We started bunker renovations on the par 3, 6th hole this week. In the interest of safety, while On-Course is working, we will keep all tee markers on the forward tee. We will push the markers back for the weekend. Any area disturbed due to the project should be considered Ground Under Repair until the bunkers reopen in the Spring.
The rain gauge is showing just over 2 inches since yesterday afternoon. It’s still too dark to get a good read on the condition of the course but most greens and fairways that I saw, have standing water. The golf course will not open until well after the rain finally stops. That’s when I’ll have a better idea of when to open for walking. At this moment I would say carts will not be available today, but that will be determined later as well. I can say confidently, carts won’t go out before noon if at all.
Tonight and into tomorrow morning we’ll have a perfect recipe for frost. Cold, calm and clear. Please be aware that early tee times, Sunday, will most likely be delayed.
Fairway aeration. Tomorrow. Finally.
Thursday morning, we will be aerating fairways. As stated before last week’s attempt, because of the small crew this time of year, we will be solid, deep-tining fairways. This will eliminate any cleanup, and with 4 machines, and a roll immediately behind the aerators, the process should have almost no impact on play.
Pretty cool to see this morning. Three young otters playing in the irrigation pond. I’d love to see them stick around.
With Monday being a holiday, this week’s Maintenance Monday will happen on Tuesday. The first tee will open at 7 on Monday and 10:30 on Tuesday. Originally I had planned to pull small cores on greens on Tuesday, as fairways were being deep-tined. But because of the change to the Four Ball qualifying, I am going to push greens off until June 1st (weather dependent), following the last day of qualifying play. These cores on greens will be approximately half the size of what we would typically do after the Memorial Day Round Robin. With some decent weather this should have little impact on play once cleaned up. The plan had been to get the greens done prior to reopening, but the cold weather was not conducive to healing and the verticut lines and deep-tine holes were too slow to heal.
Tuesday’s fairway deep-tine will be done with solid tines, so there will be no cleanup involved. We’ll roll the fairways immediately after punching them, and should have no problem staying ahead of play. You may want to roll the ball over in fairways for a day or two afterwards.
Each season presents its own challenges. The challenges presented this Spring, have been unlike anything we have seen or could have predicted. This time last year, and in most years in the past, we’ve had a crew of 12-14 full and part time staff. So far this year, we’ve been a crew of 3, with a fourth joining us on Monday and another possibly emerging from quarantine by week’s end.
We’ve had to constantly adjust, on the fly, how we do virtually everything. It’s been equal parts uphill battle and treading water.
Below, is the latest update from the USGA Green Section that sums things up pretty well:
NORTHEAST REGIONAL UPDATE
A Rough Time
While it goes without saying that this pandemic is affecting the entire golf community, it is also interesting to see how different regions have been affected by state-mandated closure of golf courses. The Northeast has been one of the hardest-hit parts of the country in this regard. Affected facilities have been generating little to no revenue, which has prompted maintenance staff sizes to be reduced significantly.
While temperatures were cool and turf growth was minimal, small maintenance crews were able to keep up with minimum maintenance, such as plant protectant applications and mowing. However, as temperatures begin to rise, course maintenance becomes more demanding. If staff sizes are still reduced, there are a few things golfers should expect when they get back out on the course:
- Rough height will likely be taller than usual. This is because the rough may not be mowed as frequently as it is under normal conditions. Additionally, the height may be set slightly higher than normal to avoid scalping and to reduce mowing requirements.
- High-traffic areas may not be as dense and healthy as usual. Many courses that are open are using a single-rider cart policy. This increases the number of carts used by the same number of players. Additionally, many courses have removed all ropes and stakes to streamline maintenance practices. This can result in concentrated traffic at pinch points. Golf cart users can help improve conditions by scattering cart traffic whenever possible.
- Green speed may be slightly slower than expected. Maintenance teams are prioritizing turf health while short staffed and may be mowing greens slightly higher to reduce mowing requirements.
- Golf course accessories, scorecards, tee markers, annual flower plantings and other nonessential items have been eliminated by some courses this year as maintenance teams are focusing their efforts on maintaining putting greens, tees and fairways.
There are a variety of different challenges faced by golf courses in the Northeast due to different state and local regulations as well as the financial status of individual golf courses. However, one thing is for sure – golf course maintenance teams have been facing a difficult task this year. As temperatures rise, it will only get more difficult.
Northeast Region Agronomists:
Adam Moeller, director, Green Section Education – amoeller@usga.org
Darin Bevard, director, Championship Agronomy – dbevard@usga.org
Elliott Dowling, agronomist – edowling@usga.org
Paul Jacobs, agronomist – pjacobs@usga.org
With the arrival of the first full day of Spring, the golf course is now open for walking!
Consider this a “soft opening”, both literally and figuratively. The golf course is pretty well saturated right now. We got quite a bit of rain over the last 24 hours so please remember to fix ballmarks on greens.
The putting green cups will be installed shortly. The chipping green, however, will remain closed until further notice. As a general rule, if the flags are NOT in on the chipping green, consider it closed.
Please keep in mind that it is still March and the course could be closed again due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances. Sunday’s high temperature is going to remain in the 30s, which could limit the course availability, and Monday brings a chance of snow. As always, I will do my best to update the blog and/or Twitter with all changes.
**Editor’s Note: The newly constructed bunkers, approach and collection area on 7 are open and in play. You should consider the mounds separating 7 green and 8 tee “ground under repair” and take relief.
Thank you, be safe, and play well!
We are probably just a few days away from opening the golf course for walking. Greens are being rolled for the first time right now. The amount of precipitation in the next 24 hours will be the main determining factor. There will be several factors, however, in determining whether carts will be available when the course opens. Opening in March is extremely early. Typically we open some time in the second week of April. And more than once in the past few years, we’ve re-closed the course due to snow. The beginning of this season will include some changes, not only in the way we operate and maintain the course, but also the way the golf course will be set up for play.
By now we’ve all heard about “social distancing”. And there’s a lot of talk about golf affording people the opportunity to get outside – hopefully in a group with no more than 4 people – and maintain the prescribed 6 feet apart. Most likely the only time that 6 foot gap can be closed will be around greens and tees. Considering how often people cough, sneeze, wipe their nose, etc. in a round, we are going to take steps to minimize how often golfers need to touch hard surfaces and shared objects. Are we erring on the side of caution? Absolutely. Remember it’s going to be chilly, and allergy season approaching for many.
So what can you expect, and what are our recommendations? We will not be putting any course accessories out for the foreseeable future. Only benches, trash cans, tee markers and cups/flag sticks. No ball washers, no divot boxes and no bunker rakes. With the early start inching closer, we still haven’t had the opportunity to go through bunkers yet. And there’s a chance we won’t before opening for play. Regardless, I recommend using your feet to smooth or kick out your tracks. We will do our best to rake bunkers as often as possible as staff continues to roll in. I am also recommending putting with the stick in at all times. We have made some modifications to the cups as well. Your ball will go in the hole, but only about half of the ball will drop below the putting surface. This will allow you to retrieve your own ball without touching anything other than the ball. Might be a good time to lay some groundwork and good will on future matches and extend that “gimme” range.
Once we get around to cutting fresh cups, this is what you can expect to see:
Hopefully, by this time tomorrow, I will have a better idea on specific opening day and time. Stay tuned.
…And, of course, I’m not just talking about the abnormal weather this time. Though we have seen our share of warmer than usual weather over the past month or so. As I drove into the club this morning, the truck had a light coating of snow on the hood, and flakes continue to fly. It should turn over to light rain for the rest of the morning, however.
Rather than have the few guys that are already working this Spring, out in the snow and rain, and to avoid working on top of each other inside the shop, I’ve given the small crew the day off. I’ll take the opportunity to do some cleaning – sanitizing all the points of contact around the break room and shop area. With the small crew this time of year, we may assign each staff member their own cart and set of tools they’ll need to prep the course. There will be more to come about precautions we will be taking on the course regarding COVID-19 once we get closer to opening the golf course. Strange days, indeed.
The golf course has overwintered well. With no sustained snow cover, the main concerns are turf desiccation from the winds throughout winter, especially on the higher exposed areas of the course, and this time of year, crown hydration. Typically this time of year, I bring samples in from areas of concern, force them out of dormancy and this gives me a good read on what to expect. To this point, I see no reason to do that.
As always, opening the course is dictated more by the weather and turf, than the date on the calendar. I always like to wait for the turf to break dormancy before we allow traffic. This means, once conditions allow (temperature, firmness, etc.), prior to opening, we clean all playing surfaces. Following that, we will roll the greens a couple times, and probably (ideally) mow them once or twice. I’m sure everyone has seen the forecast for the end of the week. 70 degrees on Friday certainly looks good right now. Unfortunately, with the warmth, comes rain. Possibly significant rain Thursday into Friday. Also, that 70 degrees is sandwiched by low 40s. Over the weekend we may see overnight temps in the 20s. Once we can get past consistent cold nights, I think things will really start moving. But for now, we are taking it day by day. Both on the course and off.
With rain today and tomorrow, and near 60 degrees, I expect the course to be mostly clear of snow. However, the rain and melting snow will likely lead to some localized flooding, but most certainly extremely soft conditions, followed by a refreeze. As a result, we are going to pull pins and tee markers and once they are exposed, put pins in the winter cups, and officially close greens until Spring.
Thank you for another great season!