Latest updates for Sand Creek Country Club Grounds and Greens
The greens have come out of winter better than expected so far. We had a brutally cold and snowy winter that made for ice cover on our greens that lasted for many weeks. This can be devastating for mostly poa annua greens which we have. The only concerning spots are on creek 3 and marsh 2. We will be nudging these areas along with some fertilizer once the weather warms---hoping very soon. We can't wait to see everybody back out on the course.
This winter continues to be an interesting one. We took the snowblower out to the putting green and cleared off a small part of the lower sections to determine amount of ice covering our greens. We did not see any solid ice--(just the slushy version). This is great news for the golf course. Greens under solid ice can lead to death of turf if it lasts 45-60 days continuous.
The greens look very healthy at this point and we will let Mother Nature handle the rest of the winter.
Can't wait for spring and warmer temperatures. It's going to be another great season for golf.
We can't be the only ones anticipating a early spring! This winter has proved to be one of the coldest and snowiest in history. Much of our time has been spent plowing and salting.
As for the golf course:
We have had ice on the greens for sometime which can be harmful to poa annua grass. We are monitoring the health and will begin to do whatever we can to come out of winter with a healthy golf course.
Due to the weather the course is now closed for the winter. The Lake 9 has temporary cups in the approaches and is open for winter play.
The green are put to "bed" in the winter. It is a multi-step process we use that involves the following:
Mow the greens one last time
Blow off any debris
Spray preventive snow mold product
Topdress with sand to cover grass
The Topdressing helps protect the crowns of the plant from freezing injury or drying out during the harsh winter months
We had a rough stretch of mid 90's highs and mid 70's lows 2 weeks ago. This past week had 70's highs and a few 50's lows. Our bent/poa mix greens perform much better in the lower temp range. When the temp and humidity are high this allows the bent and poa to grow at different rates and creates a puffy surface. Expect to get a much smoother ball roll as this weather pattern continues.
After the 4" of rain we got in the last 10 days the rough is happy again. We are getting after it with everything we have. Four rough mowers with operators going at 12 hours per day which is just keeping up with growth. Accuracy trumps distance until we are able to get this under control!
Friday morning we saw the rain approaching from the northwest. We decided this was a good time to start applying our first wetting agent application to the fairways. Two different products are applied that do two different things. One product is designed to retain water in the root zone for up to 30 days. The other is designed to help the water penetrate to the root zone resulting in healthier turf and firmer conditions. Together these allow us to use the irrigation system less and improve playability.
Here we are watering in the application for a few minutes before the rain arrives.
