Fall is in the air, and stuff is falling from the trees. As if growing grass in heavily tree populated areas isn't hard enough, we have acorns. So what is the big deal? Cart traffic over acorns pushes them into the ground, so where we once had fine fairway grass, we now have a bumpy, woody replacement. We will not get turf back until a fuzzy rodent type creature volunteers it's time to remove them, or nature degrades them. Either way, I am not a big fan of the result.
But....you can help, please avoid driving the trolleys (golf cart) in areas where there are black walnuts, acorns, cottonwood twigs, or the like scattered on the turf. Your cooperation with these and other matters, like ball marks and divot repair, help keep Briar Ridge a quality facility.
Go Blue,
Turf
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
We are in a bit of a holding pattern right now. We will aerify the red and white greens monday and tuesday if the rain holds off. The blue greens are healing slower than we haf hoped, but are coming along nice nonetheless (yes, I know, but it's my blog and I can write it how I would say it). We are walk mowing the blue greens for the first time today and they should return to a consistent speed as the others.
Marco did a great job on the new bench area on 1 blue tee. We hope to add more of these around the golf course this fall and next spring. We hope you enjoy them if you encounter a delay, or if you simply want to rest on a not-so-busy type of golf day.
The fairways are firm right now as the forecast is calling for several chances of rain, come on out and bust some long balls!
Go Blue!
Turf
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
We have begun aerification on the blue nine greens today. We will continue next week on the white and red. Getting these greens done early means two things for us; 1. That the recovery time is quicker, and 2. The grass that is filling in is bentgrass and not poa annua. We take a great deal of care to fill all the holes as far up as we can, and we think we provide a pretty good product considering the disruption that takes place. If you have never seen the process, I think you would be amazed, it is a great team effort for sure. This cultural practice (aerification) is very important to the health and quality of our greens, anyone who enjoys quality conditions, should appreciate the efforts put forth, because it is not a picnic on this end.
Over the hump,
Turf
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
Look who I found! The woolly bear is a cool project for kids, it is still early, but I found him yesterday.
Course dried out nicely.
We are off the path!
First day with gloves,
Turf
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
North winds, cool temps, and leaves on the ground; all make it feel like fall here at BRCC. We will be carts on path, hopefully the winds will help us dry up before too long. The wet spring meant we were on the path many times this year. We have a ton of areas adjacent to cart paths that are bare mud, or knotweed. The photo is of an area where a pothole has developed from continued traffic. Please pay attention to keep all four tires on the path around greens and tees. Also, when you must navigate around other carts, pick high areas and go around on the non-fairway side, the fairway side receives all the traffic it can handle on non-path days. These small details can help us keep our course in great shape and really make an impact on the overall perception of well we are maintained.
As always, I appreciate your help on the course, I hope you have a great Holiday weekend planned.
Go Blue,
Turf
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
Oh my, rain?? It has been quite a stretch of dry weather. Soon we will be aerifying greens, tees, fairways, and traffic areas. We have alreading begun re-seeding areas in the rough where the ryegrass quit on us. This is prime time to seed, soil temps are warm and weed pressure is low.
I took the above photo yesterday in a light rain. You may recall me talking about pond buffers and water quality. I often emphasize how important our natural resources are. I am particularly protective of Lake Michigan (could be because I drink out of it). The photo demostrates a sediment load, sediments cover up crucial habitat, may increase water temperature (which can influence dissolved oxygen content, pH, available phosphorous, all of which may lead to increased algal bloom). The loading being done in the photo is upstream from us, and serves to remind us of why it is important to manage our property with the environment, and our drinking water, in mind.
Cheers,
Turf
P.S. Check out the pond color after.
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
