Christmas in June

Come out and celebrate!
Not really, the cottonwoods have begun their yearly flower and seed drop. If your coming out, and you should, don't forget your Claritin D.
Weekend looks awesome!
Turf

Reason #384

Of why trees should not be planted close to fine cut playing surfaces.
Trees drop not only leaves in the fall, but flowering parts in the spring. The flower parts (dirty mess), need to be blown off the playing surfaces prior to mowing (money). It takes a lot of money to work with a dirty mess.
It the areas are not blown clean prior, the rollers of our equipment get clogged with the dirty mess. It doesn't take much of the dirty mess to impact our mowing quality, remember, we are mowing at .125".
The photo of the roller shows that there is that much of an accumulation, meaning that we are effectively mowing air.
Hope everyone had a good weekend!
I was out hugging trees,
Turf

Memorial Day

We have some beautiful weather to relax and enjoy our great country. We honor and remember those who have died while serving our interest. I hope you have a great holiday!
Turf

Bird poo and stuck heads

We have a few "mystery spots" on greens. Not much of a mystery though, bird poo kills grass. The larger the bird, well, you get the point. Egrets and herons are frequenters of our ponds and their presence has been made known on 9 blue green.
We also experienced our first irrigation "stickers" this morning. Heads will stick due to the dynamics of our hydraulic control system that regulates the irrigation heads.
We have caught up on the rough after a solid week of rain. Our staff has worked very hard to make your Memorial Day weekend a pleasure, we hope you enjoy,
Turf

Sunday and Monday winds

We had the course picked up pretty well prior to Sunday. Looks like some micro-bursts went through. The winds created a big mess. One area that was really interesting is the fairway of one blue shown below. The branches were scattered in a narrow band, almost like they were placed there.
Well, it finally happened. I would often wonder if I would be taken out by the limb on seven red. I would pass under it and hold my breath. I even had a professional arborist look at the branch to ensure it was safe. He claimed it had a solid attachment point to the tree and was extremely strong.
Well, it went down, and I was not under it.
It has left a rather large wound in the tree, this could be the beginning of the end for that old fella.
Turf

Irritation season

It is that time of year!
We are firing the irrigation system up, then turning it off, then digging a hole.
Rinse, lather, and repeat.
Looks like fantastic weather.
CDGA south district team matches tomorrow, we will be closed until 1:30, except for the ladies.
We will have men's league at 5:00pm on the white course.
Please report any leaks to the pro staff.
Thanks,
Turf

Strange spring

This spring has been strange. The weather has not cooperated as many of us hope. The tough winter has brought healthy crops of worm casts, dandelions, and damaged landscape plants. We figure we are two to three weeks behind of where we typically are this time of year. We are now working hard to catch up. This crazy weather has even confused the wildlife. Notice anything strange in the photo? I have never seen this, so I had to take a photo.
They think they are eagles,
Turf

Caddie week Friday

Here is our Friday installment of caddie week. Next week we are back to turf, and decent weather.....hurray!!!
Enjoy,
Turf

Caddie vs Forecaddie

As mentioned in the last tip, caddies are those assigned to carry golf bags. Forecaddies, on the other hand, are more than caddies. They are employed by multiple golfers and are tending to each golfer with basic caddie duties. What are those duties? Cleaning clubs, cleaning golf balls, raking bunkers, replacing and filling divots, tending the flagstick and other greens duties, and, most importantly, watching the ball and finding it are just a few of the duties of the Briar Ridge forecaddie. Whether you employ a caddie or a forecaddie, the rates are the same.

Honor - $24
A caddie - $20
B caddie - $15
(18 holes rates, 9 hole rates are halved)
Tipping is at your discretion, but it is customary to match the above rate for an acceptable performance.






Mark Swinford, PGA
Briar Ridge Country Club