It’s hard to believe that it is already the middle of the
golf season. The weather, for the most part, has been cooperative over these
past few months with only a few “dry spells” and the grounds crew has been
working very hard at getting the golf course dialed in for many more days of
golf this year.
We were fortunate to have about 5” of rain in the month of
May and beginning of June as we came into the season very dry. We started to
get very dry again the later part of June and had to start the river pump back
up to fill the pond. That river pump has been a huge benefit for us, except
when a 500lb waterlogged tree was jammed up against the pipe last week. That
made it my first swim in the Red River.
Other than daily course set up and keeping up with the fast
growing grass, the grounds crew has been very busy with sod work, string
trimming, tree and pine tree trimming and various other course projects. We
have also been busy with and will continue to add sand to a number of our
bunkers that are low so that they have a consistent amount throughout. After
each rainstorm, we have to spend extra time on bunkers moving sand back up the
face where it has washed down. The crew has kept the bunkers in immaculate shape
this season.
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| Bunkers have all been edged and are raked everyday of the week. |
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| We have spent a lot of time trimming up pine trees this season. It makes mowing and trimming underneath them much easier, speeds up golf play and overall looks great! |
Greens aeration was completed on June 30th and has already
greatly improved the health of the turf and playing conditions. This process
removes compaction and the thatch layer (living and dead organic matter) that
builds up in the layer under the turfgrass plant. It promotes deeper root
growth and allows water and oxygen to get down to the roots of the plant. This
aeration has helped with ball roll and to prevent localized dry spots from
appearing on greens.
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| Justin spent about 10 hours on the tractor during aeration. Half of the crew worked a 14 hour day and didn't even complain once! |
To sum up this post, I want to thank my grounds crew. Without
this great group of college-aged employees, the golf course would not look as
great as it does, and I can’t thank them enough for their hard work and
dedication. Many people do not understand how much work goes into keeping a
golf course look as great as ours does. We took advantage of last Thursday
afternoon without a tournament at the course and enjoyed a much deserved
employee scramble.
We have many things planned for the rest of the season and
we hope everyone can come out to enjoy our beautiful North Dakota golf course!
Here is a great article from the USGA that I found on green
speed that I would like to share.
