Reel to Reel

Over the last two weeks, the leaves have really started to fall.  Leaf clean-up has occupied over 75% of our time.  This will continue into November, as only 25% of the leaves have fallen.  We have won the daily leaf battle most days, but with over 850 trees on property, there will certainly be days when the leaves fall faster than we can clean them up.  We will continue to do our best to make the course as playable as possible. #5  #13 #12 blowing off fairways mulching leaves Below is a video of the Wiedenmann cleaning up leaves on #7.

Monday and Tuesday were productive days, as we regraded and sodded in front of the cart paths on #12 green and #14 tee.  Both areas had grade issues that did not allow for proper traffic flow onto and off of the paths.  We removed a significant amount of soil and leveled both of these areas before sodding. removal of soil on #12 regrading #12 finish grade on #12  sodding #12 #12 completed finish grading on #14 sodding #14 #14 completed

Tee aerification was completed this past Monday.  The crew did an amazing job in cold and wet conditions to complete this task. aerification clean-up on #11 tee We also finished verticutting fairways this week with our new Wiedenmann Super 600.  The Super 600 is a heavy duty verticutter and sweeper.  The primary use for this piece of equipment is to verticut fairways and sweep up the debris all at the same time. Verticutting is an extremely important cultural practice because it removes thatch.  Thatch is a layer of living and dead organic matter that occurs between the turf and soil surface.  The primary component of thatch is grass stems and roots.  It accumulates as these plant parts buildup faster than they can decompose.  Excessive thatch creates a favorable environment for pests and disease and an unfavorable growing environment for grass roots.  But most importantly, thatch interferes with water infiltration into the soil.  Verticuttin...