Summer has officially begun at Copperleaf! We have fortunately been receiving steady rains to help fill up our lakes and provide the Golf Course with some much needed moisture.
The turfgrass on the Golf Course is in excellent health as we begin to put plans in place for our major cultural practices scheduled to occur during the three-week July closure.
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| The recent summer rains have balanced out our aesthetics and filled up our lakes. |
Our annual Curfew soil fumigant application was successfully completed during our June, three-day closure. Curfew is a nematicide applied to eradicate parasitic nematodes in turf. Nematodes are microscopic roundworms that feed on plant tissues. Each year, this product is applied to control nematode populations to ensure that our turfgrass is healthy and performs to our high standards. The slits from the machines have left temporary scars, as expected, and should be healed in the next week or two. We recently applied a bulk fertilizer application to the entire golf course which will expedite the recovery process.
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| The Curfew application is completed by injecting the product 5-7" into the soil. |
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| Temporary linear scars can be observed for 2-3 weeks following the application. |
With the warmer temperatures and active turfgrass growth, we have been routinely vertical mowing (verticutting) our putting surfaces. Verticutting is accomplished by utilizing a mower with thin blades that cut vertically into the green. This practice is completed to remove excessive leaf growth, improve surface smoothness and promote upright turfgrass growth.
Our Summer Annual flowers were installed earlier this month. Red and Green Coleus have been planted and are growing in nicely. The red and green color contrast will offer enhanced aesthetics around our key areas of the entrance and clubhouse over the next several months.
We have recently started the process of preparing to install turfgrass to a large area in between holes #16 and #17. The Greens and Grounds Committee has supported the idea to eliminate a large section of pinestraw and native grasses. In the past, this bed was nearly 400 yards long consisting of native grasses, palm trees, olive trees, and other native plants. Unfortunately, this extremely large area was very popular for golf balls, in addition to consuming a great amount of our time and resources in both trimming and weed control. During our July closure, we will harvest sprigs from our fairways during the verticutting process, and then plant this area with Celebration bermudagrass. We are confident that the pinestraw bed reduction will be aesthetically pleasing and much easier to play from, with a secondary benefit of helping pace of play.
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| During the aerification process, we will use sprigs generated from our fairways to plant this area with Celebration Bermudagrass, matching our existing turfgrass. |
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| Ornamental grasses, native plants, and pinestraw were removed in a large section of the bed located between holes #16 and #17. |
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| A view of the project from #17. The existing palms and trees will continue to offer separation between these two holes, but playability and aesthetics will both be enhanced. |
As always, feel free to email any questions, comments or concerns to parkerf@copperleafgc.com.
