First and Foremost, thanks to all those that ventured out to the Golf Update event last night at the club. Brooke and I enjoyed meeting everyone and I'm extremely grateful for the turnout along with the excitement amongst the membership.
Monday:
I had our course with from Mr. Keith Happ and the USGA on Monday morning. It was a great walk throughout the property as we discussed my visions and plans for the upcoming season. I'm confident in our discussions that we are headed in the right direction. He was really impressed in the successful aerification process and the amount of sand we were able to apply. As you can tell from the picture below, greens are healing nicely with the recent spike in temperatures and as soil temperatures continue to rise. Greens will continue to improve with the fertility application applied on Monday.
With the expected rain towards the end of the week, the staff was concentrating on seeding various areas of the golf course. A crew was placed on the driving range to renovate the second tier from the bottom tee to improve the playing surface from the project last fall. First, we aerified the tee, pulling cores to create holes for a seedbed. The cores were drug with a steel drag mat to produce a topsoil for leveling of the tee surface. Once complete, the entire tee was seeded with a rye grass blend followed by a light topdress. The tee, with a little love from mother nature, should be open for play by mid June.
Emphasis from the remaining members of the crew were place on grading and seeding the various stump hole voids from all the tree removal this past fall. This process included major grading and re-seeding for the majority of # 6. The cores from aerification were used to level the stump holes throughout the property followed by seed.
Tuesday:
We continued to work on the stump holes with seeding. Threw a cut on fairways and rolled greens. Max and I began the process of expanding and burning in lines with walk mowers on approaches. I'm excited at this addition to the layout of Longue Vue as it will greatly improve the aesthetic value of the property. Below you'll see a before and after of #15.
Before
After
The process included us using string line to mark the two directions that will be used when mowing approaches. The expanded areas will open a wide range of shot options for the members and guest as they decide to putt, chip or use a rescue club.
As we went hole to hole, we also utilized the time to start marking the new uniformity of collars and intermediates of greens. The goal is to create a uniform 36 inch collar and green for each hole of the property. This project will begin next week.
Wednesday:
We applied our seedhead suppression spray to greens, outside of the pre-emergent spray in mid-may, this is our most important spray of the year. Poa Annua that composes our greens produces seedheads during this time of the year and it is important to regulate that reproduction of the plant to provide a foundation for the upcoming season. To simplify it, regulation of seedheads will help us manage growth throughout the season and provide a consistent putting surface.
Construction began on the new ladies tee on #6 as well, the new tee was shifted to the right side of the tee complex to provide a different angle of attack as a result of the major changes that have occurred over the couple of months with tree removal. Below is a picture of the new layout during the initial phases of construction.
Thursday:
.8 inches of rain allowed me to evaluate the property for drainage. Most of the morning was spent with repairing bunkers from the washout of the rain. Once the course begun to dry out enough in the afternoon we rolled greens and I cut intermediate cuts for the first time.
Hopefully this brings everyone up to speed for the past week. Baring to much rain tonight, the plan is to put the first cut on greens tomorrow, roll and prep the course for Master's weekend.
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