Greenbriar Oceanaire Community Association

STEVE'S BLOG IS BELOW

2020 Spring Aeration Schedule

Greens- 4/20

Fairways- 4/6-4/7

Tees- Closed Monday(s) March or April

Deep-Tining:

Greens: ------

Fairways: TBD

**Scheduled dates are weather permitting**

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Wednesday, March 25th, 2020

Opening day was just 8 days ago yet it feels like the past week has been an eternity.  The news of Governor Murphy restricting all golf courses in the state of New Jersey to close was certainly defeating, yet understandable at this point in time as we continue to fight COVID-19.

Golf Maintenance:

Despite there being no play on the golf course, maintenance practices must go on.  We will continue to implement our agronomic practices however so deemed necessary.  There is a future beyond this storm that we are currently dealing with and best positioning ourselves for that future is priority number 2 after maintaining healthy living.

The show will go on, but some scheduling may change in regards to aerification.  We are going to attempt to complete most, if not all of our aerification practices during this down time.  If that happens, you may return to a golf course that has been aerated completely so do not be alarmed.  This period of closure is a perfect opportunity to do so considering we will not be affecting play at all.

I hope you all can find serenity within the circumstances in which we are dealing with right now.  It is a time that can easily fuel anxiety, depression, and give one a deep feeling of uncertainty.  Hopefully you can find things to do to occupy your down time as we gear up for the re-opening of the golf course hopefully sooner, than later.

Below is a picture of what seems to be a 2nd year Bald Year entering adulthood.  It is good to see nature alive and well.

Hope everyone remains safe during this time

Thank you

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Tuesday, March 17th, 2020

A lot of crazy things seem to be happening right now.  We have a coronavirus shutting down the world, all major sports are postponed, we are being told to stay inside, and we are watching the American economy hang in limbo.  Oh, and Tom Brady is leaving the Patriots, which is good news for Jets fans.

COVID-19

By now, I'm sure everyone is aware of the mass hysteria in the world and especially in our country and home state of New Jersey.  Rest assured that the maintenance department is in close communication with Keven Horton and the GAC ensuring we are working together to provide a safe and healthy golfing environment while the world around us comes to a stop.  A major uncertainty that remains is the unknown of how this is going to affect us in the maintenance department in regards to resources (products) needed for golf course and agronomic use.  We are well prepared for the season, though there's no guarantee beyond that for things pertaining to outside services or future needs.  All we can do now is brace ourselves for a prolonged period in which businesses are shutdown, schools are closed, and restrictions are in place.  

OPENING DAY

Now for some positive news in your life, opening day has arrived.  The maintenance team did a great job in preparing the golf course for play.  We are excited that this day is finally here and perhaps could not have come at a better time to help spread some positivity during such negative and gloomy times.  I hope everyone has a good year and we look forward to seeing you out there.

As we move forward, please keep in mind the aerification dates that are listed at the top of the page.  As usual, these dates are subject to change due to weather, but could also be at the mercy of the unforeseen COVID-19.  Please stay tuned.

I hope everyone has a safe and healthy golfing year.

Happy St. Patricks Day

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Friday, March 6th, 2020

Here we are, March 6th, with the end of winter feeling more like mid-Spring.  The weather has been very enjoyable and has allowed us to have a very productive past couple of weeks.  Preparations for course opening began this week but came on the tail end of a 2 week project voyage.  Beginning February 17th, the green tee on hole 15 was completed (aside from rough sod), a drain was put in behind 11 green, more drainage work was done on hole 10 where you enter the tee complex, a target green on the driving range, and some other minor work to repair and remediate problem areas in regards to turf.  All aforementioned projects were a success and should each serve a vital purpose towards course conditions well off into the future.

Let's talk about 15 tee.  The previous existing structure was far too small to handle the vigorous wear and tear from season long stress.  The existing teeing area was a little over 500 square feet, providing little room for the teeing area to be shifted around to allow for dispertion of golf traffic.  The goal for our tee project was to triple the size of the tee, with a target base layer of about 1600 square feet with the final shape of the teeing surface coming to about 1550 square feet, which we did.  Dirt use totals were in excess of 250+ tons of dirt when considering the different levels of grade such as sub-grade, topsoil, and final grade for tee mix.  The construction phase of the tee was a success.  The 15th hole will be forever changed and should add great value to the course overall.  You can expect an opening date of about mid to late April as we allow time and nature to take course in letting the turf settle and grow.  Pictures below portray the different phases of tee box construction.

Early stages of fill dirt for sub-grade going in:

Sub-grade being compacted every 12 inches or so where needed:

Teeing surface taking shape:

Looking back from the front of the tee:

Topsoil cavity lining the top edge to contain and stabilize tee mix:

Initial loads of tee mix going in and use of grade stakes for consistent depths:

Tee surface sodded with 007 Bentgrass (tee bank being sodded later):

 We are excited to get the tee bank sodded next week.  Currently, the bentgrass surface is under a tarp and will remain covered for the next couple of weeks.

Moving on, we did drainage behind 11 green and along the cart path entering the 10th hole as well.  These areas were notoriously wet and the added drainage should provide ample opportunity for water to leave.

#11 Drainage:

#10 Cart Path Drainage:

We used river rock to line the path and top the drain off on 10 so we could maintain pure rock from surface to pipe to allow for as much water movement as possible due to the fact that this area had a lot of surrounding slopes funnelling water to it.  The larger rock can also withstand traffic with no damage done.

Below are pictures of the target green going in on the driving range.  As a short term solution, perennial ryegrass will be used to sod the surface of the "green", with plans of later converting it to Latitude 36 bermudagrass like the other target greens and range tee.  The green will sit about 125-135 yards out.

The 2020 season has gotten off to a great start with these completed projects.  As mentioned, course opening preparations will continue and we are excited to get the season underway.

We look forward to seeing you back out there March 17th.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 

Winter Update:

Preparations for the 2020 season continue.  Golf course accessories are being evaluated for replacement and/or maintenance in the form of cleaning and painting.

Looking ahead, we will begin construction of the green Tee on hole 15 next week.  Right now, the weather looks favorable for tee construction to begin Monday and should go smoothly as long as the weather cooperates.  The subgrade and final grade will be brought up and formed by piggybackinig off of the current tee structure and will aid in the final product.  Currently, the tee sits at about 550 square feet, making it far too small to handle the amount of wear and tear that it receives throughout the season.  The goal is to increase the square footage of the teeing surface to about 1500-1600 square feet, giving the tee ample area to move and disperse traffic in and around the tee.  Per the USGA, teeing areas should be 100-200 square feet for every 1000 golfers.  So constructing a tee of atleast 1,500 square feet should be enough to handle 15,000 rounds of golf.  We are confident in the newly constructed tee improving the 15th hole and improving your round of golf overall.  Stay tuned for further updates.

**Please note the aerification schedules listed above.  These dates are subject to change due to weather but hopefully that is not an issue**

We are looking forward to the course opening in March and we are excited to get the 2020 season underway.

Hope everyone enjoys the remainder of winter in getting prepared for the upcoming season.

Thank you

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Friday, January 10th, 2020

It's officially a new year and with that comes the excitement in anticipation for the coming year and golf season.  Plans for 2020 began back in 2019 with focusing on building off the year prior with goals of continuous improvement.

Winter preparations were made between Christmas and New Year's once the golf course was closed.  These preparations included removing course accessories from the golf course, applying a heavy layer of sand to the greens and approaches, and fungicide applications to help with snow mold prevention.  Also, turf covers were put out on 1 green, 9 green, and the back of 8 green.

Pictured above is the practice green with a heavy layer of topdressing sand.  This sand application will help protect the turf from winter injury and also aid in thatch dilution over the winter time.  It will slowly work into the turf canopy over the next couple of months.

Turf covers were added to 1 green, 9 green, and 8 green.  Pictured here is the 9th green with the turf cover down.  In shady areas, these covers can help the turf through the winter time and help weaker areas transition out of winter and into spring better than if these covers were not used.  They will be removed in due time, whether it is golf dependent when the course is getting ready to open, or if the reason is due to weather and the temperatures.  So far it has been a mild winter.

While the golf course and golfing members go dormant over the next two months, preparations for the 2020 season are in full swing and have been in full swing since 2019.  We are looking forward to the coming season and putting our stamp on 2020 with continuing to make Greenbriar better everyday, each passing year.

Hope everyone had a great holiday season.  May you find time to work on your golf game to get it ready for 2020!

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Monday, December 23rd, 2019

Two days away from Christmas and we are planning the ending to the 2019 season.  Today, and this week, we will not only be celebrating Christmas, but we will also be putting the final touches on the golf course to get it ready for the winter.  Tasks that we will be completing include snow mold prevention applications, removal of course accessories from the golf course, and applying a heavy layer of sand to the greens.  Anything pertaining to the agronomics are done in part to aid the turfgrass through the harsh extremes that the cold winter can present.

At the end of each season, we take time to reflect upon the year past and examine things we did well, and perhaps things we did not do so well.  But affording ourselves the opportunity to do so allows us evaluate the areas where we need to continue getting better at and formulate a plan of execution.  Challenges come and go with each passing year with none being the same.  Seemingly different challenges year in and year out could be telling us that golf course is evolving.  Each and every day, the maintenance staff shows up ready to make the golf coure better that day and they do an outstanding job in doing so.  We are very fortunate here at Greenbriar to have the staff that we do in the maintenance building since they are the catalysts to the everyday happenings on the golf course.  This year was one full of continuous improvement with our sights set on much more for years to come.

The Thanksgiving to Christmas season really is the most wonderful time of year.  It's the time of year to be thankful and grateful for what we have with the people that surround you.  In the midst of the craziness, there is always a shimmer of joy that provides the holiday spark to look around and soak it all in, as it only comes around once a year.

On behalf of the Maintenance Department, we would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a safe, healthy, and Happy New Year

Cheers to 2020

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Wednesday, October 30th, 2019

Course Update:

Fall is in full swing.  Leaf cleanup remains a daily task along with other course maintenance duties.

With core tine aeration behind us, we focus to next week, which will bring Deep-Tine aeration of the greens and select fairways.  Deep-tining greens last year showed great results this year with roots chasing far down into the soil profile.  With that, doing the fairways is a great way to alleviate compaction from machine and golf cart traffic from the season past.  Greens will be getting done Monday, with fairways 10-14 getting done Monday and part of Tuesday.  Please be courteous to the machine operators since it is a very slow process.

We have been in a period of wet weather and it does not look like it will get any better over the next few days.  We appreciate your patience in times of cart path only.  This is done to protect the integrity of the golf course.  This time of year, soils are very slow to dry due to reduced duration and strength of sunlight.

As previously mentioned, we have been trying to improve areas where there use to be heavy kyllinga populations.  An example of an area that is greatly improving is behind 15 green.  This area use to be choked out by trees, wetness, and the invasive kyllinga.  Now, we are getting great results from over-seeding this area to hopefully acheive a solid turfstand once again.

It looks like there could be a real FROST potential this coming weekend.  Please be advised and call the proshop if you have any tee times in the morning this coming weekend as there could be delays.  Thank you.

The maintenance team has been doing a great job on the golf course.

I hope everyone has been getting out when possible to enjoy the Fall weather on the golf course.  It's the best time of the year.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Friday, September 27th, 2019

Welcome to Fall.  Time just moves too quickly anymore.

Tee aeration was completed this past Monday.  The process went well and weather conditions were ideal for the cleaning process.

In the process of aerating tees, we also overseeded the range tee.  Overseeding the range tee will help with the duration in which the tee can be used heading later into the season.  The grass cultivar used to overseed was perennial ryegrass.  Ryegrass is quick to establish and maintains a vigorous upright growth habit, serving well as a grass stand on the range tee.  The range tee will be closed for perhaps another week to allow for establishment of this turf.  Below is a picture of the range tee after it was overseeded and topdressed.  

As previously mentioned, we began an attack on kyllinga in the rough.  We are seeing good results in terms of the kyllinga melting out.  What we are also seeing which is very good, is that in most areas where there have been heavy kyllinga stands, is desired turfgrass growing through the dying kyllinga.  This is a very good sign considering how rampant the kyllinga is/was.  Areas that were treated over a month ago received overseeding to help with healing of the areas where kyllinga is dying out.  We also have been overseeding other areas at the same time.  First picture below is of a dead patch of kyllinga that had been treated with grass growing through it.  The second picture is from behind 15 green showing new seedling growth.

The weather of late has been nothing short of terrific.  Warm days with cool nights are supreme for grass growing, but certainly for getting seed in the ground.  We are looking forward to a great stretch heading into the final stages of the golf season.

As a reminder we are on schedule to aerate fairways next week; Monday and Tuesday.  The procedure will be the same as in the past with 9 holes one day and 9 holes the next.  The weather forecast looks great.

Here is a picture taken this morning on hole 15 as the maintenance staff prepares the golf course.

I hope everyone can get out on the golf course to enjoy the fine weather we have been having.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Wednesday, September 18th, 2019

We are officially at the end of Summer, though recent weather patterns have given us a taste of Fall and how enjoyable it is.

Daily maintenance practices have been on-going.  As a reminder, we are scheduled to aerate tees this coming Monday.  The weather forecast looks great for doing this and we are looking forward to completing another leg of Fall aeration.

We began over-seeding practices over the last week and a half.  We are focusing on areas that are thin and weak, but also areas of kyllinga that were treated last month.  The treatment used calls for a minimum of 4 weeks before overseeding can occur due to residual of the herbicide in the ground.  Any kyllinga that was treated this month will get overseeded in October.  This is a process of elimination and repairing.  The kyllinga has become very invasive and if it is not addressed in the rough, it will slowly take over and cause major problems in the future.  Below are pictures of the over-seeder along with what a treated area looks like afterward.

Staying on the subject of overseeding, we rented a machine this week to address the kyllinga that has been treated in the collars.  The seed variety used was 007 creeping bentgrass.  The machine is self propelled, creating tiny seed beds for the bentgrass to go into and germinate.  We focused heavily on areas that had kyllinga in and around the collars.  Below is a picture from around 9 green with the machine in use overseeding treated kyllinga.  We are already noticing the bentgrass taking this immediate area back over as the kyllinga melts away.  This is good to see, and hopefully once we get some seed germination, it will continue to improve the area.

Another silent project that we continue to work on is converting the back, unused tee on hole 12 to a greens nursery for future use.  Future intent of this tee includes repairing an area on 14 green, as well as 15 green.  It will also serve as a test plot for treatments such as herbicide use, for example, for risk assessment.  We have been treating the tee as a green so that when the time comes to harvest sod from this tee, it's closer to the composition of a green than a tee.  This includes cutting height, cultural practices, and agronomic treatments.  Below are pictures from when we core-tine aerated it, verticutted it, and sanded it.

After scheduled tee aeration Monday, that leaves us with the core-tining of fairways for September 30th and October 1st.  Stay tuned for any changes.

Fall is perhaps the most enjoyable time of the year.  

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS 

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Tuesday, September 3rd, 2019

We enter September much to the dismay of another flooding of over 4 inches of rain received yesterday afternoon.  This rain event forced us to cancel our scheduled aeration of the tees and reserve it for another day.  With the ground being saturated, the machines would not have been to pull cores efficiently, and risk of damage to turf and soils would have been greater with how soft the ground is.  We will aim to complete tee aeration in the coming weeks on a closed course Monday.

It has been a week since we completed greens aeration.  They seem to be healing nicely with about 90% recovery acheived thus far.  A benefit from the rains received yesterday is that it should aid in the completion of the healing process.  With the amount of material removed, we replenished the open holes with about 45 tons of sand.  Removing thatch and organic matter is important to managing turf health.  Replacing what it is removed with clean sand is great for added dilution of organic matter in the upper portion of the soil profile.  Below is a picture taken Friday of a putting surface 4 days post aeration.

Intermediate Collars:

The intermediate collars are no more.  What was a year in the making is now complete.  We are at greens cutting height everywhere inside the collar edge.  This mission seems to have been a success.

As mentioned before, we treated the collars around the greens for kyllinga.  This application makes the kyllinga slowly melt out, turning dark brown in the process.  Below is a picture of treated kyllinga in the collar on hole 12.  There are numerous collars around greens that had kyllinga.  So in case you were wondering what the dark brown patches and spots were, hopefully this can clarify that.

With greens aeration completed, we are now left with tees and fairways.  As mentioned, fairways are scheduled for September 30th and October 1st.  Lets hope mother nature cooperates.

Greens will be getting deep-tined November 4th.  We have noticed great benefit from doing this last year and believe that another year of deep-tining greens will be great for the sub-surface soils as well as rooting in the greens.

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend.  We are looking forward to the transition of Summer into Fall and the cooler weather that it brings.

Football is back!

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Friday, August 23rd, 2019

As a quick reminder, we are on track to aerate the greens this coming Monday, the 26th.  The weather looks good for the process and more importantly for turf recovery.  This will be the induction of the first leg of Fall aeration.

On Monday, we received in excess of 5" of rain.  This cut our maintenance Monday short, while making Tuesday completely devouted to fixing bunkers.  As of this morning, there was still water creeping onto the golf course from the pond on hole 6, but as of this afternoon, it seems to have finally receded.  Any turf-loss resulting from the standing water will be repaired accordingly.

For being late August, we are noticing some very good root structure in the greens.  Changing cups on Monday, I observed roots coming out of the bottom of the cup cutter, which is outstanding to see this time of year.

Last week, we treated some areas of sumac that were immediately bordering the golf course.  These areas included the green and white tee on hole 6 and the front of the fairway area on hole 15.  The picture below is the result of the treated sumac.

Intermediate Collars:

We are just about home with our year long project of knocking the collars back around the greens.  Hopefully the process will be completed by the end of September.  The two pictures below dont give the best representation, but they may help shed some light on where we use to be, and where we are now.  Keep in mind, the top picture was taken last Fall when this project/process began.  The bottom picture was taken yesterday.  Take note, you can kind of see the darker shade in the bottom picture of where the original green edge use to be.  

Today, we began interseeding areas in fairways that suffered heat/drought stress.  With the forecasted weather, now is a good time to get seed in the ground for germination.

Looking ahead, we are planning to aerate tee on September 3rd, the day after Labor Day.  Also for the month of September, we will be looking to continue more overseeding in the rough, as well as overseeding the range tee with ryegrass.  The goal of this to allow for later in the season, as well as earlier in the season, use of the range tee.

We are looking forward to the transition of August into September.

See you on the golf course.

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Tuesday, August 6th, 2019

*LONG POST*

As we enter August, we can't help but to look forward to the Fall and the fact that football season is right around the corner.  The last couple of weeks have been a roller coaster ride with challenges hurled our way.

The week of 7/22:

Looking back to this week, we had discovered the irrigation pumps in the station were "short cycling".  Meaning, we were suffering water and pressure losses at a rapid rate which in turn, was signaling the main pumps to turn on every 3-4 minutes, sending surges of water into the irrigation system while spiking the pressure.  This became a dire situation.  The value of each pump, which there are 3, is roughly $20-$30K.  That, combined with putting the integrity of the irrigation system in the field at jeopardy, you might be able to understand why this matter took precedence over just about everything on the golf course.  What ensued for three straight days was a very frustrating ordeal.  It involved going around the golf course multiple times trying to spot a leak, but to no success.  We went through multiple processes of elimination through closing and opening isolation valves along with mainline valves to try and narrow down where we were losing our pressure and water.  At the end of the third day, we miraculously managed to close a valve that we would have never imagined lead to where the leak was.  This valve is located next to the pond on hole 8.  It somehow feeds all the way down to the main entrance.  When we made this discovery, we knew where we had to look.  The leak ended up being on the backside of the pond by the guard shack as you enter the community.  Not only that, it was behind dune grasses that blocked our view and the water coming out of the ground was going into the woods.  Had we not stumbled across that little valve, we might still be managing the situation today.  It took us off of the golf course, made us miss a day of watering the golf course, forced us to manage water around the problem, and caused a lot of strain on us and the golf course that we are still feeling today.  Holes 1, 5, 6, front of 10, and 9 seem to show the most detriment through missing a day of watering due to this ordeal.  It is still frustrating to think about, but we were able to move on from it successfully.  Any turf problems that resulted from this are being addressed as we speak and will be in the future as we move forward.

The week of 7/29:

Towards the middle to the end of last week, you might have seen us working in the area of 10 tee.  We had developed a leak here, which we believe to stem from the issue from the week prior.  Leading up to this project, we were waiting for a solid rainfall before we began digging because we werent sure what exactly we were getting into.  Long story short, this leak was the result of a 3" stub-out pipe pushing out of a cast iron fitting on the main due to a failed thrust block.  We dug down, cleaned the area and prepped it for fixing.  If you had passed this area at any point during the end of last week or over the weekend, you probably couldn't help but notice the sizeable hole that we had to dig in order to make this repair.  The repair was done in a way that ensures we never have to revisit it again.  Hopefully.  This too forced us to have holes 10 and 11 completely shut down from water use.  Here are some pictures of this repair.

Here is Assistant Superintendent Jeff Klink head deep in the hole giving an enthused "thumbs up"

I would like to extend a thanks to Bob Kraft of Meticulous for lending his backhoe services for helping to fix the leak on 10 since we have no means of digging besides a shovel.

This past Saturday, we came in to the unfortunate surprise of vandalism to the 9th green.  The suspect found an unsecured golf cart and thought it would be cute to try and do donuts on the 9th green.  So far, we do not see any permanent damage done.

 As previously mentioned, we began spraying for weeds over the last 2 weeks when able to.  We have sprayed the rough on holes 4-12, and have applied an herbicide for Goose Grass in the fine turf over the last 2 days.  The goose grass has been a problem this year.  Next year, our pre-emergent program in the Spring will be tailored around this invasive, unsightly weed.  Pictured are weeds that have been treated behind the 12th green, along with a picture of what goose grass is on the edge of the 6th fairway.

Aerification Dates:

Tentative dates for aerification are as follows but are always subject to change due to weather.

Greens- August 26th

Tees- September 3rd

Fairways- September 30th + October 1st

Deep-Tine Greens/Fwys- November 4th and 5th

It seems that over the last month, the weather has been all or nothing.  It either rains inches at a time, or is dry and excessively hot.  There seems to be nothing in between which can make daily choices challenging.  The maintenance team continues to do great work in overcoming these circumstances.

We look forward to a good rest of the Summer and hopefully some more favorable weather ahead.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS 

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Sunday, July 21st, 2019

Quick course update:

As you are all aware by now, we are at the tail end of an extreme 3 days of heat and humidity.  Adjustments were made in maintenance practices to keep stress off of the turfgrass.  The coming week looks to provide some stress relief.

There has been a lot of attention regarding the flying insects on 17.  These are infact Cicada Killers.  Here is a good weblink explaining these bugs: 

https://www.cicadamania.com/cicadas/10-facts-about-cicada-killer-wasps/

This week, we will be looking to start targeting weeds.  With the amount of rain we have had the last two seasons, weed infiltration has been high.  You can expect to see weeds turn brown or white, but it is necessary in "cleaning up" the turf stands.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Friday, July 5th, 2019

I hope everyone had a fun and safe July 4th holiday.  So far, the weather patterns have been intermittent with heat and wetness.  This time last year, we were enduring a week long stretch of oppressive heat that stabilized around 100 degrees each day.

Course maintenance continues on the daily.  We prepare the golf course each day in a way that best positions it for that particular day.  An example of some morning course preparation practices would involve changing/moving cups and flags, moving tee markers, mowing/rolling the greens, mowing approaches and collars, etc.  Each day is different and the plan of attack for each day tends to be different, as well.

Last week, we explored repairing the cart exit area on hole 15 where water was collecting.  Upon investigating, the maintenance team made a good discovery, and it was a drain that was buried.  Underneath the mud was a drain grate that had been covered in muck and clogged with tree roots.  The drain and the area around it were cleaned and graded off to prevent water from collecting there anymore.  We will address turf concerns here in the future.

We have entered the time of year where drought prone areas will begin to show face.  Bunker faces, hills in the rough, and certainly the edges of the holes along tree lines will be the first to show drought stress.  It is somewhat "typical" this time of year to endure some severity of drought stress, but our watering practices try to fight any onset of it.  Each year it seems we go through a period of minor drought where it shows the true value of rain and the many benefits of it.  Rain allows for perfect, uniform water coverage to all areas of the golf course.  Times of drought can expose the inconsistencies in an irrigation system.  Here is a picture of the greenside bunker face on hole 14 that is experiencing accelerated onset of drought stress due to sand buildup in the face.  This will be an area that will be addressed through future sod projects.

Last week, we performed the first greens venting of the year.  Benefits of this are as mentioned before, air in and gas out, allowing roots to breathe while drying out wet or low areas of greens. 

We are looking forward to the Member/Guest event taking place on July 13th.  It is an event that we always have circled.  It is an opportunity for us to showcase the golf course.

Hope everyone gets out to enjoy some golf.

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Tuesday, June 25th, 2019

An update on course happenings.

We have been steady on routine maintenance practices on the golf course.  At the end of last month, we treated every hole for broadleaf weeds.  It looks like we got good control, but we will look to continue spot treating anything that is left in the coming weeks.  We have had a good stretch of weather for the most part, even though last week was a wet and dreary week.

Maintenance Mondays

Week in and week out, having the golf course closed on Mondays for maintenance serves to be a crucial building block for each week, which allows us to plan things in advance to continue pushing the golf course along.  As an example, last Monday we were able to put spray applications down on Greens, Tees, and Fairways.  We were able to do a lot of cutting, including servicing the driving range.  We also topdressed tees.  The amount of production that is acheived on these days is vital to the success of the golf course and the product that you get to enjoy.

White Dashes around Greens

Its been a subject of conversation regarding the white dashes that go around the greens edge and the confusion of where the actual green edge is.  The "edge" of the green is to be benchmarked by the edge of the collar cut, not the white dashes.  In the picture below, you can clearly see the white dashes, and to the left of those dashes, you can see the clear defined edge of the collar.  The defined edge of the collar is considered the greens edge.  The only purpose of the white dashes are for mowing practices only so that the operator of the greens mower can easily see where they need to mow up to.  The reason why we have to do this is because of the cutting height difference between the putting surface (lower) and the area in between the white dashes and the edge of the collar (higher).  If we were to accidentally mow into this area with the greens mower, we would scalp the turf and likely cause damage.  This is a delicate process that needs to be approached patiently in order for it to be successful.  We are currently at 0.175" on the intermediate cut, slowly getting down to greens height.  We hope to be there by October.

Kyllinga

Overall, we have seen good results from kyllinga control efforts in fairways and tees.  Our approach with late season, followed by early season seems to be very effective in controlling this invasive species.  An area that we havent approached yet is the rough, and more importantly the collars around the greens.  We are planning an attack that could begin as soon as the Member/Guest Tournament is past.  Some holes are worse than others, but we will most likely begin with test trials on holes that have a moderate amount of kyllinga in the collar.  What you can expect to see, especially in areas where the kyllinga is in patches, is obvious browning of these spots.  The plan would be to acheive control by September, and then overseed these areas to repair the kyllinga spots that have been controlled.  Below is a picture of the collar on the front side of #1 green.  At the bottom of the picture you can see the light green, healthy kyllinga.  At the top of the picture, you can see the brown/supressed kyllinga.  This is what you can expect to see around the holes that we intend on doing.

I hope everyone has been able to get out on the golf course this June.  The extended forecast for the transitioning of months and 4th of July looks good.

See you on the golf course

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Wednesday, June 5th, 2019

We have hit June and the unofficial start to Summer.  With that, also comes the adjustment to agronomic practices.

WATER

One of the main adjustments we make is our watering practices over the next 3 months.  This is the time when we begin doing as much watering as possible during the early daylight hours.  This allows us to use less water by giving the turf just enough water to get through that specific day, but also helps prevent disease by minimizing night time leaf-blade wetness.  With that, we will begin implementing handwatering practices pretty heavily.  We focus on greens, collars, approaches, and tees with handwatering.  Doing this allows us to put water exactly where it needs to go and prevents overhead irrigation from pumping excessive water into areas that don't necessarily need water; i.e. low/wet areas.  Please be courteous to any members of the maintenance staff that you see handwatering.  It is a crucial part of our water management for the duration of the Summer.

In a couple of weeks, we will perform out first "venting" of the greens, weather dependent.  This is a great practice for promoting air exchange between soils and the atmoshpere.  Roots can breathe better and the result is a healthier grass plant.

Below is a picture of a section of the step-cut on the left side of #9 fairway.  I would consider the bare patches an accomplishment, since these spots were once occupied by kyllinga.  This is the result of treating the fairways with an herbicide specifically for this invasive weed.  At the end of the Summer, we will be doing more over-seeding in the rough and any spots like this will receive extra attention.  We plan to do more kyllinga control beginning next month.

The extended forecast looks great for golf.

Thank you

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Friday, May 31st, 2019

With June 1st tomorrow, the fact that we can already reflect on early season course projects, as well think back to last year is fascinating.  It seems like yesterday we were dealing with the hardships the weather dealt us last Summer and now we sit here gearing up for another Summer to come.

Daily routines have been taking place around the golf course.  We are happy with the condition of the golf course today and how prepared it is heading into the hardest part of the season.  The greens seem healthier now than they were this time last year, as well as other areas of the golf course.

Some work performed this past Tuesday with the course being closed was inter-seeding more bentgrass on collars and select areas of greens that were weakened last year.  Some holes we did work on were 15, 1, 5, 6, 8, and 9.  Most areas covered involved the collars where kyllinga died out from the aerification last fall.  But with the machine on the ground, we did spots on the green as well on those particular holes.  The picture below is the machine used to create little seed beds for the seed to go down so it can germinate.

We have been trying to focus on details as well around the golf course.  One in particular has been clearing low spots in the cart paths where water collects.  You often can't see it, but over time, the grass will creep out onto the cart path.  When we clean these spots, it often involves edging the cart path back to where it is suppose to be.

Below is a picture of the fairway bunker on hole 13.  While the picture shows healthy turfgrass and a well maintained bunker, there is much more that goes into it.  The result of having a nice edge on the bunker with the healthy grass around it is the result from efforts that went in months ago.  The process of edging the bunkers combined with changed agronomic practices has greatly improved the overall look of the bunkers as well as the level of playability.  Maintaining bunker surrounds can be an intricate task.  Going forward, there are things that we will have to do in order to preserve the efforts that went into restoring the integrity of the bunkers.

This picture looking up hole 18 exemplifies where the course stands as of today.  Lots of hard work has been put into the golf course thus far, and we will look to maintain the intensity for the remainder of the season.  The individuals on the maintenance crew continue to do great work in providing the conditions on the golf course.  Their efforts can't be recognized enough.

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Memorial Day holiday.  We are thankful for our Veterans and those who continue to serve our country so that we can enjoy the freedom that we have.

See you on the golf course

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Tuesday, May 14th, 2019

It's the middle of May, yet the current weather pattern is indicative of something we would expect in mid-March.  Not only is 2019 picking up where 2018 left off with rainfall, but the cold temperatures we have been experiencing are really holding back the turfgrass from acheiving any sustained growth.  The bent-grass has greened up, but is not showing any signs of wanting to grow just yet.  The forecast beginning this coming weekend looks promising with warmer day and night time temperatures, so hopefully we will see some spark next week.  Sunshine would also help...

We are beginning to settle into a daily routine of course maintenance with all major tasks and projects being completed.  The golf course is primed and ready for the season and the challenges we may face this coming year.

Looking back to the Fall, we performed a 'Deep-Tine' aeration on the greens.  The motive of this was to not only target deeper compaction layers, but to also acheive deeper rooting of the greens.  Surveying the greens today told me that those goals were acheived.  The pictures below illustrate the rooting depth on a few greens that extend as deep as 8 inches.  Having this kind of rooting depth will help the greens perform much better when water and nutrient uptake is concerned.

Last week, we had a minor mechanical failure on one of our rough mowers.  A hydraulic line began leaking.  Fortunately, the operator soon observed the leak after it happened and the damage was minimal.  The picture below of the right side of 9 green shows what the leak looks like in the rough cut.  Once the turf begins to actively grow, any deceased turf will be taken over and the areas will heal.

Being on the golf course today, I couldn't help but be discouraged with how wet the grounds are.  The constant, relentless rain continues to haunt the Northeast.  Hopefully the weather patterns soon turn for the better.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS  

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Saturday, May 4th, 2019

It is May, and the days seem to blend together anymore with the very busy Spring of getting the golf course going for the season. 

With the recently completed projects, we have shifted our focus towards the agronomic part of the Spring and getting the golf course setup for the season.  We are just about done with our fertilization and pre-emergent application.  This year, we changed the way this was done.  We wanted to focus on each area of the golf course as a whole when it came to the application of fertilizer and pre-emergent for weeds.  Over time, we are confident that the results of this effort will show.

An on-going project that began last Fall was the "knocking back" of the collars around the greens.  The objective of this was to make every collar within the confines of the green complex a uniform width.  This will help with our mowing practices, but will also add character to the greens with the contouring of the different cuts (green/collar/step-cut) all matching.  A byproduct of this mission will be expanded putting surfaces, some areas more than others.  If you have been noticing white dots around the greens, they represent the marking of the future edge of the green.  For insight, we began with a cutting height of 0.375" back in the Fall, which was an initial drop from 0.400".  Currently, we are mowing this "Intermediate Collar" at 0.200".  The process of lowering the cutting height in fine-cut turf can be a lengthy, delicate process when making a significant change such as this.  Careful consideration has to be accounted for when trying to protect the health of the turf as much as possible.  As the cut height gets lower, the changes we make will become smaller and smaller, increasing the time to the end goal, which is getting these areas at greens cutting height.  We hope to be there by Fall.  Below is a picture of the front of 18 green representing this cut today and how it is becoming more definitive.

Something else we are seeing the results of from last year is over-seeding practices.  Around the golf course, we are seeing many areas where seed is popping from when it was completed last September.  Time will tell how these areas will perform during the year, but it's atleast encouraging to see.  We will do more over-seeding later this year.  Here's a picture of #4 near the where the carts exit the fairway.

A good project that was on the to-do list for this Spring was renovating the landscape bed at the bathrooms on #5.  This was completed this week and it came together nicely.

Once we get into the middle of May, we will have most major tasks and projects completed.  This will allow us to focus and prepare for the Summer months.  Lets hope Mother Nature treats us better than last year.

This has been a very busy Spring.  The maintenance team has been working hard and have done a great job with project completion and getting the golf course in shape for the season.  Hats off to them.

Hopefully consistently warmer weather awaits

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Wednesday, April 24th, 2019

Greens aerification has been completed as of yesterday.  We appreciate everyone's patience with having to use an extra day to complete holes 10 through 18.  We try to watch the weather forecasts and make our best decisions based off of that, but sometimes it doesn't work to your favor.  Monday morning, the forecast was looking fine to complete aeration.  But as the morning went on, that quickly changed.  By 11:30, we were dealing with rain and it worsened from that point on.  We had to make changes on the fly to atleast ensure 9 holes could be open on Tuesday.  The 2019 season seems to picking up where 2018 left off, with rain every weekend and on Mondays. 

Looking ahead, our fertilizer spread is scheduled for this coming Monday.  This is an important application since it supplies nutrition to the golf course for much of the season.

We will now turn our focus towards getting pre-emergents out beginning this week.  We hope to have all of this completed by the second week of May so we can start preparing for the Summer.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Thursday, April 18th, 2019

Course Update:

This week, we concluded the aforementioned projects.  We did drainage work on 15 fairway, drainage work on 11 Blue tee, sod work on hole 12, and wrapped up the chipping approach project.  Below are pictures representing the work and the process to get it done.

Putting Green Collection Area

#15 Fairway Drain

#11 Blue Tee Drainage

#12 Bunker Sod

Hopefully we see improvements in these wet areas where drainage was added.  In regards to the Chip Approach, we will need time for the sod to net to the ground and the grass to start really growing before we open it.  We are hoping to have this area open by the middle of May.

REMINDER:  We are scheduled to aerate Greens this coming Monday.  The forecast keeps going in and out so we will see what the weather deals us.

It was great to see Tiger Woods provide us a refreshing glimpse of his past by winning The Masters this past weekend.

Hope everyone has a good Easter

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Wednesday, April 10th, 2019

Course Update:

Fairway aerification was completed yesterday.  Thank you for your patience with 9 holes being closed one day for the process.  Monday offered perfect conditions for cleaning the cultivation plugs, while Tuesday slowed us down a bit with the afternoon fog banks rolling in accompanied with overcast skies.  We will continue spot cleaning areas where material gathered in drains, edges of the fairway, and on irrigation heads.  The picture below is from Monday and the terrific weather we had.

Today, we are beginning to charge the irrigation system.  This will take about a day and a half to do, but it could be considered as the unofficial "Opening" to the 2019 agronomic season.  We will be monitoring the property over the course of the week checking for any leaks we may have.

Looking ahead, we are planning a final push for Spring projects next week.  These include completion of the chipping/putting approach, sod work on 12, along with drainage work on holes 11 and 15.

REMINDER:  Greens aeration is scheduled to take place Monday, April 22nd.  Stay tuned as the date gets closer for any updates.

Nicer days seem to be happening more often, so hopefully the weather is starting to turn in our favor.

See you on the golf course

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019

It must have been an April fools joke that this morning was in the low 20s.  Hopefully this weather will soon vanish.

Over the past couple of weeks, our main goal was to perform a much needed audit of the bunkers on the golf course.  As previously mentioned, we started out by going around edging the bunkers where needed, while also taking notes along the way in order to mainly address sand needs, but also future sod projects as well.  For a quick project breakdown, 21 bunkers received either a sand replenishment or a full change out of old material with fresh sand.  The bunkers that received a full change of sand was the first pot bunker on 14 fairway, and the pot bunker to the left of 18 approach.  These bunkers were in great despair.  Two bunkers that have had drainage issues in the past were the first fairway bunker on the left of hole 11, and the back right greenside bunker on hole 9.  We dug down and found the drains in the bottoms, uncovered the length of the drain, and covered the drain back up with fresh sand while getting old contaminated material out of the bunker.  There was significant Iron buildup on the surface of the pea gravel and a lot of hard pan, making it difficult for water to move through.  Hopefully we see improvements in these areas.  All in all, we moved close to 78 tons of bunker sand onto the golf course and distributed it by hand.  The maintenance team worked very hard and diligent in completing this project, hats off to them. 

Below are some pictures exampling the improvements made on the golf course.

#9 Greenside Bunker Before/After

#14 Fairway Bunker Before/After

The goal of this project was to restore integrity to the bunkers, with improving playing conditions and achieving a more uniform look on the golf course.

Yesterday, we topdressed Tees and Approaches.  It was a heavier topdessing that is good this time of year to help firm the surfaces up heading into the season.

Looking ahead, we are planning to complete some sod projects the week of April 15th.  Over the next week and a half, we will begin prepping these select areas.  These areas include the prospected chipping approach on the back end of the putting green, front of the bunker bank on 12, back hill on 12 green where material was added, and the front of 8 fairway where we will be pulling bentgrass sod for the chipping approach.  That same week, we are also hoping to add drainage in select areas, including 15 fairway and drainage for the prospected chipping approach.

Reminder:  Weather permitting, Fairway aeration is set to commence this coming Monday and Tuesday.  The procedure will be the same as before.  9 holes Monday, and 9 holes Tuesday.  We appreciate your patience and cooperation.

Soon, we will begin charging the irrigation system.  It's inevitable that issues arise with startup, but let's hope severity is kept to a minimum.

Hope everyone can soon start enjoying more favorable weather.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

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Tuesday, March 26th, 2019

A quick course update.  Aerification of the Tees was completed yesterday.  We had good conditions for the process which allowed for great cleanup of cultivated material.

This week, we are hoping to address the sand needs of noted bunkers and wrap that project up.  There are a few different bunkers that are currently painted as "Ground Under Repair" with a designated drop area.  Once sand is replenished in these bunkers, play can resume as normal in these areas.

We are also beginning to put the "first cuts" on some fine turf this week.  Tees were mowed yesterday, with Fairways, Approaches, and Collars getting mown today.  Much of this is to stripe and cleanup the turf, not so much to cut the grass.  

It looks like the end of this week will provide some favorable weather conditions.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Friday, March 8th, 2019

March is here and it serves as a transition out of winter projects into course preparation for Spring golf.

Next week, we will make a week long push to get the golf course ready for play.  These duties will include getting course accessories out, course cleaning, detailing the bunkers, and rolling greens.  We hope to accomplish this all by the new opening date of Saturday, March 16th, but cannot guarantee it.  We will prioritize tasks and go from there.

Also, Cart Path Only could be possible.  We have sustained a wet winter and the golf course has remained wet for quite some time.  Grounds are long to dry this time of year so we appreciate your patience in this regard.

We are looking forward to the new season and getting things underway.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Wednesday, February 27th, 2019

Quick update:  With the current cold conditions, we are reserving the continuation of course cleaning until tomorrow with the ground being frozen this morning.  Thus, we turned our focus towards continuing to clean the dump between holes 1 and 18.  Much of this material is comprised of cultivation plugs from past years, which can be used with great effectiveness given the correct situation.  An example of that would be the backside of #12 Green.  We are using this material to fill this area in.  The goal is to be able to get our rough mowers in this area safely.  Sometime when Spring hits, we will seed this area with a mixture of grasses and native grasses to hopefully achieve something more aesthetically pleasing.  The picture below shows the first of numerous loads of material being dumped in the area discussed.  In due time, the area will be graded out accordingly.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Monday, February 25th, 2019

With 3 weeks until course opening (March 19th), we began course preparations today.  We will be doing the "Spring Cleaning" as first priority to make sure the golf course is clean of debris.  The hardest part now will be keeping it that way while battling with weather and nature (geese).

Once we reach the opening date of March 19th, we will begin assessing the bunkers.  This process will include trying to regain lost integrity, while addressing the top priority of playability.  This will be time consuming and labor intensive but it is something that is on top of the list to start the 2019 season.

The maintenance of golf course accessories have been completed and we will get them out on the golf course in accordance with opening day, March 19th.  We will debut new cups, flags, and flagsticks once we have completed Greens aeration and start to enter the heart of the season.

Aeration Dates:

Greens core aeration:  April 22nd

Fairways:  April 8th and 9th

Tees:  Upcoming Mondays in March

We are doing the Greens earlier this year to hopefully have full healage by the time prime playing conditions come around.  Fairways will be standard 9 holes Monday, followed by 9 holes Tuesday, weather permitting.  The weather can be tricky this time of year with wetness so hopefully mother nature cooperates.

I believe we are setup and primed for a great 2019 season and am looking forward to another opportunity to keep pushing the golf course along.

Hope everyone enjoys the final few weeks of the "off season"

Steve Juhring, GCS

Friday, January 25th, 2019

Welcome to a new year.  

Work in the maintenance building continues.  From planning agronomic practices to preparing course accessories for the 2019 season, there is a little bit of everything going on in order to get prepared for the upcoming year.  With each passing year, it gives us the opportuinity to reflect on the successes as well as what we would like to do better.  Making these assessments allows us to formulate plans for the coming year in hopes to continually improve the golf course and the operation.

Course accessories, such as ball washers, 150 yard poles, and divot buckets to mention a few, are being addressed for maintenance or refurbishment needs.  Here is a picture of a divot bucket that has been weathered on all year that will receive coats of paint to revitalize the look.

Shortly after the New Year, permeable covers were applied to greens 1, 9, and partially 15.  The main motivation towards these covers is to aid weak, shady areas of these particular greens.  Pictured is #15 green, #1 green, and #9 green. 

As we look ahead and begin to plan our intial weeks prior to course opening, we will first be looking at any course cleaning followed by necessary practices to prepare the golf course for regular play.  We still have about 2 months before course opening, but it will get here quickly.  Once we have the golf course set and ready for opening, we will begin our work on the bunkers in hopes to provide a "facelift" to the golf course by addressing maintenance needs and/or concerns regarding the bunkers.

As we continue to preapre for 2019, the excitement builds to get it underway.  We look forward to seeing you in the new season.

Thank you

Steve Juhring, GCS

Friday, December 28th, 2018

I hope everyone had a great Christmas holiday full of joy and time spent with people that matter most to you.  Christmas is a wonderful time of year that gives sensations that you wish would last year-round.  It certainly comes and goes in the blink of an eye.

With the golf course closed, we are slowly putting finishing touches to get ready for the next couple of months of winter.  Last week, we began taking some course accessories off the golf course and will continue to do so.  Over the next couple of months, we will be addressing any maintenance needs regarding these whether it is fixing or painting, all in hopes to improve them for the 2019 season.

Yesterday, a heavy sand topdressing was applied to the greens.  This is a great practice towards winter protection and also helps with managing thatch accumulation over the winter time.  We did the tees last week also.  With that, last week we applied preventative sprays for snow mold to help protect the turf through the rough winter climate.  These practices are all done to further protect the golf course and have a good transition into Spring.

GEESE:  The geese continue to be a problem and will be every winter.  We do our best in managing them by chasing them off when possible and cleaning what they leave behind.  They are a recurring epidemic.  I will be in the routine of driving the golf course cart paths every morning in my car with my dogs inside so that wherever I find them, I will open the hatch and let my dogs chase them off.  If you see a black Honda CRV cruising the cart paths, do not panic.

One Final Message for 2018:

Each passing year on a golf course provides different challenges.  This year was one of the most frustrating years I can remember managing turfgrass.  We had a cold and wet Spring that prevented good transition out of Winter.  The Summer was hot, wet, and infuriating.  Then the Fall was above average in warmth and humidity with a quick transition into cold with providing very little time for a turf recovery window.  But one thing always remains constant, and that is overcoming circumstances through adapting and reacting.  And in order to be successful at that, it's important to have good people around you.  The members of the maintenance team make most things possible that you see on the golf course. There were countless times this season that a Member would tell me to pass along compliments to the maintenance staff in which I would.  But I would encourage anyone to try and tell them yourselves.  They deserve that recognition for helping make possible what you see on the golf course.  The 2018 season was challenging, but with challenges also comes the opportunity for learning experiences.  Having the mindset of focusing on the good in the midst of the bad can lead to the accumulation of knowledge where success can be the ultimate by-product of all circumstances.  

The thought of the 2019 season brings excitement and eagerness to get it underway.

I hope every has a safe and Happy New Year

Cheers to 2018

Steve Juhring, GCS

Monday, December 10th, 2018

It is hard to believe that we are in December and Christmas is only 2 weeks away and the golf course will soon be closing down for the season.  I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and are looking forward to the rest of the holiday season.

The continued sub-par weather has created less than ideal working conditions, along with challenges on the golf course.  The challenges faced are primarily due to persistent wet conditions that have at times prevented us from doing normal operations such as leaf blowing and perhaps rolling of greens due to softness of the soils.  When dealing with saturated soils this time of year, the ground is highly vulnerable to damage by destroying the soil structures from machinery use.  We have also been on a steady routine of having to plow/fix bunkers on almost a weekly basis due to heavy rainfalls, though over the last week or so, we have been ok in that regard.

Two weeks ago, we had a machine that is called a "Verti-Quake" for the duration of the week following Thanksgiving.  This machine is a soil reliever that targets compaction from the surface on down to about 7 or 8 inches in depth.  It is an ideal machine to focus on high concentrated traffic areas such as where golf carts enter and exit fairways, pinch points in the fairways such as bottle necks and around bunkers, and where golfers walk on and off around the greens.  We were able to get a lot done by Thursday afternoon which allowed us to run the machine on select tee boxes.  We chose certain tee boxes based off compaction severity and/or drainage issues.  With the depth of this machine, it has the potential for relief in both scenarios.  Below are pictures showing what this machine is and what it does.  The first is a picture of the machine itself, followed by a picutre of the bottle neck on #1 Fairway, then a picture of the Green/White Tee on #14.

Something else we have been slowly working on is removing material from between holes 1 and 18 where cultivation material has been stockpiled for the last couple of years.  Our goal is to get this area cleaned out and eliminate this dump area altogether.  Being in the middle of the golf course, it becomes an eye sore in the middle of the season when weeds begin to flourish.

Soon, we will be putting final preparations on the golf course for the Winter.  This will include removal of poles, ropes and stakes, any signage, and preventative sprays for snow mold.  Once the golf course is closed, will apply sand to the greens for protection through the winter time along with covering certain greens such as #1.

The minor snow storm from last week resulted in select holes being closed in recent days.  Hopefully the weather cooperates this week and melts everything off.  The cold day and night time temperatures have prevented this from happening.

Hope everyone is able to get out on the golf course for the final days of the 2018 season.

Thank you

Steve Juhring, GCS

Tuesday, November 13th, 2018

COURSE UPDATE:

The irrigation system has been blown out.  This is done in order to protect the integrity of the system and prevent any damage from harsh winter conditions.  With use of a large air compressor, we were able to complete this project in 2 days.  This is surely a sign of the 2018 season coming to a close.

Happy Fall

Steve Juhring, GCS

Friday, November 9th, 2018

Welcome to November.  Another season has just about passed, seemingly in the blink of an eye.  Time seems to go by quicker each year.

Monday of last week, the Greens were deep-tined, along with starting the Fairways.  Deep-tining of the Fairways was completed the following day.  Since deep-tining the greens, we have already noticed a difference in them, and that difference is drainage.  We have had some wet weather systems come and go since it was completed, and since deep-tining, the greens seem to be draining much better.  This helps the sub-soil profile by allowing excess water to move through the sub-soil and prevent exess water buildup.  With that, deep-tining is a great practice to target compaction deeper in the soil.  Since the golf course was opened, maintenance practices such as venting and core-tining are typically done within the same depth range, say 3" to 4" down.  Over time, this creates a sub surface compaction layer that can block the movement of water nutrients deeper down in the soil profile, promoting the buildup of organic matter resulting in a black layer.  Deep-tining is a great way to try and alleviate those problems.  With the timing of doing this in the Fall, this will encourage turf roots to grow and funnel down the deep-tine channels that were going as deep as 9".  Below is an after picture of #6 green with a light topdressing

Another small project that was completed was the renovation of the bunker on #8.  We dug out the material that was in the bunker, edged it, made sure it was draining well, and added new sand.  We also pruned trees on the top hill above the bunker to help open the area up.

As time goes on, you might noticing a different cut around the greens.  The intentions of this are to make all the collars around the greens on each a hole a uniform width.  This will make the job of mowing more efficient, but will also add character to the greens complex by having the collar line in contour with the rough edge.  A by-catch of this is gaining putting surface area on certain greens.  It will take time to achieve the correct height of cut immediately off the green surface.

Hope everyone has been enjoying the decent weather as of late.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2018

COURSE UPDATE:  Below are some things that have been going on over the last couple weeks and hopefully catches everyone up to speed on what's been going on out on the golf course.

Once we finished up with aerification of fairways, we went around and spot treated areas in the fairways that were weakened from the weather extremes that we have dealt with this season.  Of those extremes, excessive amounts of rainfall was the main culprit.  We saw decent results from over-seeding practices in these areas which is good to see.  This will help these areas recover.

Following greens aeration, I was pleased with the initial healing of the putting surfaces especially considering the rigorous cultural practices we put them through.  I have mentioned before about managing individual greens differently based off of their growing environment and how the greens perform differently from each other around the golf course.  Below are two pictures to perfectly illustrate what I am referring to.  The first picture is of #1 Green, a green that is not in the most ideal growing environment due to lack of air flow and sun light duration.  The second picture is of #2 Green, a green that has a perfect growing environment consisting of ample amounts of sun and air flow.  Notice in the picture of #1 green that the aeration holes are quite visible.  Then notice in the picture of #2 green that there is seemingly no signs of any aeration holes.  These pictures were taken 5 minutes apart, a week and a half post-aeration.  This clearly illustrates the difference in micro-climates throughout the golf course.

As talked about, with cultural practices behind us, we turned our attention towards knocking off some project work.  First up was taking care of arguably the worst eye sore on the golf course, and that was the cart exit area on #1.  Last week, we prepped the area by cutting out any material we needed to, then grading out the remaining area to be ready for sod.  Yesterday, we started the day by opening up the woodline next to this area to help create more exits for golf carts, but to also improve the visual of the hole.  We removed a few dead trees, a few small sapplings, and a lot of under brush growth which led to a much improved "look" of this exit area.  You will see in the last picture how much more aesthetically pleasing it is being able to see through the trees.

This sodded area has been roped off and marked as "Ground Under Repair".  There is a designated Drop Area in the front of it in the rough.

Another area to receive attention was the greenside bunker on #15.  We sodded the outer half of the bunker that was all soil to begin with.  While it looks good now, this could be a challenging slope to sustain turf with the direction that it faces.  We will see how it performs next season.

Aside from the completion of these projects, it has been business as usual on the golf course.  We experienced our first "spotty" frost of the year last Friday, with a more broad, heavier frost Monday morning.  We could possibly have frost Thursday and Friday morning of this week.  Stay tuned.

Next week, we will be Deep-Tining the Greens, along with select Fairways.  Deep-tining continues to be an important factor in agronomic practices moving forward.  Greens will completed Monday, with fairways being done Monday and Tuesday.  If you see the machines in the fairway of the hole you are playing, please be courteous to the machine operator while playing through.

Hope everyone has been out on the golf course enjoying the great weather.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

 Wednesday, October 3rd, 2018

Welcome to October.

In what has been a trying year for managing turfgrass, this time of year is the best time to be on the golf course.  The final push of Fall aerification was completed Monday and Tuesday with fairways being done.  This is vital towards turf recovery but also prepares the golf course for the winter and heading into next season.  The process went smooth and the weather cooperated allowing for good cleaning of aeration plugs.  We punched then cleaned and finished late yesterday afternoon.  Below is a picture of #5 fairway showing how much thatch material was removed from the fairway.  The plugs are blown into a row down the middle of the fairway to allow the cleaning equipment to pick them up.

Moving on, we are starting to see results from our rough seeding.  The weather window right now is a great time for seeding thanks to cool nights, warm days and ample soil moisture.  We will look to continue/complete the over-seeding this week.  Below is a picture showing the new seedling growth.

With Fall aeration now behind us, we will turn our focus towards completing some sod projects over the next month or so.  This includes renovating the Exit area on hole #1.

Hope everyone gets out and enjoys the best time of year to be on the golf course.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Thursday, September 27th, 2018

Course Update

REMINDER: Fairway aerification will take place this Monday and Tuesday

All greens were aerated, cleaned, and topdressed on Monday.  Conditions were not favoring the process but things got better as the day went on.  Looking at the greens today, just 3 days post aerification, I am pleased with how they are coming along.  We mowed them today for the first time since Sunday and removed a lot of grass clippings, which is satisfying to see becuase this tells us they are actively growing to help with healing.  Yesterday afternoon, you may have seen a work cart driving on the greens.  Do not worry.  We were using a high powered blower to remove excess sand on the putting surfaces to help us get back to normal mowing practices as quickly as possible which returns the greens to full playability.  Today, we granular fertilized the greens which will further enhance the healing process.

Along with core-tining the greens, we verticutted most of them.  On a golf course, you have many micro-climates that result in different growing environments for turfgrass.  Knowing this, we treated each green based off it's own growing environment.  Individual greens may have received a verticut in 2 different directions, some only once, and some not at all.  This decision is all based on where the green sits environmentally.  The picture below is an example of this.  This is #13 green that received a double veritcut.  This green gets ample amounts of sun and airflow which leads to a higher water requirement, resulting in increased thatch production.  Bentgrass management has a lot to do with thatch management.  As you can see below, we removed a lot of thatch just by verticutting alone.  And when followed by core-tine aeration, we are not only removing more thatch material, but more concentrated organic matter as well.

Last week, we did a broad herbicide application in Fairways and Tees to target Kyllinga.  We are hoping to time it just right heading into the Fall to hopefully shut the Kyllinga down and achieve as much control as possible.  Today, we are noticing the Kyllinga starting to show symptoms of dying down.  This is good to see.  So if you notice patches that are vastly different in color, this is why.  The picture below illustrates this.  It was taken on #10 approach.

Next week, we will continue with some rough overseeding.  Along with this, we will be spot-treating fine turf areas that were weakened from the summer to help with recovery.  This will be done once we are finished with fairway aerification.

Yesterday felt like July, today feels like Fall.  We like Fall.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Saturday, September 22nd, 2018

REMINDER:  Greens aeration will take place this Monday.  Expect sandy, slower, and bumpier greens during the time of healing in the following days.  Thank you.

This past week, we continued on with over-seeding areas of rough that were thin or bare.  Some of these weakened areas are the result of the tough summer that we endured that resulted in rough stands getting stressed out from fungus, traffic, and environmental conditions.  You may notice some areas of rough that look as though the grass has been torn up.  It's the way the machine works with incorporating new seedlings into the ground and the messiness will go away once we mow over these areas.  So far, we have applied seed to holes 17-6.  We will continue on with this practice later next week.

A picture of the equipment used to plant the seed

Seed on the surface of the ground.  Tough to see, but the machine cuts pathways in the ground for the seed to fall into in order to achieve seed to soil contact.

Picture of what is left behind in areas where the machine was ran

As we continue on, Greens aeration with Fairway aeration the following week are key Fall dates when it comes to seasonal recovery and preparations towards the following year.  Once we are past these events, we will look to embark on Fall sod projects. 

Hope everyone gets out to enjoy the cooler temperatures on the golf course

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Friday, September 14th, 2018

COURSE UPDATE:

Since last weekends weather, it has created challenging conditions to get caught up on maintenance practices.  The golf course is a bit messy from accelerated growth rates and the all-day wet, damp conditions that have been presented.  The rough may get a bit shaggy.  Hopefully we get drier conditions over the next week to help everything settle back into a state of normalcy.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Monday, September 10th, 2018

Welcome to September, where we hope hot and humid days are fleeting and the real feel of Fall will slowly show itself.  Last week, we endured another nasty 4 day stretch of heat and humidity, a weather pattern that set record highs for the region.  The golf course has held up pretty well this season considering all that it has had to go through.  Seeing that we are already working on the second week of September, it brings comfort knowing that perhaps the brutal summer weather patterns are almost a thing of the past.

During times of oppressive heat and humidity, we really focus on our watering efforts.  Much of this has to do with the timing of watering practices and how much.  Water tends to be a resource that is easily abused and when not calculated correctly, can lead to turf problems.  A big advantage of having the course closed on Mondays is the way in which it helps us utilize the watering of the golf course for 2 days out of the week.  The day of, and the day after.  On these days, especially in the summertime, we piggyback off of the course being closed by doing as much of our watering during the day light hours as possible, most of which would normally be done during hours of darkness.  This allows us to cut back on water usage, focus watering events on the most crucial times of the day, and also helps combat disease pressure by minimizing the amount of night time leaf and soil wetness.  Doing it this way, soils typically remain on the drier side of an average standpoint, especially heading into hours of darkness, which also helps combat disease while also providing better playing conditions.  Sometimes, this is why you may notice the greens on the "firm" side.  It's all in effort to compete against what Mother Nature is offering.  Below is a picture of the fairway on 13 being "syringed" by use of irrigation heads on a closed course Monday.

We performed tee aeration on August 27th.  The process went smooth and we were able to remove a lot of thatchy, organic material from the teeing areas.  Later this Fall, we will perform an aggressive verti-cut and topdress on tees to help set it up for winter and help prepare for the 2019 season.  Below is a few pictures illustrating the process.

As we move forward, we are scheduled to aerify greens 2 weeks from today.  This will involve verticutting, core tining, and topdressing greens.  Of course this is all weather dependent.  Stay tuned.

I hope the weather will settle down for the better as we advance through September, even though the ominous forecasting of Hurricane Florence could potentially affect the Northeast late in the week.

We will provide course updates regarding any weather related events.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Friday, August 24th, 2018

 Today, we treated some broad areas of fine turf for grassy weeds on the golf course, focusing on tees, fairways, and approaches.  As previously noted, the targeted weeds will turn white and may remain white for a period of time.  The goal is to not affect the desirable turfgrasses.  This year has been a tough season for weed control.  With the weather patterns we have experienced, Spring preventative weed control lost it's effectiveness over the course of time.  We are beginning our attack on turf weeds today and will look to continue in the near future.  Our goal was to do more treatments next week, especially on the Kyllinga, but looking at the forecast of high temperatures, we may have to delay things.

This Monday, the 27th, we are planning to knock out tee aeration.

Below is a picture of the fairway on #1 from yesterday.  It is amazing to see the reaction of the turfgrass when more favorable temperatures enter the region.  You see immediate recuperation, growth, and change in color of the turfgrass.

 Though the current weather pattern has given us a little taste of Fall, Summer seems to have atleast one more reality check in-store for us next week with a span of atleast 4 days seeing temperatures climb over 90 degrees with high humidity levels once again.  We sure can't wait for it to be gone, but Summer is not done.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Wednesday, August 15th, 2018

Today, you may have noticed some aerification going on in the fairways.  This is an attempt to accelerate the drying out process from all of the rain we have had.  It is a 3/4" solid tine going down into the ground a couple of inches.  This helps oxygenate soils and helps the ground dry out.  We are targeting wetter areas of the golf course during this process.  We apprecaite your patience while playing through.

 Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Tuesday, August 14th, 2018

P.S.A.:  The weather we are currently experiencing has been an intense, oppresive stretch of heat, humidity, and wetness.  There has been no opportunity of recovery for the turf over the last couple of weeks.  The golf course is stressed out and we are implementing our best management practices in getting through this time period.  We ask for your patience during this challenging time.

Yesterday, we received 1.5" of rain.  Why is this bad at this particular moment?  Because with soils that were still wet from Saturdays rains, oxygen levels in the soils are minimal.  You may see some general yellowing, perhaps thinning in turf stands especially areas prone to saturation.

Here are a few pictures illustrating how hard the rain came down yesterday.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Sunday, August 5th, 2018

Welcome to August where the summer has been challenging and the maintenance team has perservered.  Hats off to the individuals on the maintenance staff who have put the work in throughout the season in maintaining the golf course.

Up to now, I'm pleased with how things have gone.  We have had some areas on the golf course show signs off weakness, whether it's due to heat, wetness, shade, or traffic.  But overall, the golf course is in a pretty good state heading into the latter parts of the summer.  Hopefully with August, we start to see some cooler nights accompany the shorter day lengths which will aid in turf health and recovery.

Last week, we performed a "vent" and "topdress" to all greens, along with topdressing approaches.  As mentioned before, topdressing is a cultural practice vital towards thatch dilution and smoothness of ball roll on putting surfaces.  Venting the greens allows for air exchange between the atmosphere and subsoils, allowing the root zones to "breathe".  Below is a picture of this process on #4 Green.

Recently, you may have noticed some "whiting" or "browning" of certain grassy weeds.  These areas were treated to control or suppress the active growth of the undesirable weed.  The whiting you see in the first picture is "goosegrass" that has been treated in the fairway on #5.  The second picture is "kyllinga" that has been treated on #7 tee.  Both weeds can be difficult to control and we will ramp up our intensity when the temperatures allow.  We do not use herbicides when temperatures are high due to the potential injury of the desirable turfgrasses, such as bentgrass.

Looking ahead, we have set some dates for aerification, weather depending, and they are as follows:

Greens Aeration:  September 24th

Fairway Aeration:  October 1st and 2nd

Greens Deep Tining:  October 29th

Fairway Deep Tining:  October 29th and 30th

Tee Aeration:  Select Mondays when course is closed

I hope everyone has enjoyed the summer and what the golf course has had to offer.  This is about the time of year where we look forward to the Fall season with climate change, but also with course projects.

This picture was snapped looking up #18 during the sunrise the other day.  It's good to stop sometimes and take something like this in.

The countdown to Football season is on

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Wednesday, July 18th, 2018

Long at last, the golf course received much needed rain yesterday.  Prior to yesterdays rain event, we endured a long, hot, and dry stretch of weather that started to show the negative effects on the golf course.  This will also provide stress relief for everyone involved.

If you have ever wondered how valuable a rain like the one we received yesterday is, here are some benefits to put it into perspective.

Water Quantity: We received 2" of rain during yesterdays storms.  That means this rainfall supplied over 3.9 million gallons of water to our 72+ acres of maintained turf.  That is a significant amount of water that would take weeks for us to apply through irrigation.  This total also represents 30% of our monthly water allotment.  Staggering!  Perhaps this helps to understand how important rainfall is to the environment, and especially the golf course.

Lightning+Rain=Nitrogen: When lightning is present, it releases bound up Nitrogen that is in the atmosphere that comes down with the rainfall, giving nutrients to the turfgrass.

Perfect Coverage: With a good rainfall, we achieve uniform coverage from the precipitation which allows any areas that are weak in irrigation coverage to receive sufficient watering.  This provides a good "restart" to the turfgrass and soils.

Below is a picture I took by the pond on the 7th hole of some pollinators busy at work on Milkweed.

Looking ahead, the temperatures look great for the next couple of days so get out and enjoy the nice break from the heat.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2018

Mother nature never seems to fail us when the 4th of July holiday comes along.  The last couple of days have presented some oppresive heat with nasty conditions for turfgrass.  Areas that are prone to drought stress have shown just that with the extreme heat combined with the winds during the last few days.  The maintenance staff is working diligently with handwatering practices to keep up.  Please be courteous to crew members if you see them handwatering any areas in play.  We are also finding some issues with irrigation coverage that are showing up during this time.  We are trying to manage the water in a way that we give the grass just enough water to get through the day without keeping it too wet.  These conditions are prime for disease development.

You may have noticed some odd browning of different grasses in the turf.  This is kyllinga that has been treated with an herbicide.  Kyllinga can be super aggresive and if not treated, it can start to crowd out desirable turfgrasses.

The picture below proves the effectiveness of the root pruning that was performed last year.  Trees out-compete grass.  Trees prove time and time again that they are a detriment to the health of the turf.

Stay cool

Steve Juhring, GCS

Thursday, June 28th, 2018

With the heat and humidity rising, summer time on the golf course is here.  This is the time of year where we do what we have to in order to "survive" the most stressful time of the year.  We will alter our mowing/rolling approach with the greens in order to keep as much stress as possible off of them.  And these considerations go for the rest of the golf course as well.  This could include changing some equipment on the mowing units themselves, alternating days of mowing and rolling, and so on.

This week, we applied a topdressing to the greens on Monday.  This is a way to help control thatch levels in the greens, help create smoother surfaces, and improve the relationship between the surface of the green and the subsoil regarding water infiltration and aeration.  Below are pictures of 18 Green and 15 Approach being topdressed.  Doing the approaches has similar benefits.

Last week, we began the process of putting a hard edge back on the bunkers.  This is a time consuming and labor intensive project that will be done over an extended period of time, but the results are satisfying and it will give us a "re-start" in maintaining the integrity of the bunkers.  Below is a before and after picture of the fairway bunker on #4.

With the holiday coming up, I hope everyone has a good, safe 4th of July.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Tuesday, June 12th, 2018

Welcome to June.  We have had a good start to the "summer months" but things can change fast.  I have seen times of wetness quickly change to times of drought, so we will utilize this time of wet weather the best we can.

The heavy rains from the past few days created problem areas, wet soils, and soft conditions.  Today, we spent time repairing the bunkers.  The rain storms from Sunday and Monday created wash-outs in every bunker on the golf course.

With cultivation practices behind us and the greens just about fully healed from DryJect, we will turn our attention towards dialing up the playability of the putting surfaces.  Today, we did our first "Brush then Cut" on the greens for the season.  This practice is done periodically throughout the year.  It helps smoothen out putting surfaces, removes "Grain", and provokes the turf to have a more "upright" growth-habit.  Over time, the bentgrass leaf blades will grow horizontally resulting in the need to brush the surfaces.  Below is a pitcure illustrating the line of cut after the green had been brushed.

Next picture is of #1 Green and the brush used to groom the putting surfaces.  To this point, I am pleased with the condition of the green considering some alterations that were made in our approach towards managing it compared to last year.  With many "micro-climates" throughout the golf course, each green can be different.  Figuring out what each one wants takes time.

This week, our focus is to dial in the golf course in anticipation of this weekends Member/Guest Tournament.

Thank you

Steve Juhring, GCS

Wednesday, May 30th, 2018

DryJect was completed yesterday on greens.  This is a great practice to aid in the dilution of organic content in the root zones.  It carries minimal invasiveness and is a great addition towards our goal of managing the soils in greens.

You may have noticed some "browning" of the turf on tees.  Some more than others, and perhaps different sections of individual tees more than other sections.  This is not a result of the "Tees burning out".  This is the result of poor mowings.  Two weeks ago, when we had the 5 day stretch of rain, we had to mow despite them being too wet.  Then the following week, we got behind on mowing the tees with trying to get caught up with everything else due to the rain.  This resulted in consecutive mowings where we received a poor cut thus causing the browning of the tips of the leaf blades, causing areas to have an overall brown color to them.  They are recovering and will look better with each mowing now that we are getting back to a normal mowing schedule.

The Driving Range is on the grass today for the first time this season.  The turf has shown enough life to this point to show that it is ready for traffic.

With cultivation practices now behind us, we set our focus towards the Summer months and doing what we need to in order to put the golf course in the best position to succeed into the Fall.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Sunday, May 20th, 2018

From the rain received over the past 4 days, the golf course is saturated.  It will need time to dry out.  This week, we will get caught up on what we need to.

EXPECT CART RESTRICTIONS ON TUESDAY IF YOU ARE PLAYING GOLF.  PLEASE PASS THIS MESSAGE ALONG TO ANY PLAYING PARTNERS.

Thank you for your patience

Steve Juhring, GCS

Wednesday, May 16th, 2018

Course update.

Greens aerification was completed this past Monday.  Conditions were not ideal for the process but the maintenance staff worked hard until late in the day to get done what we needed to.  The process was verticut, punch, clean, overseed select greens, topdress, brush, roll, mow.

We used smaller holes but on a tighter spacing to help with healing time and invasiveness of play.  We overseeded greens #1, #3, #9, #14, and #15 using 007 Bentgrass seed.  This seed has a quick germination rate and the motive to doing it was to improve the turfstands on these greens.  Looking at the last picture, inside the red circle is the fresh aerification hole that has been backfilled by sand.  You can notice the bottom of the channel punching through the layer of organic buildup which will promote root growth through these layers and help improve aeration and surface drainage while diluting organic content.

During the late Tuesday evening thunderstorms, we received some lightning damage.  We had a bad lightning strike by #3 Green.  The voltage from the lighting shot up to the irrigation clock here and blew up the communication board and related fuses, and the current was forceful enough to follow the line around the golf course and blow fuses in other irrigation clocks in different parts of the golf course.  On #3, we are still currently diagnosing the irrigation clock, as well as solenoids at the irrigation heads themselves to get the irrigation fixed completely.  With time, we will need to continue checking for bad solenoids in the field.  Sometimes, if not found in time, the area where we have a bad solenoid shows up in the form of turf drying out.  We are taking the necessary steps in getting everything fixed.

In 2 weeks, we will be Dry-Jecting greens.  This is another great practice towards the dilution of organic matter.

With the rain we are receiving this week, we will be behind on mowing, specifically rough.  Once the weather lets up, we will be diligent in getting caught up on everything.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Tuesday, May 8th, 2018

May is here and Spring has finally shown itself.  The recent warmer temperatures have had a good impact on turfgrass with soil temperatures rising.

The pre-emergent application that was originally scheduled for April 30th went down yesterday.  Some changes in scheduling had to be made in order to get it done.  Needless to say, one of the more important applications of the year has been completed.

A few important things still needed to get done include Greens aeration and Dry-Jecting.  These are scheduled to be completed May 14th and May 29th.

As we continue to cross things off the Spring to do list, we inch closer towards gearing up for the heat of the season through the summer.

Thank you

Steve Juhring, GCS

Wednesday, April 25th, 2018

Course Update:

This past Monday, we verticutted and topdressed the tees.  Some tees were treated differently with the verticutting process, depending on the location and growing nature of the individual tee.  Combining verticutting with core-tining is a great addition towards the attack on thatch removal.  Topdressing the tees can yield the same benefits as topdressing greens, but a side catch to topdressing tees is the natural mitigation of earthworm activity and the worm castings they create that pose complications to turf surfaces and our mowing equipment.

In case you ever wondered about the effectiveness of root-pruning trees, this picture taken yesterday, shall speak for itself...

We have gotten a good amount of season prep work completed, but still have some final pushing to do.  This includes our pre-emergent application which is going down this coming Monday, as well as Greens aeration and Dry-Jecting.

Greens aeration is scheduled for May 14th and Dry-Jecting is scheduled for May 29th.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Friday, April 20th, 2018

Time is moving quickly as we continue our preparations for the 2018 season.  With winter-like temperatures still hanging around, it has afforded us time to continue focusing on detail oriented work.  Such work would include edging irrigation heads and drains, drainage work, and continuance of sod work, to name a few.

On #15, we added a catch basin to an existing drain line.  We found the end of the line by "probing" along the run of the line until we found the end cap.  Then we dug down to expose the drain so that we could add the catch basin to it.  After the heavy rains this past Monday, there was no standing water in the facinity of the new drain box, an area that would result with some standing water after a heavy rain.  We will address the need for additional drainage here in the future.

This week, on hole #8, we finished some sod work to the front of #8 fairway.  We rough sodded the remaining portion of the fairway where we took bentgrass sod from for #2 tee.  We were able to utilize the sod that we cut from this area to do some patch work in a few spots on #8 fairway.  Transplanting sod from this area has now allowed us to rehab #2 tee, while also improving other areas on the hole itself.

Our irrigation system is now charged, a sure sign that the golfing season is upon us.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Friday, April 13th, 2018

An update on #2 Tee.  Today, we aerified the tee, picked the material up, and applied a heavy top-dressing of sand to fill the holes.  This is a great way to remove organic matter and replace it with sand.  Doing this will set the tee up to withstand the foot traffic that it will see once the tee is open.  We may or may not do another aerification to the tee similar to what we did today.  All in all, the tee is looking good and healthy.  Pictures below.

It has come a long way, and with that, we are taking our time in the opening of the tee to make sure it is ready for play.

See you on the golf course

Steve Juhring, GCS

Wednesday, April 11th, 2018

Fairway aeration came to a close today.  With frost on Monday morning, that set us back each day with punching holes and cleaning the fairways.  It went well and we were able to remove a lot of thatchy material which benefits the turf and soils in the long run.  Below is a picture showing one of the machines used to clean the fairway.

The process is time consuming but great for turf health.

The original scheduling of Deep-Tining fairways for April 23rd and 24th has been pushed back to Wednesday, April 25th.

The weather looks like it will be changing for the better over the next couple days which is good to see.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Sunday, April 8th, 2018

Fairway aerification will be conducted as originally scheduled, tomorrow and Tuesday.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Wednesday, April 4th, 2018

Welcome to April and the hopes of better weather, though that does not look imminent.

Today marked another good day of course projects to get done.  We installed drainage behind #1 Green.  This is a soft, wet area that this project aims to help move water out of the immediate facinity.  Below are a few pictures to illustrate the steps taken to complete the project.

Overall, the drain came out good.  The dirt pictured to right in the last picture is the excess dirt that remains after laying the pipe and gravel for the drain.

Yesterday, we had a pleasant surprise of a Bald Eagle hanging out on hole #6 by the ponds.  I was able to snap this picture as he flew from atop of one of the trees.  Pretty cool.

Fairway aeration scheduled for Monday and Tuesday may be in danger due to the forecasted weather.  Stay Tuned.

Hope the weather changes for the better so ourselves and golfers alike can get on with the season.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Friday, March 30th, 2018

With the golf course re-opening this past Wednesday afternoon, normal setup procedures were taken care of.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate moving forward.

Yesterday, we performed the first mow to the sodded tee on #2.  With that, a soil profile was taken to observe how well the sod is rooting to the original base of the tee and it all looked great.  We will perform an aggressive aeration to promote even better rooting of the sod.  This will also help to remove more rich material and thatch to help the tee perform.

In the picture, you will notice some seams from each individual piece of sod that was laid down.  These seams will mesh together through aerifying, topdressing, and growth once the temperatures promote it.  To this point, I am pleased with the progress we have made here.

As a reminder, we are scheduled to aerify Fairways on April 9th and 10th.

Hope everyone has a good Easter.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Monday, March 26th, 2018

Today marks the first day since Winter Storm Toby that we will be able to get around the golf course for cleanup.  We had good snow melt in the last few days, but the golf course looks like it will remain closed for the beginning of this week.  Temperatures tomorrow and Wednesday look favorable for getting the golf course re-opened.

This week, we will look to finish the aeration of tees, though we will have to evaluate how wet the soils are prior to doing so.  With that, we will go through normal golf course setup preparations when we hit the point of re-opening the golf course.

Hopefully consistently warmer weather is ahead so we can get the 2018 golf season underway.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Tuesday, March 20th, 2018

So long the arrival of "Spring" and hello again to Old Man Winter.  With another snow storm looming, this will put another setback to golf course maintenance operations.

Yesterday, the Tees on holes 6 to 15 were aerated and cleaned.  We had a late start due to frost and freeze, but were able to be productive once we got going.  We had some mechanical failure on a machine which prevented us from being able to finish all of the tees yesterday.  Our plan is to finish the aeration this coming Monday, along with verti-cutting the tees, depending on the snow cover.

Some other notes is the sod projects on #2 tee and #8 were finished last week.  The opening of the rehabbed tee on #2 will come at a time when we feel the tee is ready for play, which may not be until early May.

See you on the Golf Course

Steve Juhring, GCS

Friday, March 9th, 2018

With opening day next week, the golf course is just about ready to go.  Some finishing touches involving greens setup, bunker work, and cleanup will be done as close to opening day as possible.  We are also planning to finish the sod work on holes #2 and #8 next week.

Looking at the weather forecast, a potential snow storm Monday could impact Opening Day and the golf course.  With the wet weather we have been having causing soft soils, we more than likely will be cart path only to begin the season.  This is done to protect the turf from damage due to excessively wet soils.

I'm looking forward to the 2018 season.  It should be a good one.

Thank You

Steve Juhring, GCS

Thursday, February 22nd, 2018

Preparations for course opening continue as stated before.  The golf course seems to be surviving the winter well, and with only a few more weeks until Opening Day, I'm hopeful for a good transition from Winter into Spring.

With the recent warm temperatures, I'm sure members are getting the "itch" to get out on the course.  Rest assured that by keeping the course closed through the turf-dormant months, you are doing the golf course a great service by keeping the stress of carts, foot traffic, and wear from play off of the turf.  With the inability for turf recovery this time of year, irreversible damage can be done.  Protecting it now leads to healthier turf-stands in season.

Some cultivation practice dates to keep in mind:

Greens Core-Aeration:  May 14th

Fairway Core-Aeration: April 9th and 10th

Tee Core-Aeration: Select Mondays in March

Dry-Ject of Greens: May 29th

Deep-Tine of Fairways: April 23rd, and 24th if needed

We will utilize the closed course Mondays as much as we can, though weather could always be a potential threat to scheduling.  Our goal with "core-aeration" is to continue managing thatch and organic matter levels as much as possible.  They tend to go hand-in-hand but too much of either one can result in poor turf and soil performance.  The Dry-Ject is another way to help dilute organic levels in the upper portion of the root-zones.  Deep-tining is something we aspire to do in the Spring and Fall for years to come to combat compaction created from environmental factors, golf carts, and turf equipment.  It is a great application to fracture sub-soil compaction layers.

Golf course preparations will begin next week for the anticipated March 13th Opening Day.  See you then.

Thanks

Steve Juhring, GCS

Wednesday, February 7th, 2018

Winter work continues down in the maintenance building.  This work includes painting course accessories, working on equipment to prepare it for the new season, and agronomically planning for the 2018 golf season.  Winter seems to be moving quickly as does time in general, so we are doing our best at staying ahead of things so we can have a smooth transition into the course opening which is creeping up on the horizon.

Geese chasing has been performed through the winter months, with common results: geese fly away only to reappear hours later.  They are a recurring problem that has seemingly intensified this winter.

It's a great time to be a Philadelphia sports fan

Fly Eagles Fly

Steve Juhring, GCS

Tuesday, January 2nd, 2018

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I hope everyone had a good, safe holiday season.  It is a great time of year to appreciate the important things in life.

In 2018, we will look to feed off of the momentum created in 2017.  Overall, I am pleased with what we were to able to put forth on the golf course for members to enjoy.  Our goals for 2018 are much the same, and that is to continue improving and make the course better each day with a long term goal of sustaining success.  This is accomplished through creating a vision towards how we perceive things to be and making it happen.

Each year brings new opportunity to build and grow through establishing standards.  We will look to build off the momentum created in 2017 to make 2018 great.

Happy New Year

Steve Juhring, GCS

Monday, December 11th, 2017

It's crazy to realize Thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas is approaching quickly.  The 2017 season has flown by.  Hope everyone has been having a good holiday season thus far.

Over the last week or so, you may have noticed some on-going project work on the golf course.  We have completed the renovation of the teeing surface for the white tee on #2, as well prepped the tee surround along with the area down on the right side of #8 close to the green.  These are projects aimed to improve the aesthetics of the golf course with imroving performance and playability.  Below are some pictures to illustrate the work that was completed and will be completed at an appropriate time.

#2 Tee Before

#2 Tee Prepped and graded

#2 Tee Sodded

#8 Rough area prepped for sod

For some reason, most of the pictures would not go in correctly.  If you right click on the picture, then select "Open Image in New Tab", you will be able to view the pictures correctly.

The sod for #2 Tee was transplanted from the fron of #8 fairway.  Where this sod was removed will be replaced with rough sod.  The other areas that will also need to be sodded are the tee surround of white tee on #2, and the area that has been prepped by #8 green.  We had anticipated laying the rough today but the snow storm on Saturday derailed those plans.  We will complete these projects given the right timing.

Thanks

Steve Juhring

Thursday, November 23rd, 2017

I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  This season has come and gone quickly and it's hard to believe the holiday season is here.  It's a great time of year.

Hope your Thanksgiving was fulfilling

Steve Juhring

Friday, November 17th, 2017

Concluded yesterday, the irrigation system has been blown out.  This is an important step in winter preparation for the golf course's most vital asset.  It is also a strong indicator of the golfing season winding down.

The recent rains that have been received every few days has kept the golf course soft via wet soils.  We have had numerous cart path only days with select holes being prolonged.  This is in effort to protect the golf course from extensive cart traffic.

Once we move past the Thanksgiving holiday, we will look to turn our attention to completing some projects on the golf course.  These would include drainage in certain areas, as well some sod projects.

Hope everyone has been enjoying the golfing weather that November has had to offer.

See you on the golf course

Steve Juhring

Wednesday, November 8th, 2017

Beginning next week, Monday, we will be blowing out the irrigation system.  This is a vital step towards getting the golf course prepped for winter.  The irrigation system is the lifeline to the golf course and doing this helps protect it through the winter.

Recent rains have prolonged the soft conditions on the golf course, making the course vulnerable to traffic (carts, spikes, ballmarks, divots, etc.).  Please practice course etiquette when making your rounds.

Happy November

Steve Juhring

Friday, October 27th, 2017

FAIRWAY AERIFICATION UPDATE:  Fairway aerification came to a conclusion yesterday.  We will be spot cleaning any areas that need it over the next few days.  We appreciate your cooperation in having to close holes 10 through 18 to allow us to complete it.  These are all efforts in keeping the golf course healthy and appealing.

Next week, we plan to turn our focus towards some more projects.  Our plan is to do additional rough sod work on #8, sod work on the greenside bunker on #15, and do the sod work on the "white" tee for #2.  The sod used on the tee will be transplanted from the very front of #8 fairway, with rough sod taking its place.  This is a start towards the renovation of #2 tee complex with goals of improvement.

It looks like we will be impacted by a significant Nor'easter this Sunday.  We may see prolonged cart restrictions depending on the amount of rain that is received.

See you on the golf course

Steve Juhring

Wednesday, October 25th, 2017

FAIRWAYS UPDATE: Holes 1 through 9 were aerated and cleaned on Monday, along with the approaches on holes 12 and 16.  This process was finished in the dark to beat the forecasted rain for the following day.  Tomorrow, the 26th, holes 10 through 18 will be closed to allow us to finish the aerification.  The rains from yesterday have made things soggy, so we will change our approach tomorrow to avoid uneccessary damage from heavy machinery during the cleanup process due to soft/wet conditions.  This time of year, soils are slow to dry due to air temperatures along with the weakened strength and duration of sunlight.

ROOT-PRUNING:  It has been a little over a month since we completed the root-pruning project on the golf course.  This process cuts off the competition of tree roots from the turfgrass and allows the turfgrass to gain the competitive edge in regards to water and nutrients.  If you observe the photo below, you can see the dividing line of where the machine made the cut along the root zones of the trees.  

 To the right of the cut line, you have the area where trees are still taking up water and nutrients through their root systems, thus choking out the surrounding turfgrass.  To the left of the cut line, tree roots have been cutoff from utilizing underground resources, resulting in the turfgrass using what is in the ground to have a healthier growth habit.  Trees may serve a fine purpose in the general setting of a landscape, but they can be highly detrimental to a golf course through shade issues along with the problems evidenced here.  It is satisfying to see these results.

It looks like the Fall temperatures will be getting lower over the next 10 days.  We may experience some frost delays given the right temperatures.  Stay tuned.

See you on the golf course

Steve Juhring

10/22/2017

The forecast for continuing fairway aerification on Tuesday does not look good.  We will get done what we can on Monday, and figure out a game plan from there.  Unnecessary damage could be caused by trying to operate machinery on the turf if it is too wet.  We will assess the situation on Tuesday and the days after.

Thanks

Steve Juhring

10/19/2017

REMINDER:  Fairway aerification is set to begin on Monday, the 23rd.  The weather forecast looks great for Monday, but gloomy the days following.  We will do as much work as we can on Monday in anticipation of inclement weather.  We will only aerate what we think can be cleaned up in a timely manner to avoid having uncleaned fairways if rain hits.  Stay tuned for further updates.

PRIMARY ROUGH:  Height-of-cut on the rough machines has been lowered as of today.  This should help provide more player-friendly conditions when hitting out of the rough.  Enjoy.

Frost delays will be arriving soon.  No golf or maintenance activity on turf can begin until frost has lifted.  The duration of frost delays varies depending on weather conditions.  Check with the proshop regarding delays on mornings when frost is possible.

Happy Thursday

Steve Juhring

10/15/2017

Yesterday's Ryder Cup match between members and BCG personnel was quite enjoyable.  The friendly/competitive nature of the event was fun and am looking forward to next year's.

We had a couple different shotgun events this past week, along with a couple rain events.  Everything is growing good.  One problem this has caused is thick, healthy rough that is hard to hit out of.  This coming week, it will be priority number 1 to get the rough cut and back to a better playable condition.

The height-of-cut on greens was lowered this past week back to our normal cutting height that we maintained all summer.  This is a sign that the greens are back to normal since aerification and better putting conditions can be expected.

Up next on the cultivation schedule is the aeration of fairways which will take place on the 23rd and 24th of this month.  This will just about wrap-up core-tine aerification on fine turf surfaces.

Enjoy the great weather that Fall has had to offer thus far

Steve Juhring

10/6/2017

Today, and over the past couple of days, you may have noticed the tractor operating in the rough and fairways, particularly in high traffic areas.  This is a continued effort to alleviate compacted areas from cart traffic to promote healthier turf and soils.  Please be mindful of the operator that is running the machine.

The greens are coming along, perhaps slower than expected.  With the current warmer temperatures, it should help boost growth rates to get the greens back to 100%.

PLEASE AVOID USING BODILY SPRAYS WHEN STANDING ON TURF

Happy Golftober

Steve Juhring

9/26/2017

All greens were aerated, cleaned, and topdressed yesterday.  We put a great application to the greens through the amount of material removed combined with the amount of sand put down to fill the holes.  Over the course of today, including the next few days, we will be touching up any areas light on sand or trying to disperse some of it away where it is heavy.  We will also look to resume our cultural practices to help dial the greens into a more playable condition.  You can expect sandy, slower, and bumpier putting surfaces over the next few days.

Below is a picture to represent the underneath surface of the punched holes.  It is satisfying to see the aeration tines breaking through the layer of organic buildup.  Using sand to fill the empty holes, we create more channels for air exchange and water movement while diluting the zone of organic matter.  Overall, I am pleased with the result and look to turn our focus towards the healing process.

Happy Tuesday

Steve Juhring

9/23/2017

REMINDER:  We will be aerating greens this Monday, September 25th.  Expect greens to be slower and bumpier during the time of healing.  We will also be deep-tining select fairways on Monday, and part of Tuesday as well.  Please do your best to play around the operator if you plan to tee it up on Tuesday.

Happy Fall

Steve Juhring

9/15/2017

As the sun angles get shallower heading into Fall, we start to encounter more shade issues on the golf course and on putting surfaces, especially with morning sun.  Pictured below is a clear representation of the ill effect morning shade can have on turf and it's root system.

Note the rooting in this picture of a shaded green

And now notice the rooting of a green that receives full sun from sunrise to sunset

This second picture illustrates a much healthier root mass and rooting depth thanks to sunlight.

Happy Friday

Steve Juhring

9/13/2017

This week, we completed the sod project on #4.  The sod used was Turf-Type Tall Fescue.  The bentgrass that was cut from this area was transplanted to the fairway on #8, as well as added to the "nursery" that we prepped in the very back of the driving range.  The fairway sod on #8 still needs some touching up but should come in nicely.  One it is competely healed and ready for play, the ropes will be taken down.  Over time, we will also assess the potential need for additional drainage to this area.

Beginning today, we began the root-pruning process.  You may have noticed the orange tractor on select holes.  The process is slow, but will greatly benefit the golf course through cutting off tree roots that are encroaching the turf and ultimately choking it out.  We should be done with the root-pruning by Thursday afternoon.  Moving forward, these areas that were once in the zone of root encroachment should start to recover.

As a reminder, we are scheduled to aerify greens on Monday, September 25th.  You can expect slower, bumpier putting surfaces during the healing time of the aerification holes.  On the Monday and Tuesday of that same week, we will be deep-tining select fairways to help alleviate compaction.  If you are playing golf Tuesday, please be mindful of the operator working in the fairway. 

Have a nice day

Steve Juhring

9/8/2017

You may notice that #8 fairway has been prepped for sod.  It has been marked as ground under repair so please try and avoid hitting from this area and driving carts through it.  On Monday, we will continue the on-going bailout projects by prepping #4 bailout.  When this sod is cut away, it will be transferred to #8 fairway to finish that area.  We will also be sodding the very left side of #1 approach off to the left of the green.  It will be very minimal and our goal is to keep our fine turf mowers from having to cut through that steep catch-basin where it is damaged and has damaged our mowers before.

Tuesday, #4 will be sodded with turf-type tall fescue as well as the little area to the left of #1 green. 

See you on the golf course

Steve Juhring

9/6/2017

Tee aeration was completed with success yesterday.  All tees, including the range tee and target greens, were punched and cleaned.  

With the holiday and tee aeration, today we are trying to catch back up on daily practices in the midst of passing thunderstorms.

Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend

Steve Juhring

8/30/2017

Another 1.1" of rain received throughout the day yesterday.  Despite it being wet, the long steady rain with the cool temperatures was great for the golf course as it was beginning to dry out.

Monday, the greens were vented, topdressed, brushed, and rolled, then rolled again yesterday morning to help smoothen out any bumps from the process.  This is the last time this will be done this year.  Next up, core-aerification in about a month.

We are planning on aerifying teeing surfaces this coming Tuesday, the day after Labor Day.  It will be nice to get this practice done so we can begin narrowing our focus heading into the fall.

Just six days after overseeding #1 green, we are seeing results.  The dew pattern this morning on the green was the best I've seen it since starting here in June.  There is noticeable growth coming out of the seed beds, as evidenced in the picture below.  This picture was taken from the edge of the green to best illustrate the response in overseeding.  The entire putting surface was treated with added emphasis to the edge of the green.  007 bentgrass seed was used.

Good luck to everyone in this Monday's Labor Day Tournament

Steve Juhring

8/23/2017

We received 2.1" of rain in last nights storms.  The golf course is very wet.  Today was a great opportunity to dedicate the day to manicuring bunkers.  Mowers will be kept off until the ground dries out.  With that, we have been doing our best at trying to keep up with mowings.  Certain days, the rough mowers are going at first light to the end of the work day in efforts to keep up with the needed mowing.

Today, you may notice that #1 green is the only green to have a million little holes in it.  We punched it, seeded it, put sand down, and brushed it all into the holes.  These holes help to create seed beds for seedlings to sit and germinate.  Looking at the weather forecast, we should have great weather for pushing growth.

Monday, we will vent all greens one more time as our last "bridge" until the core aerification that is tentatively scheduled towards the end of September.

Happy Wednesday

Steve Juhring

8/21/2017

With 1.5" of rain received throughout the day Friday, followed by a warm night with high humidity, it placed the turfgrass under severe stress.  Some areas remain wet today. Saturated soils decrease oxygen levels in the root zone which can lead to visibly stressed turf stands.  Looking at the forecast over the next week, conditions should improve with the ground drying out.  Please try and avoid low areas in fairways as they are still soft and wet.

DIVOTS- if you take a divot and it remains together and intact, then replace it.  It will have the ability to heal.  If you take a divot and it comes out in pieces, then please replace using the divot bottles attached to the golf cart.  Trying to piece a divot back together to replace it will not heal.

Hope everyone played well in the Member/Member

Steve Juhring

8/10/2017

Hope everyone has been enjoying the summer weather.

Beginning today, we will be placing bunker rakes along the inside edges of the bunkers.  This will aim to help with conveniency for golfers being able to locate the rakes.  When finished, please place the rake back along the inside edge of the bunker.

It's great to see the variety of wildlife around the property.  The big snapping turtle on hole 6 was spotted today making his way towards one of the ponds.

Have a nice day

Steve Juhring

7/30/2017

With summer moving by quickly, it has had plenty to offer in my short time at Oceanaire.  The latter half of June and most of July offered little rain with hot, humid, and dry conditions.  Our top priority since June 12th has been focusing on the efficiency of our water use.  Implementing handwatering practices allows us to put water where it needs to go and enables us to create a balance in our water management strategy.  We have been slowly changing parts out in the irrigation heads to help direct water use where it needs to go and save from watering areas that do not need to be irrigated.  An example of this would be 14 tee.  We changed mutliple heads on the basin side of the tee to part circle heads to focus solely on the watering of the tee and nothing else that does not need it.  We have seen great results from doing this and will continue to scout out different areas that could benefit from this.

The golf course has been holding up well through the multiple heat waves that we have endured thus far.  With select Mondays dedicated to course closing for maintenance, we have been able to complete different practices to aid with combatting summer stress.  Last Monday, July 24th, we needle tined all of the greens.  This is a great practice that takes time to get done.  What this does is open up the putting surfaces with minimal to no disruption of ball roll and allows everything underneath to "breathe".  This also helps to break surface tension in the soil.  Next, we have been routinely topdressing greens.  A few benefits of a topdressing program for greens is increased smoothness, ability to recover from stress, and helping to control thatch levels.  This is something that we will continue to do.

This week, we will begin treating areas with herbicides to control grassy weeds.  You may notice some discoloration (white/brown) of these weeds and that is from the herbicide doing its job while leaving the desired turfgrasses unaffected.

With the most recent rains and temperatures, we have noticed some great turf recovery.  It has provided relief for both the golf course and the maintenance crew.  With August around the corner, we should start trending towards cooler nights with shorter days which will continue to benefit the turf.

See you on the golf course

Steve Juhring

Friday, March 22nd, 2019

I hope everyone has enjoyed the first week of the 2019 golf season.  The weather was not favorable for golf conditions with frost to start to the week and now rain to finsih the week.  Hopefully the weather turns for the better next week.

This week, we began working on bunkers.  This was much discussed alst year as far as addressing maintenance needs.  We have gone around and edged the bunkers where needed and took notes along the way.  There are some bunkers that will be receiving sand replenishment while most were good.  With that, we dug out the old material in a small pot bunker on 14, and another on 18 and they will receive all fresh sand.  These bunkers have been marked as ground under repair for the time.  We are hoping to continue with the bunker work next week when we begin adding sand where needed.  Below are a few pictures of an example of the edge of the bunker being re-established, followed by a pitcure of the bunker on number 14 that the old red-sand material was dug out of.

We may pick out one or two more bunkers to dig out and refill with fresh sand.