This winter we will have turf covers on the putting green and on a portion of the driving range tee. Turf covers can be used to help prevent winter injury, and keep soil temperatures a little higher which allows for more rapid green-up in the spring. These are plastic covers that consist of holes to allow for water and air movement through the cover. Their greatest benefit for us comes when they create a greenhouse effect over the turf to trap heat and keep the soil temperatures higher. [.....]
The irrigation system winterization was completed with no problems this year. More detailed information about the system winterization can be found on last year's post about the same topic: Winterizing the Irrigation System.
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Here are more pictures of the drainage work at the bottom of 2 fairway.
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This drain in the 4th fairway is located around the drainage basin near the green. This area is rarely able to sufficiently dry. Aside from being located around a drainage basin, it is also shaded. Being near the green causes this area to be in play regularly. Our hope is that the extra drainage will catch the surface water as it runs towards the drainage basin and move it underground quicker.
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A project we worked on throughout the fall involved raising areas in the fairways and roughs where drainage lines and irrigation lines had settled since the project. These spots created a bumpy ride in the carts and could have resulted in an unwelcome lie in the fairways. This project will likely continue in the spring as well.
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More of the drainage that has been completed was done in the 4th fairway in the valley beyond the fairway bunkers. This area did hold water for a while longer after rains. It was not a larger amount of water, because of that, a smaller drain was used. Here are some pictures of the progress.
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Our most anticipated drainage project this fall was at the bottom of 2 fairway. In the spring this area is regularly roped off and again after rain events through the season. Because the area remains wet at times, we may be forced to skip mowing it. This also made for very poor playing conditions in a prominent spot on the hole.
This area is also the final stop for flood waters that collect in the floodway after large rains. The only way to ensure the flood waters [.....]
USGA Weekly Update, November 5th [.....]
Our fall fertilizer applications have all been completed. As we normally do, a bulk truck applied the fertilizer in the fairways and the roughs. It is very convenient to have this done. The bulk totes of fertilizer were dropped off first thing in the morning. The truck arrived about 2 hours later and began fertilizing.
Here is the link to the post about fall fertilization last year: Fertilization Finale
Here are the reasons for the fall fertilization application copied from last year's post:
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Nov. 5, 2010 Scouting Report
It's November Already: Illinois is dry, Irrigation turned off, Lows are 20-something, Tim says ASA-CSSA-SSSA, and Nick's new word is Favicons.
Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle -
Cold! Monday through Wednesday on Sunshine Course was plain cold. I was not exactly feeling it - I found myself sleeping on the Queen Mary while attending a meeting in California. Tim's emails of weather data showed me 27, 24 and 25 were recorded as lows those 3 days in Lemont, Ill. I quickly realized our first round of consistently cold temperatures had come to pass in Chicago. My dismal two finger count of hard frosts for October (lows below 30 degrees) was over. In quick [.....]
After the wet spring we had, several drainage projects were put into the plans for this fall. The first project completed was the smallest. This project is on the left side of 12 fairway.
Drainage was completed here before when a catch basin was installed to collect water from the rough before it made it to the fairway. After big rains we notice that water from the fairway would run toward the catch basin of the edge of the fairway then turn back to towards the middle [.....]
The frosts this week have been heavy. All of our summer flowers have now been removed due to frost damage and the majority of the leaves have now fallen from the trees. Here are some pictures of the frosts this week.
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