Extreme cold

     We have had it all this winter.  Lots of snow, rain and bitter cold.  As I am writing this blog post it is -3 degrees.  The high today will be around 8 degrees.  The good news it will be near 60 degrees this weekend.  The bad news is the green might not be thawed down to 2 inches.  I am optimistic if the course is not open Saturday it should be open by Sunday.  Playing on thawing greens can cause root shear.  Root shear is the sharing off of the Bentgrass root system at the freeze line.  I feel if root shearing occurs at 2 inches plus we can overcome the damage before summer.  If we allow play on the greens with less than 2 inches of thawing it is very difficult to grow the roots back to proper depth for summer.  With roots at very dangerous short length we could lose some turf  this winter from Winter Desiccation.  It is very important we protect our greens from any damage. Not all of our greens thaw equally.  The greens that get the most sunlight will be the first ones to thaw.  # 7 and 18 greens will be the last ones to thaw because they are push up greens. Below is diagram on the sudden thaw dynamics.  Please call Pro Shop before you come out.  We will be monitoring the greens and when all greens are thawed down to the 2 inch level the course will be open.

Tree Removal

     We have been busy removing trees the last few weeks.  We have 11 trees that died last year. We have 7 Ash trees that were removed because they had 1/3 of canopy dead.  The Emerald Ash Bore (EAB) is here in Missouri and they will attack and kill all Ash trees.  We have a lot of Ash trees on our golf course.  The good news is we will not lose all of our Ash trees.  They have some very good insecticides out that will control the EAB.  We will be treating most of our Ash trees.  The treatment is good for 2 years.  After 2 years we have to retreat.  Any tree that is already damaged or becomes damaged will be cut down. We have some really nice Ash Trees we can't afford to lose.  Dave and I will be evaluating all of our Ash trees and determine which tree need to be treated.  Below is a few pictures of some of our work.  We have cut down Oak tree in front entrance, Oak tree right 12 rough, Locust tree bottom of hill between 9 and 18, Oak tree next to 18 white tee, and the 7 Ash trees #10.  We still have 8 trees to remove when we can get back on the golf course.

 Ash tree removal #10 rough

 We took 7 Ash trees from #10 rough

 Oak tree from 12 rough

Oak tree from 18 white tee.

The Oak on 18 was little tricky to clean up.  Big limbs kept it in the air on a side slope.