9:23 AM

Practice Tee and Divot Patterns

posted by NCC Greensin etiquettepractice area1 comments

Our practice tee gets used heavily, and any effort made by the golfers to disrupt the smallest area in a manner that allows for the quickest recovery will help us keep the tee in the best possible condition.  I mentioned yesterday (Practice Tee and Chipping Green Schedule) that the scattered divot pattern is bad.  Creating divots in a line will disrupt less surface area.  This was addressed in a post last year (Practice Like a Pro), and we will post on the blog and in the clubhouse regularly this year about this [.....]

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8:32 AM

Practice Tee and Chipping Green Schedule

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The practice areas have not been open yet and will stay closed for a while longer.  At the green committee meeting Monday night, the decision was made to open them on April 12th.  We are planning to take advantage of this warm weather and allow the tee to heal further from last years use.  This picture, taken this morning, shows that the seed in the divots has germinated, but has not fully grown-in yet.

The practice tee receives a significant amount of use through the season.  That [.....]

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8:24 AM

4 Weeks Ahead

posted by NCC Greensin weather0 comments

It's not news anymore that spring, (or summer?) came early this year.  9 straight days of record temperatures has brought the grass to a stage that we would usually see in late April or early May.  The weather has come 4 weeks ahead of schedule, which has left us behind - on a relative basis.  The greens, tees and fairways have all been mowed multiple times, we have mowed some of the rough, and have already needed to make a spray as a result of the warmer temperatures. [.....]

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9:15 AM

Turf Scouting Report, March 23rd

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Early Summer? 80°+ Nine In a Row, Dollar spot, Brown patch, Fairy ring, Waitea, Yellow tuft, Dandelions, Poa Seedheads, and Tim says KBG green up

Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle -

This season has begun (an understatement). We are out of the shoots on a racehorse named '2012'. This horse would travel faster than we had ever experienced. The trouble was, in a week we were still particpating in golf course superintendent education in places like Elcona Country Club in Bristol, IN and Arrowhead Golf Club in Wheaton, IL. In [.....]

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4:10 PM

Carts Available Thursday

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The patio furniture has been moved to the patio, which now makes the carts accessible. Carts will be available starting Thursday. The halfway house was painted today, and the water turned on yesterday. Service at the halfway house will be going soon. Our spring flowers arrived today, and we have started planting them at the entrance. The irrigation system was pressurized today. So far, only minor problems have been found. The record setting weather continues tomorrow, come out and enjoy the course before the 50 degree weather returns! [.....]

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7:36 AM

Turf Scouting Report, March 16th

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Forget Winter, More Like Spring or Summer. Updates Begin, Winter Conferences Over, Chicago's 80° F Highs, Poa Seedheads, and Tim Rates Fairy Ring!?! 

Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle -

Things have begun early in 2012 and so here goes. So far, within the month of March, we've seen high temperatures (˚F) go from 32 to our most recent of 80, 80 and 82 (March 14-16 on Sunshine Course in Lemont). It has meant rapid green-up of turf and much, much more. New all-time high temperature records for March for one! Golf [.....]

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8:36 AM

2012 Season Underway

posted by NCC Greensin 0 comments

Last year this post was made on March 30th, the year before on March 25th.  This early start has certainly been unusual, but it is welcome.  It is always nice to get out on the course in the spring and start to prepare the course for the year.  Greens were mowed for the first time yesterday, and fairways will be mowed today.  Our hope is to have approaches and tees mowed for the weekend as well.

Yesterday afternoon we rolled the fairways to smooth the surface and [.....]

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1:01 PM

It's Time! Greens Open Friday!

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Every year it’s the same – there is one day each Spring that tells golf course superintendents that it is time to start a new season.  For us the arrival of this day is as clear as the sound of an alarm clock going off.  There are any number of signs that tell us when the magical day has arrived; you drive your golf cart up to the clubhouse for coffee instead of your pickup truck, you don’t feel the need to close the overhead door as [.....]

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10:30 AM

Thinking About Readying The Course

posted by NCC Greensin 0 comments

The current weather trend has us planning the tasks needed to open the course earlier that usual.  We are noticing the grass beginning to green and there is no frost in the ground.  There has not been a solid frost in the ground for the past few weeks.  This time last year we still had a few patches of snow on the ground, and were waiting out regular night time temperatures in the low 20s.


As you can see in the 10 day forecast, temperatures will be [.....]

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4:15 PM

Wrapping Up The Show In Las Vegas

posted by NCC Greensin education0 comments

We are back in the office today trying to get reacquainted with the day-to-day here at the club.  Our trip to Las Vegas (Golf Industry Show) was complete with education opportunities, recognitions, and opportunities to observe the most recent technologies available for managing the course.  Our education seminars spanned a wide variety of topics that will all be applied to golf course. Here is an overview:


managing tall grass areas - these areas were addressed many times last summer, and the area by the 17th tee [.....]

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9:46 AM

A Week In Las Vegas

posted by NCC Greensin education0 comments

It has been a busy week in Las Vegas, and more difficult to keep up with the blog than I had expected. We have posted pictures and updates to the twitter account. This is a picture of Tim receiving his award on Tuesday night. Other awards were given out and Peter Jacobsen spoke at the end of the night. Wednesday and Thursday were filled with walking the trade show floor, and today is filled with more education. It has been a long week and we are looking forward [.....]

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