From the Course - February 2012
From The Course - February 2012
For those of you that have been brave enough to get out this last month, whether it be to swing the club, exercise and stretch your legs, or just get out of the house, you’ll know the rain, cold, and wind have been determining factors for many things at the golf course.
You would have also noticed some of the projects we are working on.
· We have started removing blackberries. They’ve been removed behind the forward tee on 8 so you can now see the entire green from the main teeing ground. Removal of blackberries will occur along some of the cart paths, and along most high traffic areas or those areas in play.
· We are in the middle of an irrigation project consisting of connecting the irrigation system up to a central computer. This will make the system run much more effectively and efficiently. This efficiency will shorten the nightly watering cycle allowing late twi-lighters and dawn patrollers to avoid sprinklers in operation. We will still need to handwater greens and tees, and there will be issues we will need to deal with throughout the summer, (the system is 16 years old), but we hope to run it a little bit dryer this year. Sprinklers still have problems getting clogged or wear out and cause issues but at least we will be able to have a little better control of the watering process. It’s nice to have the ball roll just a little farther, (and for me not hit it fat!) during the summer months. These irrigation system improvements will help us move toward this goal.
As mentioned, the system was designed to be run from a computer in hopes of freeing up man hours. Hopefully it will also allow us to complete a few other projects throughout the course from this labor and man hour savings control.
· This spring we will not be fertilizing the roughs, they always seem to grow fast enough without the extra fertilizer, so we’ll be focusing on the short grass. This will help to keep the rough under control, not so tall, and hopefully not so thick, weather permitting!
· You might have noticed the greens and tees seem to have been a little bit dark green and almost black on a few instances. This is due to the iron we have applied in an attempt to remove and reduce some of the moss on the surfaces. We will also be applying iron to some of the tees as well for the same reason. Hence they will be dark too. This iron will not hurt the grass but it will reduce the moss growth. Once this happens the grass has a chance to re-establish and take over again. We will be making these iron applications throughout the season and more so in the spring.
· Moles are a huge problem, know that we are not ignoring them however they tend to come in from the wooded areas quickly and assume “old mole homes”! We have traps out and are trying a few other methods as well.
We have a few more big projects planned but you’ll just have to come out and see for yourself when you play the course!
PS . I just wanted to say that every player I have met at Green Mountain Golf Course, or had brief conversations with have been extremely nice and welcoming. Thanks!
See you on the course
Forrest
For those of you that have been brave enough to get out this last month, whether it be to swing the club, exercise and stretch your legs, or just get out of the house, you’ll know the rain, cold, and wind have been determining factors for many things at the golf course.
You would have also noticed some of the projects we are working on.
· We have started removing blackberries. They’ve been removed behind the forward tee on 8 so you can now see the entire green from the main teeing ground. Removal of blackberries will occur along some of the cart paths, and along most high traffic areas or those areas in play.
· We are in the middle of an irrigation project consisting of connecting the irrigation system up to a central computer. This will make the system run much more effectively and efficiently. This efficiency will shorten the nightly watering cycle allowing late twi-lighters and dawn patrollers to avoid sprinklers in operation. We will still need to handwater greens and tees, and there will be issues we will need to deal with throughout the summer, (the system is 16 years old), but we hope to run it a little bit dryer this year. Sprinklers still have problems getting clogged or wear out and cause issues but at least we will be able to have a little better control of the watering process. It’s nice to have the ball roll just a little farther, (and for me not hit it fat!) during the summer months. These irrigation system improvements will help us move toward this goal.
As mentioned, the system was designed to be run from a computer in hopes of freeing up man hours. Hopefully it will also allow us to complete a few other projects throughout the course from this labor and man hour savings control.
· This spring we will not be fertilizing the roughs, they always seem to grow fast enough without the extra fertilizer, so we’ll be focusing on the short grass. This will help to keep the rough under control, not so tall, and hopefully not so thick, weather permitting!
· You might have noticed the greens and tees seem to have been a little bit dark green and almost black on a few instances. This is due to the iron we have applied in an attempt to remove and reduce some of the moss on the surfaces. We will also be applying iron to some of the tees as well for the same reason. Hence they will be dark too. This iron will not hurt the grass but it will reduce the moss growth. Once this happens the grass has a chance to re-establish and take over again. We will be making these iron applications throughout the season and more so in the spring.
· Moles are a huge problem, know that we are not ignoring them however they tend to come in from the wooded areas quickly and assume “old mole homes”! We have traps out and are trying a few other methods as well.
We have a few more big projects planned but you’ll just have to come out and see for yourself when you play the course!
PS . I just wanted to say that every player I have met at Green Mountain Golf Course, or had brief conversations with have been extremely nice and welcoming. Thanks!
See you on the course
Forrest
