Course Conditions

Will we ever catch up!  Warm weather and a wet start to the spring has provided great conditions for grass to actively grow.  And I mean actively grow!   The greens crew is working hard at trying to keep the grass at desirable heights.  Unfortunately with the rapid growth, we are having to turn around and cut  roughs 2-3 times a week.  Also we have to deal with trying to spread out clumping grass.

Greens as well go through the same cycle this time of year, where all of the energy reserves they have stored through the winter, and spring fertilization transfers into rapid growth.  There are many tricks and tools to try to keep greens speed desirable and consistent from green to green, which go beyond just mowing and rolling.  Whether it is the use of growth regulators, fertilizing techniques, wetting agents, regulating overhead watering, or vertical mowing and topdressing.  Balancing these processes varies from golf course to course, and as well each individual greens requirements on that course. 

Vertical mowing is done for the following reasons;

- Remove excessive leaf growth that contributes to puffy, spongy surface conditions.
- Improve mowing quality and surface smoothness.
- Cut laterally growing stolons and promote an upright growth habit.
- Open grooves in the turf canopy for the incorporation of sand topdressing.

This process is done frequently in the spring time as the grass on greens is very dense and actively growing.  Periodically through the season we will vertical cut as needed.  Vertical cutting is also preformed on our tees and fairways.

Below are a few pictures of this process

Close up of a vertical cutting reel

#4 Green vertical cut before cleaning

#4 Green Collar

Green cleaned up after being vertical cut

Dragging in Topdressing sand

Wildlife at FLCC

The golf course at Forest Lake provides a perfect corridor for wildlife to live and pass through.  Over the past few weeks we have been able to capture a few of our wild life visitors on the course.  We hope you have an opportunity to catch a glimpse during your golf round.

Swan - Hole #5

Wild Turkey - Hole #6

Egret - Hole #6

Mallard Ducks - Hole #7

Snapping Turtle - Hole #2

Snapping Turtle under water - Hole #5

Spring Trees

Spring is a great time to be out on the golf course.  The weather has been fantastic over the last 10 days and we have seen many players back on the golf course.  Part of the golf experience is being able to appreciate the environment.  The grass has greened up across the course and we are in perfect timing to appreciate all of the vibrant colors of plants and trees.  Trees on the golf course serve many purposes.  They can define golf holes and how they are played, to add to the strategy of the hole.  They also can be used as a noise and visual barricade to eliminate visual and noise distractions.  Other trees are placed on the golf course and property to enhance the property from leaf textures and their flowering colors.  Below are a few examples.

Flowering Crab #4

Cleveland Pear #10 Green

Purple Beech #15 /16

Forsythia #9 Tee

Weeping Ornamentals

Course Conditions

Warmer weather has finally arrived, and with the abundance of rainfall we have received, grass has really greened up and started to rapidly grow.  The greens crew went from having nothing to mow to having to double cut to keep up in 1 week. 

      One thing we always experience this time of year is a dramatic decrease in green speeds.  This is again caused by rapid growth, and wet conditions, causing the greens to become very dense.  When putting on the greens even though the cut looks very tight, the turf actually feels sticky. Over the next 2 weeks, our biggest challenge will be on trying to keep the greens speeds desirable.

We have been working through some of the detailing projects on the course.   Over the next month a lot of our focus is on some of the details that go beyond maintaining the course for everyday play.  Here are a few projects we have been working on over the past couple weeks.   The pictures below show the crew hand edging the bunkers to create a nice crisp edge

Edging #11 green side bunkers

 

Removing grass from the edge

A little attention was needed on the two ends of the creek on #16.  The stone area has been weeded and new landscape rocks added for improvement.  We are also in the process of making new foot bridges for the creek.  You can expect them to be installed next week.

#16 Creek before

#16 Creek after

Removing the fence on #9 and #6.  The split rail fence has been on the property for numerous years.  After repairing it several times during it's existence, it was finally time to part ways.  There will still be a split rail fence on #7 and a couple of isolated areas on the golf course.

 

Removing the fence

Roadside afterwards

 

April has been a month so far of cooler temperatures and an abundance of rain.  The grass has been slow to green up and the trees are trying to bud out but are not quite there.  Yesterday afternoon's warm temperatures finally provided the right conditions for some green up.  The increased temperatures were followed by a rapid drop in temperature and a substantial wind and rain storm with it.  Due to these conditions we lost 2 trees in the Pine grove between 11/12.  One tree was an existing dead Pine that the Red Tailed Hawks perched on, as well as another White Pine.  Both of these trees had health and structural problems.

White Pines between 11 and 12

The last several years the Red Tailed Hawks have nested in the White Pines in this area of the course.  As some of the White Pines have been removed, we are fortunate that the hawks have created nests in other neighboring trees.  This year there are 2 Red Tailed Hawks that are still living on the golf course in the pine groves between 11/12.  So during your golf round look up in the sky and there is a good chance you will see the hawks soaring around.

Red Tail Hawk by #7 Green

The rainfall that we have been receiving is causing an increase in the water level in Forest Lake and the lakes that feed into it.  This could cause a flooding problem on the golf course, in the low lying areas of #2, #6 and the driving range.  The weir system that helps sustain Forest Lake at a suitable level has been opened to relieve water.  This water travels through the waterway on the right of the 2nd Tee box under hole #2 to the creek on #6.  When our network of underground drainage cannot handle the surplus of water it will start backing up and flooding into the driving range area.  This process of lowering the lake levels will be done over the next week.  At the moment we have been able handle the increase in volume of water and move it underground across the golf course. Below are a few pictures from today.

"Lake in the Woods"  bottom right is the culvert just under water

#5 foot bridge with the water level 1"inch from the bottom

Welcome back for the 2103 season.  We are excited to be back on the course to provide great conditions on the golf course this year.  As many of you witnessed in the fall, the reconstruction  of #2 Tees,#3 Tees and surrounds.   Since the final grading and sod work were finished late in the year, the turf had not had a chance to root in.  With the cold start to spring this process has been slow as well.  We have been able to open the two forward tees on #2 for play, and expect to be playing on #3 Tee boxes for Men's Opening Day.

Standing behind #3 Tees

        Our goal to improve the golf course and playing conditions every year lead us to start improving our greens right out of the gate.  We decided to aerify the greens on Monday April 15th.  Instead of the traditional method of core removal and filling with sand, we brought in DryJect of Michigan to inject 20 ton of sand into our greens.  There equipment uses high pressure water to penetrate the greens surface, and filling with sand simultaneously.  Since no core is removed the disruption to the greens surface is a small clean hole. 
        The more channels of sand we have in our greens tremendously helps our native soil greens drain and also helps us move water through the organic matter build up on our sand greens.  Below are a few photos of Monday's aeration project.

First we deep tine spiked the 12 native soil greens to help out
sand penetration

DryJect machine in action with the maintenance crew bringing
 out dried sand to the hopper.

Injecting sand on #7 Green

Great look at an injection hole making its way through the
 organic layer into the sand base of the green.

Brushing the remaining sand into the green which worked out
 as a nice light top dressing
 

      Although Monday was a very long day hand loading 20 ton (40,000 lbs) of sand into the aeration hoppers, the aerification was a success.  The benefits will be measured as the season progresses, and the successes can also be measured in the smoothness of the playing surfaces 1 day after aerification.
      We will continue to add sand by topdressing during the golf season, to keep the greens smooth and firm.  Not to forget we will be core aerifying in September to continue improving our greens quality and profile structure.

Closing down the Greens

 

On Monday December 10th, the "Greens" will be closed.  We will be moving the flags to their temporary positions on the approaches.  The golf course will remain open to those who would like to come out for some exercise and play winter golf.  The greens crew will be putting down a heavy topdressing and staking off the greens starting next week.  It has been a tremendous golf year, that opened up in March and finished in December.  We would like to thank all the support of the membership through the 2012 golf season, and are already looking forward to 2013.