Cruising into Summer

It’s hard to believe that it is already past the middle of June and we are well into our busy tournament season. The grounds crew pushed hard the last few weeks to edge our 49 bunkers, get the entire course string trimmed, get all of the flowers planted around the property, as well as keeping up with all of the mowing and greens maintenance practices. I am very proud of the work they have done and now we will continue to keep the course in tip top shape.

It is a large task to keep all of our bunkers in excellent playing condition. After edging each one, we spend at least one day a week pushing the sand up from the bottom edge to the top edge of each bunker. Irrigation and heavy rainfall usually pulls the sand down to the bottom. We will also add new sand to some of the bunkers that need it the most.

We decided to replace the aged flower pots in front of the clubhouse main entrance and pro shop door a few weeks ago. These pots will be out all season and we hope to place the larger ones inside during the off season to display some winter foliage.

The board, finance committee, and golf and greens committee approved a few new pieces of equipment for the grounds crew this past month. We have purchased a used greens mower that will allow us to verticut the greens on an every other week schedule. Although, there are many other uses for this greens mower. We now have an extra set of cutting units if we get into a situation where our other reels are dull.  If we have a mower broken down, we now have a backup machine. Also, we have the option to double cut greens or send out another mower to get ahead of early morning play.

Our new hydraulic greens mower

The other piece of equipment that we purchased was a new aerator. This is a walk behind machine which will be much more efficient and “gentle” on our greens. This machine replaces our tractor mounted aerator. It typically took 10+ hours to aerate all of our greens and with our new Procore, it should take between 5-7 hours. This machine will allow us to core aerate or needle tine aerate our greens and tee boxes.

Our new Procore aerator

We would not be able to purchase these pieces of equipment without the support of our membership, so thank you to all of you!

We will begin needle tine aerating our greens on Tuesday, June 26. Behind aerating, we will very lightly topdress the greens with an 80/20 Dakota peat sand mixture. We will then roll and water the greens behind that process. Needle tine venting allows oxygen and water down to the roots of the turfgrass plant and helps reduce localized dry spot. Lightly topdressing the greens will also help firm up our greens and produce a smoother, quicker ball roll. We will continue this process every other week throughout the season.

We have started our every other week spray application on greens, collars, approaches, and tees and also included a 1st cut around fairways this week. 

The grounds crew will continue to be busy on a daily basis mowing the entire property, maintaining the bunkers, trimming up trees, and much, much more to keep our magnificent North Dakota golf course looking as sharp as can be!