Reel to Reel

It's safe to say the temperatures this week have been on the chilly side.  The average temperature for the week has only been 2°F.  I checked several greens today and they all appeared to be doing very well.  Snow cover varied from 14"-26", depending on the drifts.  Despite the frigid temperature today, the surface temperature of the turf under the snow was significantly warmer than the air temperature.  When I walked around the windchill was about -5°F, while the surface temperature of the greens was 30°F.  I'd say the snow is doing an excellent job insulating the turf. 14" of snow covering #1 green weather station reading this morning  

Most of our time over the last week has been spent on refurbishing the tee markers.  The tee markers have been sanded down, stained, and painted.  As you can imagine, it is a tedious process, as we have over 190 tee markers to work through.  tee markers sanded down   Myles painting the black tee markers green tee markers completed   While Myles, Brendan and I have been occupied with the tee markers, Mike has been busy breaking down the cutting units and starting the sharpening process. cutting units removed from mowers to be sharpened Mike adjusting the reel grinder  

The 8" of snow from Sunday and Monday have brought snow totals on the golf course to 12-14".  I inspected several greens this morning and everything still looks good.  The snow should continue to provide a nice layer of insulation as night-time temperatures dip into the single digits this week. #3 fairway #2 green with a foot of snow   Most of our work this week will be spent inside working on equipment, in addition to staining and painting tee markers.

Myles and I spent a couple days in East Lansing this week at the Michigan Turfgrass Conference.  The off-season is a great time to catch up on the latest turf research and new products coming to market.  Professors and agronomists from across the country spoke on topics including: pathology and research updates, Poa annua control, drought stress responses, and environmental practices. Every winter we reevaluate our programs and look for areas to implement new ideas and enhance our current practices.  I'm excited about the tweaks we will be making next year to continue to improve upon turf health and playability. On the course, turf conditions remain really good.  The condition of the snow has changed since last week from the recent mild weather.  We saw some melting, resulting in the conversion of the powdery snow to a crustier mix.  I did find some small patches of razor thin ice in spots, but nothing to be concerned about.  As we have w...

We were able to complete a good amount of pruning this week.  Most of our work was concentrated around #5 and #10 greens.  Thinning out the canopies of these mature trees will not only be beneficial to the trees, but it will also allow more sunlight to reach the greens. tree company pruning behind #5 green I walked around and inspected the greens this week.  Everything is looking really good.  The turf is covered by 4" of nice dry powdery snow, which has provided a nice layer of insulation during this cold stretch of weather. 4" of snow insulating #15 green   a nice rainbow on the golf course Wednesday morning