FYI 2/1/19

2/1/19

Golf Maintenance FYI

·         The cold and wet weather persisted over the past week. Over 4 inches of rain filled the gauge on Sunday followed by extremely cold and windy conditions. Besides filling the lakes, none of this was beneficial to the overall presentation of the golf course.

·         To combat these conditions all tees and fairways/approaches were sprayed with a liquid fertilizer and pigment on Tuesday and the entire golf course was fertilized with a quick release granular product on Wednesday and Thursday. Appreciation to David Forrey and Tina Fry for getting these products out in front of play.

·         The maintenance building project remains on target. Interior walls were painted this week and new lighting installed in the original storage building. Flooring and the drop ceiling are scheduled to start next week. I hope to have a meeting with the Committee on Thursday of next week to provide them with an update and tour.

·         All St. Augustine grass was fertilized on Tuesday throughout the Common Grounds.

·         Ricardo, Emanuel and David Forrey continue with the retaining wall at the bag drop. It is a tedious process; however, the finished result will be impressive. Compliments to these guys for their patience and hard work.

·         All garden beds were edged throughout the golf course and will have a herbicide applied to the Bermudagrass runners encroaching into the pine straw next week.

·         New plants have been ordered for areas on Hole 3, 8, 11 and 14. They will be installed next week along with 2 pallets of St. Augustine sod.

·         Firebush and other plants have been trimmed this week throughout the golf course where they are infringing on homeowners and golfer’s views. Compliments to the employees for navigating around the course amongst the play and still getting the job done.

·         Greens will be lightly verticut next Tuesday ahead of the Ladies Solheim Cup and fertilized on Wednesday with a 19-0-15 slow release fertilizer to maintain their health.

·         We will continue treating the Bermudagrass Mite area next week. Recommendations are to treat the areas every 5 days over a 2-week period. Logistically this will be extremely challenging and so we will concentrate on the most impacted areas to gauge success.

·         The long-term weather forecast looks to be improving with some 80-degree temperatures on the horizon. This will be a great benefit to encourage new growth. With the current cool weather, we have not needed to mow roughs of fairways for 2 weeks now. The grass is simply not growing and is being substantially compacted by golf carts and maintenance vehicles. I assure you I am not mowing the grass short. Our rough mowers are set at 1.5 inches and fairways at 0.5 inches. Our grass is simply not growing due to the cool weather and low soil temperatures.