FYI 11/1/19

11/1/19

Golf Maintenance FYI

·         David Dore-Smith is the manager on duty this weekend and what a busy weekend it is going to be! Saturday is the first of the Men’s monthly 8:15 AM shotgun starts. Sunday there is a 1 PM shotgun for a Couples event followed by another 8:15 AM shotgun on Monday morning for the Ladies Interclub competition. Both Wednesday and Thursday are 8:15 AM shotgun starts totaling 5 Shotguns in 6 days. There is no doubt the golfing season has begun.

·         Charz golf event last Saturday was a great success! The golf course received many compliments from the participants, and I was fortunate to have enjoyed the course and the great food at the Clubhouse as a guest of Tom Leonard. Thanks to our staff for putting their best foot forward…again.

·         The weather continues to amaze me. Temperatures still within the mid-90’s has broken records for this time of year. Thankfully we have received some rain during the night hours and the golf course turf continues to respond well to the blue skies and warm weather. Our putting greens are healthy and are receiving many compliments for their condition, speed and consistency. All greens were top-dressed with dry sand on Wednesday to help keep them in top condition.

·         Golf maintenance staff remained busy this week continuing to detail the course. Grasses and shrubs are being trimmed in high visibility areas and weeds being removed from the natural beds in preparation for our pine straw application scheduled for December. All Common Areas will have pine straw applied beginning November 11.

·         All garden beds around the clubhouse, tennis courts and front entrance had fresh mulch applied during the week. Compliments to our staff for navigating throughout the busy parking lot to complete the job in a timely fashion. The finished appearance is a great visual improvement.

·         On Tuesday I was fortunate to play golf with Traci Bichalski and AJ Pasqual at Estero Country Club as part of a Superintendent event. It was great to see another local course and to share ideas with Traci and AJ that we can bring back to Copperleaf but to also feel proud of the conditions that we provide at Copperleaf.

·         I have observed some disease pressure on several Tees on the golf course this week. A sample has been sent to a lab to confirm the pathogen and the areas were spot treated with an appropriate fungicide to stop the spread and to aide in a quick recovery. I am confident that the disease will quickly be under control. As mentioned, with the high temperatures and humidity, the ingredients for disease pressure remain very high as indicated in my weekly weather alerts.

·         My presentation to the FGCU PGM students was a great success. Almost 40 aspiring golf professionals attended the presentation held at the golf maintenance facility. I was able to educate them on having a positive relationship with the golf maintenance staff, open communication within the Club, equipment used to provide the conditions members expect and the challenges faced daily. They were grateful for the experience.

·         Next week we will continue working on the landscaping around the bathrooms and improving the landscaping to the right of Hole 11 greens complex and lake bank as well as completing a sod project along the lake bank at the end of Carraway Lakes Drive.