...our staff has been working away at preparing the golf course for the long winter months. We are currently deep slicing the fairways and will then move into the rough. The weather has cooperated nicely for our winter protection/snow mould preventative fungicide application. Greens, Tees and Fairways were all sprayed this week. It is important for us to complete this in perfect conditions, as we require the product to dry completely into the plant for long term efficacy. We also have begun our dormant/late fall fertilizer applications to Greens, Tees and Rough. This application will aid in carbohydrate storage for winter, also helping with spring green up. We have one more Vertidrain aeration to perform on our Greens next week. More holes = More drainage. The crew has been continuing to work away at bunker edging. Using a pitchfork, we have been ripping back the overgrown, sandy edges (mostly on the backs).The edges are then tamped down by hand ...

We the recent weather trend (almost 2 weeks without rain!) our department has been very busy and productive. We were able to complete our Vertidrain/Deeptine aeration and topdressing on Greens, Tees and Approaches. Again, this process creates deep channels for air, water and sand to reach into the rootzone. We will be Vertidraining the Greens again prior to closing in attempt to create more drainage channels for water build up throughout the winter. We will not be topdressing this time, as the covers will be installed in the coming weeks. The drier weather has allowed us to complete a final mowing in the rough as it has been a couple of weeks since we were last able to get the mowers out. Leaf blowing and mulching has been running at full tilt and the golf course is looking cleaner every day. With all of the rain soaked weather that we have experienced, we have noticed a few drainage issues. Clogged tiles have been found in a few instances. This is common in a year like this one with a...