June 2024 Update

It has been a busy June for Golf Course Maintenance, with many cultural practices and small projects underway. 

We have received over 12 inches of rain thus far this month, with 9 inches coming in a weeklong span in mid-June. While this seems excessive, many local golf courses received over 20 inches during this same time frame. Although the weather negatively impacted our productivity, it was much needed, and our lakes are now completely full. 

Over 9 inches of rain fell during the week of June 10th.

Our annual Curfew Soil Fumigant application was completed during our June three-day closure, and positive results have already been observed. Injected 5-7" below the surface, Curfew is an extremely effective product in controlling plant-parasitic nematodes. The rain we received following the application enhanced the product's efficacy and helped expedite turfgrass recovery from the injection lines. 

The annual Curfew application took place during the three-day closure in early June.

This photo was taken the day after the Curfew application. Injection lines typically take 2-3 weeks to fully recover.

This photo was taken 2.5 weeks after the application. Injection lines are nearly fully healed.

Our bunker sand replacement project is underway, and we will likely be able to address more bunkers this summer than originally planned. Over time, bunker sand loses its angular form and no longer performs to a high standard. New bunker sand reduces washouts from rain events, decreases the probability of plugged lies in the faces, and enhances overall aesthetics and playability.

The front right greenside bunker on hole #3 after replacing the sand. Nearly 200 tons of sand will be used this summer. We are hopeful to address 25-30% of the bunkers each year.

We are now developing plans for our major July closure, beginning on July 8th. This closure allows us to conduct our major cultural practices on the golf course and is critical to our success throughout the year. 

As putting greens age, more attention is required to address thatch, compaction and development of organic material. Our goal at Copperleaf is to impact 15-20 percent of the surface area yearly.

This 21-day closure will allow us to aerify all playing surfaces several times. We will also verticut and topdress as needed through the process. While many courses close several times through the summer to aerify, we have found it beneficial to address our major cultural practices in just one closure. Doing so only requires one major "surgical recovery" instead of several. This not only benefits the golfer but allows us to plan for rain days and focus more on the process than the recovery. I plan to provide updates with plenty of photos during the closure.

Hole #7 green following our cleanup efforts after the flooding in mid-June.

As always, feel free to email any questions, comments or concerns to parkerf@copperleafgc.com.

May 2024 Update

It has been a busy May for Golf Maintenance with the turfgrass growing at an accelerated rate and small projects beginning around the golf course.

#8 Green - May 21st

Our first Wednesday closure allowed us to perform some much-needed cultural practices to the putting surfaces after 8 months of heavy play. The greens were Verticut, Double Cut, Aerified, and Topdressed. This process will hopefully be completed every 2-4 weeks during the summer, with an obvious major increase in intensity during our July closure. 

Greens were Verticut in 2 directions and then Double Cut prior to Aerification.

The coring tines utilized during our Wednesday cultural practices are much smaller in size compared to what will be used during our major July closure. While much less surface area is impacted, small coring tines still greatly assist with thatch removal, alleviating compaction and improving oxygen exchange.

Greens are blown clean prior to rolling and dragging in topdressing sand.

With growth rates rapidly increasing, we have decided to put our brushes back on the fairway mowers. These brushes are mounted in front of the cutting units and are used throughout the summer to enhance playability and turf density, improve aesthetics, and help control the development of thatch by encouraging vertical leaf orientation and growth. 

Fairway brushes were purchased last year and have been a great addition to our toolbox in enhancing playability and improving overall turf quality.

We have been identifying irrigation coverage deficiencies throughout the golf course and have recently added supplemental irrigation to several areas. Over the past few weeks, we have addressed the blue tees on #10, the green slope on #14, and the green slope on #15. With additional irrigation heads, we are now able to reduce run times while greatly improving overall efficiency.

This new irrigation head was installed behind the blue tee on #10, where a lack in coverage was observed. Turfgrass quality has already started to improve.

The design and planning phases of the irrigation and landscaping installation around the new clubhouse have begun. Materials are being ordered, and once the area has been prepped and shaped, we will be ready to get to work.

Our honey bees have been working hard throughout the property and we will likely have our first honey harvest next month. As a reminder, the honey harvested from our Copperleaf hives will be sold to members, with proceeds being used to help fund our environmental programs.

Our hives located behind GCM will soon produce sweet benefits for our members, in addition to their pollination services to our native plant material.

The golf course root pruning will occur during our closure on Wednesday, May 29th. The pruning of tree roots is completed each year by an outside contractor. Tree roots compete with turfgrass for moisture and nutrients. By pruning below-ground roots, turfgrass quality improves without sacrificing tree health.

Our annual Curfew application is scheduled to take place during our closure from June 4th through June 6th. Curfew is a soil fumigant designed to control nematodes (microscopic roundworms) that cause tremendous damage to turfgrass by feeding on roots. Controlling these insects is critical for year-round plant health.

As always, please feel free to email any questions, comments or concerns to parkerf@copperleafgc.com. See you on the course! 

#5 Green - May 2024

April 2024 Update

The golf course is in excellent shape and primed for our final major event of the season, the Member Classic. 

We have been very busy over the past few weeks with detail work leading up to this event. Mother nature is likely to cooperate and offer some great weather allowing us to provide excellent conditions.

#13 Green - April 17th, 2024

Our putting surfaces are healthy and performing exceptional. Fairways, Tees, Approaches and Roughs are also in great shape. The El Nino weather phase that we have experienced this winter is seemingly over, as temperatures have been warmer with a reduction in rainfall observed. The extreme weather conditions have made things very challenging for us in terms of maintaining healthy turfgrass. This season in particular, we have modified maintenance practices and intensity levels in order to provide continued high-quality conditions without jeopardizing plant health.

We can enjoy the beautiful weather for the time being, however, the Climate Prediction Center has issued a La Nina Watch. This transition will likely take place over the next few months and into the summer, meaning less wind shear in tropical waters. This unfortunately means that an increase in hurricane activity this year is likely. 

With the warmer weather, we have been able to implement a more aggressive program on our putting greens. We have started to verticut and topdress greens on a biweekly basis, removing and diluting organic material, increasing turf density and promoting upright growth.

Fertilizing #8 Green in mid March

Our first closure of the year takes place on Wednesday, May 15th. We have a busy summer scheduled with small projects and routine maintenance practices. This summer, we will be adding bunker sand to numerous bunkers around the golf course to improve playability and aesthetics. We will also be focused on the removal of organic material in our putting surfaces through frequent verticutting and small-tine aerification. As putting greens age, organic matter accumulation must be addressed prior to becoming problematic. Our major aerification is scheduled to take place in July. Please see our 2024 Closure schedule below.

2024 Golf Course Closure Schedule

Our honey bee hives located behind Golf Course Maintenance are doing very well. We are hopeful to have our first honey harvest in the next few months. Once harvested, we will then bottle and sell fresh Copperleaf honey to our members. The proceeds from honey sales will be utilized to fund our continued environmental programs.

Our 6 honey bee hives are located behind the Golf Course Maintenance compound, in close proximity to the butterfly garden.

Hole #7 - April 5th, 2024

As always, feel free to email any questions, comments or concerns to parkerf@copperleafgc.com.