We have had a few rounds of severe weather already this year. More is predicted for this afternoon and evening. We hope the little damage we have received to this point in the year will continue through. With these rounds of weather, it is time to remind you of our lightning detection system and what the signals mean.
Sirens are located on the top of the clubhouse, and near the green on hole 13. When the sirens sound one long blast, all golfers are required to leave [.....]
It has been a rainy couple of weeks on the golf course. 4.7 inches of rain since last Tuesday morning, and we are watching rain build on the radar for tonight. Tornado watches are already out for areas west of Chicago. Our schedule has been rearrange the last 10 days, but somehow we have managed to get things mowed. Timing has been delayed, and grass has been tall, but it is still getting cut.
The rain, with a little bit of sun, has really greened the [.....]
From the perspective of weather - I have learned that Chicago and the region certainly have periods of extremes over short time spans - and distances! I did realize that when the high on May 14th at Sunshine Course in Lemont reached 94.9 degrees, meanwhile it was 81 degrees on the North Shore close to the lake - nice life! It certainly means that there are some extremes that you have to deal with based on the situations and I hope that you can communicate this to your [.....]
Monday started the week as one of the driest days of the year, but the following days have been some of the wettest. Storms on Monday night into Tuesday morning left 2.05 inches of rain at the course. Water was across the 16th fairway and running behind the 14th green for the 2nd time this year. By the end of the day, the water was down and the course was in good shape. However, storms Tuesday night brought another 0.60 inches on Wednesday morning and 0.50 inches through [.....]
Its back!
Members and fellow turf professionals, the weekly scouting report is back and hopefully with some new and interesting tidbits to keep you guys in a comfort zone as we move through the golf season. I will aim to talk about a range of topics on top of what we see on a weekly basis with a paragraph on my take on abiotic stresses that we may be seeing. Finally - I will say I am very excited to be here and hope to get out [.....]
The course is ever changing. In the spring the rough makes the course challenging, following a rain event you might not get 30 yards of roll in the fairways thereby changing your approach shot into a green, on a windy day your drive could be blown off course… The influences that nature has on the course is integral to the game, it creates interest. It is up to the player to adapt their game so as to overcome seasonal influences.
You may have noticed the Club's slow play policy during events for this year. Slow play has been an increasing issue not only here but at all courses. Here is a great article by Tim Moraghan from Golf Course Industry Magazine in April regarding slow play (link to full article). I have copied the recommendations for golfers:
At the USGA’s annual meeting a few months ago, it was announced that it will begin addressing pace of play, not only in their own events (good luck with that!), but down at our level, too. Along with many new programs to educate golfers (watch for another scintillating series of advertisements), the USGA said the Green Section will work [.....]
The few areas on the course with pine trees got a face lift this week. These areas got the pine cones and sticks cleaned up and a cleaned up the edges of the pine needles. New lines for the pine needles were made in some areas.
The finished product leaves a clean look with clean lines. [.....]
Another project that was done last Monday was at 8 green and involved a drain and some new sod. This bank in front of the green was almost completely bentgrass. (You can see how much bentgrass is on the slope by comparing the color of the dew covered grass on the slope with the color of the grass in the fairway) Bentgrass at green/tee/fairway height will create a fine playing surface, but at rough height will create and uneven mess. Having this spot of bentgrass so close to [.....]
I have some catching up to do with blog post from last week. Most of this you will have already seen if you were fortunate enough the enjoy the beautiful weather for the Walrus Open on Saturday. We completed the first aeration of the year on the greens last Monday. A verti-cutting, aeration and a little topdressing was completed all in one day. We had some disruptions in the plan for the day, but everything was completed.
This is the first spring aeration that has been done [.....]