May 2019

Much has been happening since we pulled greens covers less than two weeks ago. The crew has been hard at it performing a variety of chores including drainage line sodding, nursery renovating, open field burning, snow fence removal, various landscape projects, irrigation system charging, rough dragging, fairway aerifying, bunker work, placing golf course accessories, edging sprinklers, power washing clubhouse area, and wetting agent/fertilizer applications on putting greens. Note that there was no mention of mowing as there is more to tending a golf course than just mowing stuff-but we have been doing that as well as the picture below of the driving range illustrates:
 

        Driving Range                                                       Driving Range
         Friday April 26, 2019                                            Monday April 29, 2019

 
Rare to see such a hue of green this early in the season which is a nice break from recent history. Of course, the good fortune that we had with weather for the first week we had the crew back turned to something else altogether with snow hitting the area this past Monday. We were extremely lucky in that we did not get the snow accumulation that other places had. We only lost one productive day of work due to the storm for which we are very thankful.
 

Bunker Maintenance 10 Green
May 2, 2019

Mention was made previously of bunker work and the picture above is a live shot of a solid group in action adding sand and getting bunkers back into playable shape for the coming season. No shovel leaners are evident in this photo. We have gone through over a semi-load of the very expensive white bunker sand for this action and will likely go through another load over the season. Last year’s wet golf season combined with our labor hours being consumed in turf recovery/renovation made trying to keep bunkers in decent shape a real difficult thing to do. This year they should not be the “hazard” that they were last year though a small part of me says, “It’s a hazard. Stay out or take your chances.”

Hotel Entrance Landscape Project
May 2, 2019

 
We had been asked by the resort/hotel to assist with improving the visuals of the hotel front entrance. We were happy to comply and were able to remove the old, haunted looking plants that were there and add a retaining wall to show definition and class. We look forward to adding flowers and ornamentals to this area when we begin planting at the end of the month. Experience has shown that planting annuals up here before June 1st usually leads to death by frost. 
 
On a final note, this year has begun as one of the most enjoyable in recent memory. The course over-wintered well, we were able to power up the irrigation system without a single leak for the first time in recent memory, and most importantly, the wonderful group that we have built here over the past 17 years continues to evolve into an even more veteran golf course maintenance crew. While there will always be changes, we have been fortunate to be able to retain solid contributors while adding excellent replacements. We really have created what is almost a family environment with people taking a genuine pride in what it is that they are doing to help make us be the best golf course that we can be. This really is a fun thing to be a part of. We hope that you, in turn, enjoy the product that we work so hard to present.
 

See you on the golf course, 

Vincent Dodge

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