Fall is finally here! On behalf of the entire maintenance crew I would like to thank all of you for your support and patience throughout the summer. The majority of both courses survived this year’s record setting heat and drought. We are confident that the tees, fairways, and greens are healthy enough to make it through the winter with minimal problems. The roughs saw nice recovery in September and October thanks to a few timely rain events. However, there are many areas that will enter the winter weak and will have a tough time in the spring. Please keep in mind that any areas that appear to be weak or stressed will not improve until late spring. Always use caution when driving carts and make an extra effort to avoid driving in these areas. We are hoping for a mild winter this year. The severe drought has not on ly weakened turfgrass but many trees. A hard, dry winter will only cause more damage and increase the potential for ‘winter kill’.
Overseeding and application of pre-emergent herbicides typically come to mind in mid to late fall. The drought has forced us to change our approach this year. The only areas that will be overseeded will be the par three tees, driving range tee, and 19th hole area. Pre-emergent herbicides provide us with a great way to minimize winter weeds. Unfortunately, they can also be detrimental to turf that is stressed. As a result, we will be restricting these herbicides to specific areas and relying more on post-emergent herbicides.
Winter provides us the much needed opportunity to accomplish many tasks that are difficult to complete during the growing season. A few things that we will be working on this year include: bunker work (North and South), tree removal, brush clearing, equipment maintenance, and improvements to our maintenance facility. We are looking forward to a productive winter. Please continue to check the blog and feel free to contact me at any time.
No comments:
Post a Comment