Monday Morning Storm

We got a quick .25 inches this morning with some strong winds.  With it being so dry, it soaked in nicely.  We are picking up branches and are open for play.

No Rain

The heat is back.  We also haven't got any rainfall since the July 1.  We are finally using the irrigation system on a regular basis. We could use about a half inch this week.  If you are a fisherman, we generally start the sprinklers running at about 9:30.  The system starts #1 and #7 fairway first.  As dusk gets earlier, I generally start the sprinklers earlier.

This is Juan and Jose D.  Juan is a 4 year veteran.  Juan is an all around worker as he can mow rough, fairways, tees and greens.  He also does a lot of landscaping work including pruning and planting of flowers.  He also does some handwatering.  He is a father of 3.  Jose D. is a first year worker.  He comes to us with a landscaping background.  He currently mows fairways and greens and rakes the bunkers.  Jose is also a father of 3

More Rain, Now Warm and Humid

The total rain for the last storm was 1.1 inches.  We can handle about .75 inches before we have problems.  There was also heavy winds the created a mess of branches.  While I sprayed the tees, Jose Duran spent the morning picking up as many branches as possible.

I needed to spray the tees today for the most common disease in Chicago.  Dollar Spot is liking the humid wet conditions.  I usually wait to spray tees until it becomes noticeable.   Greens are sprayed on a preventable schedule.  I would spray fairways, but the cost would more than than triple our chemical budget. 

I mowed an area on the project by the pump house.  It is really starting to take shape.  It been very hard to accomplish anything with the wet weather.  Doug is making a holding pond and road currently.  This pond will hold water as the ditch line goes down.  This will aid in preventing flooding.  The road will give us access to #12 making transport times shorter and less traffic along #10 and the driving range.

Rain Update July 1

A 10% chance of rain became .65 inches of rain with strong winds and lightning.  The course took it well, with some small puddles on fairways and in the bunkers.  Carts are good to go.

Burris Equipment let us demo a trap rake since last week.  Our Toro machine is showing it's age.  It's getting expensive to continue fixing problems that arise.  We got to use a Smithco machine.  The quality of the finished product is shown above.  As we continue to upgrade our equipment, this is something we will look at.  I will also try to demo machines from Toro and John Deere.

Clover has been the major weed problem this year.  Growing condition have been good.  My goal is to finish spraying the rough this week before it gets to hot.

Putting Green Damaged by Bug Spray

Please be carefull when appling insect repellant.  It can kill turf.  I'm guessing this happend on Saturday night.  Notice the outline of the shoe.  Please apply on the cart path or deep in the rough.  This will grow out, but it will take a couple of weeks.

We had a great day for golf and fireworks on Saturday.  The rain held off and we had a good turnout for the party.  Chef Dan and his staff had the food ready while Scott and his staff kept everything going on time.  Great job guys.