HIGHLAND CC GROUNDS

A few reminders for our members as the season slowly comes to a close... October 31st will be the last day of play at our Practice Facility and Short Game Area. November 1st & 2nd we will be performing our heavy topdress and Deep Tine aerification of Greens. Pins will be in the approaches for this process. November 3rd will be the last day of washroom availability at both the Half Way Hut and the washrooms on the 15th hole. November 5th & 6th we will be blowing out the irrigation system. This can be a rather loud and startling process for members. November 18th will be the last day of play for the 2012 season. Hopefully the weather improves and our members can get out and enjoy the golf course over the next few weeks...play golf!

Old location at #5 Green As part of our tree management program we are planning on transplanting a few trees this fall. Some time ago a collection of trees was planted in an effort to create division between greens, tees and fairways. The reality is that when trees are planted in close proximity to greens, tees and fairways it is inevitable that they are going to cause turf health issues and require removal. In an effort to save these trees for the long term and avoid removal, we are going to transplant these trees and utilize them as key trees in the future. We have utilized a local contact to do the transplanting with a tree spade. Yesterday we transplanted a Red maple that was to the right of the 5th Green. This tree was very close to the green and once mature, would have blocked morning sunlight, therefore affecting the health of the green (then requiring complete removal). The new home of the Maple is on the right sid...

On Tuesday, October 9th we will be Deep verticutting our greens. This process will help to remove any thatch and organic matter. Following the clean up process we will be topdressing with sand to fill the channels/lines. The sand incorporation also helps to dilute the organic matter and provide a firm healthy putting surface. On the following day we will be rolling the greens to help incorporate the sand and also smooth the greens out. While we are working on the greens, the pin will be put out in the approach. Once the clean up and topdressing in done, the greens will reopen for play. As always, our member`s patience and understanding is appreciated.

Just as a reminder...we will be topdressing greens early Tuesday morning...a light application of sand will be put down on greens followed by a brushing in, once the sand dries. We will also be Vertidraining approaches followed by a topdressing as well. We will do our best as to make little impact on play throughout the day.

In an effort to add to the consistency of the golf course we will be extending the 14th fairway towards the tee. The average distance on a par 5 (here at HCC) from the forward tee to the front edge is 60 yards. The 14th currently is about 80 yards, once extended it will match the others at 60 yards. We will be slowly lowering the height of cut in this area starting today. The area will look thin and weak for the remainder of the season. Once down to fairway height we will be over seeding the section with creeping bentgrass and fine fescues.

The season of 2012...Irrigation management was at the top of our priority for most of the summer season, which this year was from April to September. When managing a clay based golf course irrigation management can be tricky. When clay goes dry...it is very hard to re wet. When clay gets wet...it can take some time to dry out. Our goal has always been to find the balance in moisture management. Now throw in playability vs aesthetics as well as disease occurrence vs stressed turf, you are walking a fine line. This is why I have been heard repeatedly saying that it is not as easy as applying more water at night. There are far more variables other than the colour of the turf grass. During this past summer our area experienced record breaking temperatures coupled with extended drought periods. Currently our area is experiencing the seventh month in a row of lower than normal precipitation. Commonly off colour turf grass is thought to be dead or in "bad shape". The term "...

Yesterday we received the physical analysis report of our 18th green...This is a soil test that compares the soil from the top 3 inches of the green against the bottom 3-6 inches. We had this test done to investigate the reasons behind the thinning and poor rooting that we experienced throughout the 2012 season. In layman's terms, the report has shown that in the top 3 inches of the soil profile we have accumulated a decent amount of sand through regular topdressing. The negative results are noticed in the bottom 3-6 inches of the profile, there is virtually no sand...thus creating a poor draining and compacted layer. These conditions make it very hard for turf grass to deeply root and thrive. When you are unable to produce a solid root mass, the turf grass will struggle, especially in a summer like we just experienced with record breaking heat and drought. We have been working away at deep tining our greens for the past three seasons. The profile will get better through repeated ...