Club Championship and Storm Clean Up

I would like to congratulate our 2012 club champions.  I wasn't there for day 2, but I hear their were epic battles on both the men's and women's events.  Chuck Starcevich had a come from behind win over Mike Kosich while Judy Loria had to go 3 extra hole to beat defending champion Melissa Kerr.  Early rain led to softer, slower conditions but play well.

The rain this week is nice, but the moisture also leads to disease.  We don't treat our fairways like the greens and tees, so this is the result.  Dollar Spot.   The number 1 disease at Lansing Country Club.

Name this insect.

The pumpkin patch on the hill.  I saw an article about Flagg Creek that had pumpkins and thought that looked like a good idea.

We got Sam Schlesinger from the pro shop to help on the storm clean up last week.  He got help from member Gene Eenigenburg who also let us use his trailer.  They made about 13 trips to the dump in 6.5 hours.  Thanks guys.

The micro burst a couple of Saturday's ago damaged the pontoon.

Storm Pictures

Limbs from a Locust tree at #8 tee.  A quick micro burst with .55 inches of rain hit Lansing on Saturday.  This will take a couple of days to clean up.  Most of the crew can come on Sunday to start the removal of branches.  Power went out again.  Scott was able to get 3 generators going quickly.

The area with the most debris is #12.

Guy Liptack purchased new white flags.  With budget cuts, we have tried to extend the life of some items on the course. 

This is common on courses around Chicago this year.  The 2 inches of rain a couple of weeks ago, followed by heat, put a some of our fairways over the edge.  This was a result of poor drainage and week varieties of turf.  Poa annua, Poa trivialis both couldn't handle the conditions.  With Fall coming, I'm hoping it will fill in naturally.  If not, we will aerify and seed.  The last few years, we have improved drainage, but still have several holes to work on.

Early Warning For Aerification

I'm giving everyone an early warning that we are aerifing greens on Wednesday, September 5th.  We will be deep tining this year and hired a company that will enable us to do the entire process in 1 day.  By doing this in early September, the holes should fill in quickly.  When we do this in house, it takes us 2 weeks and ties up our crew during the process.  Our aerifier is from 1993 and showing it's age.  We still do tees and small fairways with it after the greens are finished. 

No Power and Course Clean Up

After a reported 63 MPH wind gust on Wednesday with .55 inches of rain, we had a clean up day at Lansing.  The course is very playable, but we are still waiting for power in the clubhouse.  Scott got a report of a Thursday return of power.  Check your e-mail for updates of a clubhouse reopening.  If anyone has an extra generator, e-mail Scott or call his cell to see if we could use it.

On Thursday, if we don't get power, we may have to manually turn on sprinklers if needed.  The soil moisture seems to be good, so we may get away with hand watering.

Rain and Cool Temps

This is Juan our newest member to the staff.  His main duties are green mowing, bunkers and the occasional odd job.  After the 2 inch rain, Juan used a squeegee to get water off many of our fairways.

Finally some rain.  We received 2 inches on Wednesday/Thursday.  It is soaking in fast.  I expect no restriction on carts for Saturday.  I'm very happy about the rain, but equally happy about the cooler temps.  It looks like low 60's tonight, but then another hot spell starts.  Only 41 days until September.

This is Ricardo.  He is also a first year grounds crew member.  He is already mowing fairways, greens and rough.

Pump Station and "C'MON MAN"

This is the pump station.  9 million gallons have come through so far this year.  In 2011, we pumped 6 million gallons.  We still have to finish July, August, September, October, and part of November.  The front pump is 25HP while the back pump is 75HP.  Together, they can pump 650 gallons per minute.

Lansing has a very large spring fed lake for its irrigation needs.  The drought is putting a serious dent in the lake level.  At this time of year, the level is usually about even with the end of the pallet.

I'm going to give this a "C'MON MAN".  With the emerald ash borer taking out trees, we can't be reckless and run over new trees.  This tree is a river birch plant last year.  It was healthly and just starting to grow.  We have spent time caring for our new trees with mulch and watering, not to mention the cost of the tree.

This is new ground crew member Luis.  It's his first year on a golf course, but he is catching on quickly.  His job duties include greens mowing, rough mowing and bunker work.  He can mow 9 greens quicker than anyone on the staff.

Hot On The 4TH

100.5 degrees at 5:00 pm on the 4th of July.  Notice it was 91.2 degrees in my office.  We don't have air conditioning.

To cool off the greens this afternoon, I hand watered some hot spots and syringed the greens to cool them down.  We have to be carefull not to overwater on these hot humid days.

The wildlife didn't seem to mind the hot day.

The funny looking spots on our fairways are dollar spot.  It's the number one problem for most golf course around here.  We treat greens and tees, so these are usually clean.  The rain from last weekend gave enough moisture for it to grow.