No April Fools Joke! Thursday, April 1st, the course will be ready! Carts will be available, the driving range and chipping green will be open, and the halfway house will be open. The abnormally warm weather has been good to the course. The soil temperatures are rising quickly, and the grass is beginning to grow. The partial crew we have had this week have gotten lots done, but still have more to do.
The spring flowers have arrived and are in place for the Easter weekend.
[.....]
The signs of summer are beginning to show at the Green Department this week. About 2/3's of the crew started back today, and the balance of the crew will be back next Monday. As usual on Mondays, we took advantage of the closed day to get some major jobs done. We spiked and topdressed the greens, mowed the tees for the first time, removed the awning from the front of the clubhouse, began preparing the flower beds for the spring flower (which should be coming this week) [.....]
The March 26 Turf Scouting Report from the CDGA is posted. It includes more info on winter turf damage around the Chicago area. [.....]
The brick work on the columns was finished on Friday of last week and the work on the chimney at the clubhouse was done this week. A sealer has applied to prevent water from damaging the brick again.
[.....]
After several months, the greens are now back in play. When deciding to open the greens in the spring, we wait for them to dry out enough from the winter thaws to better handle the traffic, and we want some green to return to the grass.
The first thing we do to the greens to prepare them for opening is mark the green margins with white dots. After several months of no mowing there is much less distinction between the collar height and the green height. We [.....]
The prairie burn of the ESA's was completed on Tuesday. The weather cooperated and the contractor, Tallgrass Restoration, Inc. was able to complete the area in front of 11 tee and the two mounds to the right of hole 10. These areas will be black over the next few weeks until new growth begins to sprout. This practice is recommended every two to three years.
And, a new picture for the title to get ready for the summer! [.....]
The newest Turf Scouting Report (March19) from Derek Settle at the CDGA is posted on the right column.
Today we started the process of opening the greens. They will be open sometime this week. Check back for the exact day. [.....]
Most of the areas that will be burned were completed today. There was an unfavorable wind today that did not allow for the completion of the burn on the ESA in front of 11 tee, and the two areas south of hole 10. The areas are black and will remain in that condition for a few weeks when new growth will begin to show.
These areas are burned as part of the managment of the ESA's required by the county. Burning these areas removes the dead [.....]
[.....]
The prairie burn we do for our ESA's will be taking place today at 10:30am. This was scheduled to be done in the fall, however the wet fall weather prevented it from taking place. If you are coming to the course to enjoy the weather today, beware of the smoke. [.....]
Over the next few days there will be a crew working at the front entrance gate. They will be repairing some deteriorating brick in the columns at the front entrance by cutting out damaged joints and bricks. They will reused the bricks that are still good and replace the broken ones. They will also be grinding back the mortar over the entire column and adding new to give a uniform apperance.
The columns had cracked in several spots as a result of water seeping into the mortar [.....]
The most recent turf scouting report(March 12) from Derek Settle at the CDGA has been posted on the right. Derek gives an update of the winter damage that has occured throughout the Chicagoland area as well as weather patterns through the winter. [.....]
After the sun and warm weather from last week, the only snow that remains are a few piles hiding in the bunkers. I was able to get a few pictures while inspecting the winter damage last week. Here is what we have found:
These two pictures are representative of what the rough looks like now. Pink snow mold is very widespread in the rough throughout the course, and is worse beneath trees. It is worse under trees as a result of the weakened turf due to the [.....]
SNOW MOLD
Snow molds are the diseases that can occur on turfgrass through the winter months. There are two types of snow molds - pink snow mold and gray snow mold.
Gray Snow Mold
Gray snow mold is the least common of the two, and rarely occurs in this area. However, the amount of snow cover we have had this year may result in more occurances. The key to gray snow mold activity is snow cover, and lots of it. The longer the [.....]