HIGHLAND CC GROUNDS

The challenge continues....We were fortunate enough to have a few great days of weather...but that has ended quite abruptly! Cold, rain and now SNOW have hindered our progress on preparing the golf course for play. During the 4 day warm stretch we were able to mow greens, roll greens, mow collars/approaches, mow fairways, open the Practice Range, rake bunkers, pressurize the irrigation system, fertilize greens, continue clean up and grind all remaining stumps from our winter tree management plan. Productivity was at a high and our staff has really put forth a great effort. The other very important task that we have been addressing is winter injury. The extent of damage is varying. Our staff has worked continuously at plugging, seeding and repairing as much damage as we can. What we need now is mother nature to step up, warm up and provide some more sunshine to help things grow. As our members begin to play the golf course (once the snow melts) you will see the work being done to expe...

As the weather begins to turn around, the grass begins to grow and the sun begins to shine we are able to assess the degree of winter injury to our greens. Due to a slushy, wet weekend in January we have sustained a certain degree of injury. While not all are effected there are considerable small areas on a number of greens. However, with the help of our team plugging, covering, fertilizing and watering we are seeing some recovery already. This leads us to believe that once consistent spring weather arrives for good, recovery will be accelerated. Please follow along with this blog as we prepare the golf course for another great season...here's to a warm and sunny spring!

All of the inside jobs are winding down. Our equipment service and refurbishment is almost done and we are ready to get outside...once the snow melts of course. At this point the turf on the golf course appears to have survived the winter well. We have not removed any greens covers yet as they are still snow covered in the corners, but from what we can see through the covers looks decent. BUT, we are not out of the woods yet. As the weather continues to play games with us, melting and refreezing  continues to occur. The threat of crown hydration is still there. We have moved any remaining snow off of the edges of the greens, but for the most part mother nature has removed the snow and thin layer of ice that existed, we have just expedited the water to reduce injury potential. We will continue to remove any water that we can in hopes of injury reduction or elimination.

Well, we thought that we were in for a nice warm, calm winter...but Mother Nature changed that pretty quick in the month of February! We have received an incredible amount of snow this month, making outside work rather difficult, never mind that the temperatures have hovered around -20! In late December our drainage contractors completed the work on #5, #7 and the Practice Range. All of the drainage systems were installed with only a minor amount of sodding and cleanup left to be done this spring. The majority of our tree work (removals, pruning and transplants) were completed before the weather turned. We do anticipate being able to get back out to do some more tree work prior to spring. A few of our members have been asking about the condition of our greens this winter. In the aftermath of the spring of 2014 the concern is higher than usual. We are relatively happy about what we have out there right now. There is a very minimal layer of very "airy" ice on some greens....

As December begins we find ourselves still very busy out on the golf course. We have just completed our winter preparation plan for our greens. After dealing with the harsh winter of 2014, we have modified a few elements of the plan from previous winters. The following is the plan in chronological order (as completed): September: -Height of cut raised following Men's Club Championship weekend. This process reduces the stress that we place on the turf following a long summer. More leaf blade allows for more sunlight and more fertilizer to enter the plant. Another added benefit to longer turf is the ability to build our sand layer within the canopy of the turf, further insulating the crown (growing point) of the turf. -As previously noted, Topdressing, we continued our Bi-weekly topdressing program from September to the installation of our covers. Insulation of the crown helps to protect the plant during cold and harsh winter weather. October: -Increase in fall fertil...

As of Thursday, October 30th all of the bathrooms on the golf course will be closed for the season. Winterization of the irrigation system is scheduled for Monday, November 3rd and Tuesday, November 4th.  Prior to the actual "blow out" of the system and bathrooms, we manually drain all lines to the best of our ability.

The shoulder seasons (Spring and Fall) are a great time for our department to work away at the many cultural practices that help our turfgrass survive the rigours of summer. With greens aeration behind us, we will be moving onto our fairways. Beginning on Monday, October 27th we will be using our Sissis verticutting unit on our fairways. This is a rather messy process as we remove a tremendous amount of organic matter/thatch at one time. The process: 1. Deep verticut of the fairway. 2. Blow the debris to the centre of the fairway using multiple blowers. 3. Collect the debris with our turf sweeper. 4. Re-blow the fairway as a final cleaning. We anticipate that we will complete all of the fairways/approaches within the week. Of course, weather permitting! As always our memberships patience and understanding is greatly appreciated during these integral cultural practices.