Fireworks, Wildlife, Dollar Spot

 

The rain held off so everyone could enjoy a great firework display.

 

 

A super moon was seen during the fireworks on Saturday.

 

 

Great Blue Heron on # 17.

 

A coyote has help keep the geese population down.  He is seen early in the morning and in the evening.  He usually runs away when the crew starts working.

 

It looks like our dollar spot protection is working.  I treated the green and a little into the approach.  Dollar spot is a big problem in Chicago.  Without fungicide treatments, the green would also look like this also.  At Lansing, I treat greens and tees.  Courses with larger budgets also spray fairways.

Rain

What a change from 2012.  April had 7 inches followed in May with 5.  In June, we've had 3.  The lake is back to a normal level.  The rough is growing fast.  We've had a hard time cutting it with all the rain days.

 

 

Please repair ball marks.  The greens are soft because of the recent rain.

 

This week, I was able to find a few drains that were covered with grass.  When cleaned, these areas on the course quickly drained.

Trees, Flowers and Brick Pavers

 

A couple of weeks ago, we planted 8 trees to start replacing the ash trees that are infected with Emerald Ash Borer.  I plan on buying 8 more next week.  This is possible with member donations.  A variety of trees have been chosen including oak, pear, and maple.

 

Over the last week, the crew was busy finishing up flower beds.  We are trying Vinca this year in many of the beds.

 

On Monday, we gave the greens a light topdressing.  The sand was dragged in.  That night we got an inch of rain and we were able to mow in the morning.

 

Our golf pro/manager has been working on a brick paver walkway.  Our grounds department did most of the digging, moving of gravel and sand while Scott did the tamping and installation of the brick pavers.  After he finishes up the brick pavers, we will clean up, add sod and some shrubbery.  We hope to get more weddings when finished.

Time for Irrigation

With an above average April for rain, I finally turned the irrigation on last week.  In 2012, it was done at the end of March.

 

 

Before we can start turning on sprinklers, there are a few things to be done first.  The intake pipe was attached several weeks ago.  Several gauges and tubes were then reattached in the pump house.  The intake pipe must be primed.  This involves using a small sump pump to fill the intake line.  We then turn on the jockey pump and slowly fill the miles of pipe.  Jose runs around with quick coupler keys and lets air out of the lines as they fill with water.  When the pipes are full and pressurized, I can start checking each heads.  This process takes several hours.

 

This year went great.  No broken heads or pipes.  This means we had a successful blow out.  If we don't get all the water out, broken pipes will result.  We had a few heads stick on.  Jose usually flushes out valves and they are ready to go.

New flower bed at # 8 tee.

 

Our old red and blue flags were replace with donations by a couple of members.  We also got new flag sticks for the front nine.  With a limited budget, these donations have helped immensely.

Killdeer Nest on Cart Path

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If you look closely, there are 2 Killdeer eggs on the cart path on #13.  Killdeer are small birds that tend to live on the edge of ponds and will make a lot of noise as you approach.  I put a cone in front.  They should hatch soon.

 

 

#4 fairway. It's finally drying out enough to get back to regular mowing.  This week we plan on finishing bunker work and turning on the irrigation.  We also need to catch up on rough mowing.

Carts on Monday

Monday should be dry enough for cart traffic.  On Sunday, Jose and I mowed the greens for the first time since last Monday.  We plan on mowing tees, fairways and greens again on Monday.  As I also would like to spray greens.  I would like this accomplished because rain is expected again on Tuesday.  We will wait on bunker work until after the rain.  With a small crew, we can't waste effort on something the will be ruined with rain.  There is still much clean-up to be done.  The rough is starting to get long and dandelions will flower soon.  On Wednesday and Thursday, I picked a couple of good days to be away from the course.  I needed to recertify my pesticide license.

 

 

View from the shop on Thursday

 

#16 on Friday.  It's playable today.

Greens Mowing Set For Thursday

 

Saturday, we had a special guest.

 

I mowed a couple of greens today to check the quality of cut. As you can see, there is green under the brown tips.  We will mow all greens on Thursday.  Bunkers were started and will be finished on Thursday.  Bunker rakes are set out as they finish.