Yellow Dots on Greens

     You might have notice the yellow dots going around the outside of the putting green surface.  We are trying to realign our collars and greens.  Over the year our collars and greens have increased or decreased in size.  Most of the areas the greens have gotten smaller so we are pushing the green out.  Our Collars are suppose to be 24 inches wide.  They are anywhere from 24 inches to 36 inches wide.
We took our Walking Green mower and mowed out the green to the yellow dot.  We might have increased green size from a few inches to a foot or more.  Below is the collar on # 17 green.

Black arrow is outside edge of collar.  Red arrow is new edge of green.  White arrow was the old green edge.  We moved green out about 8 inches.

Tree care

     We lost one of the locust trees down by the ditch on # 9.  The tree closest to 18 did not green up this year.   We cut it down and cleaned it up today.  We also lost  a Elm tree on # 10 rough next to cart path.  We will try to get it clean up this week.  We have the 3 trees that blew over from the recent storms we have clean up.  One on # 5,  one on # 10 and the big oak on # 12.  The tree on # 12 will take some time to get clean up.  We also cleaned up a Hickory tree on # 2 that blew over last Friday.  This tree work is piling up.  Every time it rains we get nervous here at Maintenance. 

Locust tree between 9 and 18

Hickory tree right rough # 2

New Bunkers

      Our bunkers have finally been tested.  The storm that came through last Friday into Saturday gave us 3 inches of rain.  This was a lot of water that came in a short time.  We did have some washing on a few of our bunkers. What little washing we did have will only take about an extra 15 minutes to fix.  We will have bunkers fixed in less than 2.5 hours.  That was unheard of before the bunker project.  The old bunkers would of been messed up for at least one week.  After 3 inches of rain you can still play out of the bunkers in most areas.  Here are some pictures of the bunkers that washed.

 #1 washed on back side.  This was the worst washout.

 

 #2 Fairway bunker.

 

 # 10 right bunker

 

# 18 minimal washing.  Remember this was one of the worst bunkers to wash.

 



Driving Range

     We have some new equipment at the Driving Range this season.  No more pyramids.  We now have replica Peach Boxes to hold our balls.  Each box will hold 300 golf balls.  That is twice as much as the pyramids.  I believe you will like them.  We will be making more changes to the equipment soon. 

 New recycled lumber peach boxes.

They hold over 300 balls.

Driving Range Tee

    The grass tee at the Driving Range will be open today.  Please remember to follow our Driving Range Etiquette.  Use the linear method to hit your balls.  Fill your linear divot line with sand when finished.  The turf can heal a lot faster if you use the Linear method.  Grass tee will be closed on all Mondays.  Please use the Mat on Mondays. 

Please use Linear Method

 



We will have a sign made for the Tee.

 



This is not what we want.  This will take 1 month or longer to heal.

 



This is not what we want.

 



This is correct.  This will recover in about 2 weeks or less.

 

# 3 Red/Gold tee

     We have taken out the steps that went up to # 3 Red and Gold tee box.  The old tie steps rotted away.  We removed the steps and the landscaping.  Kaley moved most of the plants and used them at the Clubhouse.  We had 4 plants that were too big to move.  I believe the slope walking up to the tee in the rear is gentle enough we do not need anything.  If we have a problem with people slipping we can lay stepping stones in the ground to give golfers a path to walk up.  Until the sod heals we ask that you enter the tee from the rear.  The slope is not as steep and you are a lot less prone to fall or slip.

 Removing plants

 laying sod

Finished

Course

     The rain has finally ended.  We ended up with a total of 9.7'' of rain.  6.2'' from Last Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  3.5'' Wednesday and Thursday.  Golf Course will open today.  The Driving Range will remain closed today and open tomorrow.  The Golf Course is extremely wet.  Please be careful out there.  Please make sure you keep your carts on the paths at all times.  

Big White Oak

     We lost a big White Oak on # 12 rough yesterday.  After the 6 plus inches of rain the ole girl could not stay upright any longer.  This big White Oak was well over 100 years old.This will take some time to clean up.  We have the area roped off.  Please do not enter the ropes for any reason.  The tree has not fallen completely on the ground yet.  We do not want anyone seriously injured trying to retrieve a golf ball.  When it dries out we will begin to cut the tree up.

Tree was near Fence by second retention pond

It fell over fence in corner of Reigels corn field.

Bunkers

     Our new Bunkers had their first real test this past weekend.  We had a total of 6.2 inches of rain.  It took 4 people 2 hours to fix and rake the bunkers.  Holy cow what a huge difference.  Last year it would have taken 5 days for the bunkers to drain and after 5 days some of them would still have water in them.  Then it would have taken  6 to 7 people 8-10 hours to fix the bunkers. After 6 inches of rain you could have played out of every bunker before we raked them.  Here are a few pictures.

 This was the worst washout.  Took 5 minutes to fix.

 

 Little washing of #13 bunker.

 

 Green side bunker # 16 raked.

 

Remember this,  # 2 bunker last year.