As you can see from the above photo the rough to right of #4 White Fairway has been taken over with common bermudagrass and undesirable weeds. These weeds have become too difficult to control with traditional chemical methods and a complete overhaul was necessary. This week's project was to renovate the rough on #4. The ground current cover really compromised not only the aesthetics but the playability of the hole. It should be playable by Thanksgiving. I know those reading this blog don't hit the ball in the rough, but tell your friends it's going to be great!
The sod is roped off and should be played as "ground under repair" , please keep off the grass until it's ready.
The sod was stripped and completely removed
Creating a clean edge to keep our transition with the fairway
The area will be roped off to keep traffic of the wet sod while it tacks down
Well the rain has stopped after a total 5.35" fell on the golf course last week. This week, we were able to work on the collar enhancement project that was delayed. This consists of sod repair and beginning a step down cut. The step down area will eventually be maintained at green height thus reducing the collars to 40". This will be gradual and take a few weeks because we don't want to scalp the turf.
So why are we doing this?
The goal is to have consistent collars all year. Collars are susceptible to mechanical and environmental damage because of their growth habit. They create a transition between rough and the green surface. The increased height of cut exposes more leaf tissue to damage from traffic and equipment. This is evident by the fact that the bentgrass cut at greens height handles these pressures much better. My plan is to reduce the problem area and lower the height of cut on the new collar area. We will then maintain the collars with the same light weight walking mowers we use on greens.
3.4" of rain so far this week has forced us to postpone our sod work on the collars until
next Tuesday. We were able to began shaping the collar edges with new mowing
contours to prep for the enhancement. This weekend we will work on bunker repair/water
removal and leaf clean up.
NEW ADDITION TO THE COURSE
We recently added this sign to direct cart parking on #1 Blue near the green. This area is a "pinch" point on the course. The path was widened during the CRI project to help with traffic. The next step is to park the golf carts in a single row on the left starting at the sign. This will allow through traffic from both sides. - Thank you for your cooperation.
