The unseasonably warm weather we have been experiencing is showing on the course. The color of the grass is holding its green later into the year. The soil temperatures, rain and sun have created some growth of the grass also. On a walk today, the fairways have noticeably grown since our last mowing of the year. It is not hard to find patches in the fairways like this patch in the picture. Of all this talk about unseasonably warm weather, last year at this time we had 50 [.....]
The water was off to the clubhouse for a short time yesterday and into today. A leak in the pipe between the well and clubhouse had developed. We noticed something was wrong and had been troubleshooting the problem for several days. The pipe was dug up yesterday when the leak was revealed in a fitting coming out of the well. It has been fixed and the water in the clubhouse is back to normal. [.....]
The frost on the ground this morning looks like all the white Christmas we can hope for. Temperatures in the 40 look like a regular thing over the next week. No news on the ice rink for a few more weeks. We are working on a "year in review" post that I hope to have up by the end of the year. Here are a few pictures of the course this morning. All of us at the Green Department wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New [.....]
Our annual equipment maintenance has been underway for a few weeks now. We started with a thorough cleaning after the equipment is done with its work on the golf course. Once that is completed we bring it inside for greasing, cleaning and changing of filters and fluids, then sharpening the blades. All of the equipment has been cleaned and we are moving on to the detailed maintenance for each piece of equipment. Here, Mario is removing the blades from one of the Sidewinders that we use to mow [.....]
Today we are at the Midwest Golf House in Lemont for the first of 2 days of education. Tim will be part of a panel this morning and Steven will be speaking with a group about using social media to communicate with golfers.
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We have Google Analytics set up for the blog which allows us to watch the traffic that come through the blog. Here is a list of the 5 most popular post that are on the blog.
1. VERTICUTTING - From May 16th, 2010
2. INVITATIONAL PREPARATION - From June 11th, 2011
3. RUMBLE IN THE MAINTENANCE FACILITY - From September 14, 2011
4. CICAGA KILLER WASPS - From July 29th, 2010
5. DISEASE IN THE ROUGH - From August 3rd, 2011 [.....]
The ice rink has been assembled, filled, and is beginning to freeze for the year. We can not speculate yet on when the rink will be ready for use. We just have to play the waiting game at this point.
Our trials and tribulations of our first at-bat with the ice rink last year were well documented.
Ice Rink Is Nearing Completion
Ice Rink Problems
We were much farther through winter before we decided to put one in. Though it was constructed properly, [.....]
We spent this morning removing the first snow from the sidewalks this season. It was not a lot, and with the sun out today, will likely melt off quick. This year doesn't deviate from our usual schedule of 1st-2nd week of Dec. for seeing snow. In 2009 the first snow was Dec. 1st, and 2010 the first snow was Dec. 6th.
Our winter preparation checklist is complete for the year. We are now in the process of beginning our seasonal maintenance on the equipment, starting with a [.....]
The first attempt at burning the ESAs on Friday was unsuccessful. The ESA areas are not far enough into their dormancy for them to burn effectively. The amount of smoke coming from the ESA in this picture shows there is too much moisture in them to burn the way we need them to.
We consult with a company called Pizzo and Associates for all of our management of these areas, and this company also performs the burn. We will continue to monitor these areas to decide when an [.....]
This past weekend was the last weekend for the greens this season. We put the temporary cups in play today, and ask that you avoid traffic on the greens until the spring. During the cold weather, we do not want to subject the turf to any stress that it will not be able to recover from while dormant. Also, traffic on frozen or partially frozen greens can cause significant tissue and/or root damage.
Here is a link to a good article from the USGA Green Section about [.....]