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.

October 2023 Update

 It has been a very productive month for Copperleaf GCM as we gear up things for our busy season and prepare to take on the many rounds of golf that come with it.

The turfgrass on the golf course is in excellent health. The cooler temperatures that we have recently experienced have slightly reduced the growth rate on both our turfgrass and landscape material, which is a nice change. Keeping up with all of the mowing and trimming on our property is extremely time consuming, and a nice break in the intensity allows us to focus elsewhere and complete small projects and detail work to enhance aesthetics around the property.

Looking back at a sunrise from #4 green. The muhly grass is in full bloom and the course is currently in excellent playing condition.

We recently completed our biannual soil testing of the putting greens, which gives us a clear picture of soil pH, salinity, and nutrient levels. This is similar to getting bloodwork completed on the human body. Any deficiencies or issues are identified and subsequently remediated. In addition to soil testing, root depth is monitored on a monthly basis. During our October inspection, we observed deep, healthy roots, validating the success of our cultural practices and overall agronomic program.

Healthy, white roots are observed in this soil sample. When temperatures and daylight decrease, a reduction in root depth soon follows. It is critical to enter the cool season with healthy roots and a thriving plant. 

Root depth is routinely monitored and logged as a data parameter used to evaluate turfgrass health.

During the fall and winter months, the intensity of our cultural practices are greatly reduced and primarily consist of light surface grooming and biweekly topdressing applications. These methods will provide us with optimum green speeds and a healthy playing surface.

Topdressing #18 green in early October.

One of our summer projects included the reshaping of the greenside bunker on hole #7. Over the years, there has been an accumulation of sand on the grass face at the top of the bunker. This is a common issue with greenside bunkers, specifically those located in front of greens, mostly due to excessive sand splashing from bunker shots. As a result, the bunker becomes much more difficult to play out of. Additionally, approach shots that barely clear the top of the bunker will take an aggressive bounce, oftentimes rolling over the green. The reshaping process consisted of removing the turf around the bunker, softening the slope, and replacing the turf. Fresh bunker sand was then added to finish the project. The end result is a bunker that is much more aesthetically pleasing with an improvement in playability.

The process consisted of removing the existing turfgrass, pulling the sand back, lowering the soil around the bunker and placing the sod back.

A view of the greenside bunker on hole #7 after the work was completed. Notice the top edge was lowered and softened and more of the green is now visible. 

We recently added new material to all of our tennis and bocce courts. This is completed to replace any clay lost through the year from heavy play, winds and rains. Each fall, the courts receive a fresh dressing of new material which ultimately provides us with an optimum playing surface through our busy season.

Over 3,000 lbs of Hydroblend surfacing material was added to our tennis and bocce courts in early October.  

Lastly, I want to thank our members for their continued adherence to the lead group pace of play policy. As a reminder, lead groups are permitted to play no faster than 1 hour and 45 minutes for 9 holes, and 3 hours and 30 minutes for 18 holes. This policy provides the Golf Course Maintenance staff with sufficient time to set the golf course up each morning prior to play. Our team begins working each morning at 5:30 am in order to fully prepare the golf course for play each day. When the first groups of the day play faster than what is deemed to be appropriate, our course setup operation is rushed and the golf course is not properly prepared for play. For example, bunkers may not be raked properly, debris and leaves may not be blown off greens, etc. Additionally, if the first groups of the day happen to pass our fairway, tee, or approach mowers and blowers, our team then becomes sandwiched in between play, extending the time it takes to complete their assignment by an hour or more. While closely monitoring speed and not playing too fast may seem counterintuitive, our ability to properly set up the golf course each morning creates an opportunity for all golfers of the day to fully enjoy their experience.

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