Update

Hole #11

Sandpines has received over two inches of rain since Monday.  Despite the wet weather fairway aeration was completed on Thursday.  The recent aeration of all the short grass areas (greens, tees, approaches, & fairways) has kept the course in very playable condition even though the rain has been heavy at times.  The greens were top dressed early in the week.  Needless to say, the rain has washed the sand in nicely.  The golf course is in good shape and its a great time to get out and play some golf over the holiday weekend.

New fawn

The wildlife at Sandpines has been busy this spring.  I took the picture above early in the week.  The fawn was estimated to be about 1-2 days old at the time.  There are a couple of sets of baby ducks around as well.  One set has been hanging around the pond located between holes 16, 17, and 18.  The other set can be seen around the pond on holes 4 and 5.  The killdeer chicks are hard to tell from the adults at this point.  They can be heard frequently around the course.  These are just a few of the examples I have noticed this week while working around the course.  If you keep an eye out while you are playing, you will surely see many more examples of wildlife spread throughout the golf course.

Baby ducks following mom around the pond

Update

13 green enjoying a sunny day

The fairway aeration is coming along nicely.  Holes 2, 3, 4, 7, and 14 were completed this week (holes 6 and 13 are also nearly finished).  If the weather and equipment continue to cooperate, fairway aeration could be completed as early as next week

Fairway aeration on hole 3

The greens were verticut and top dressed early in the week.  The greens are mostly healed from aeration and continue to improve daily.  New cups, flagsticks, and flags were put out last Sunday.  The new accessories are a real improvement.  The sunshine and good conditions have me itching to get out and play some golf.  Hopefully, I will get out there soon.

New flagstick and flag on 17 green

Update

Recently aerated green filling in nicely

The greens are healing up nicely from last weeks aeration.  They are still a bit bumpy, but are improving daily.  We lowered the height of cut this week.  It will likely take another two to three weeks until we reach our peak season mowing height.

Jerry aerating hole 9 fairway

Tee aeration was completed earlier this week.  We began aerating fairways on Thursday.  Holes 1 and 9 were completed.  The grass growth has really picked up.  Between aeration and mowing, there has not been time for much else.

Large pile of aeration cores

I have received a few phone calls about the availability of aeration cores.  We now have some stock piled.  They are $10 per tractor scoop.  Most pickups will take between 2-4 tractor scoops depending on the size of the truck.  For more information call the maintenance shop (541) 997-4530.

Turn the aeration cores above into a nice lawn like this

Update

Dean pushing cores with a core hog

It has been a busy week for the maintenance staff at Sandpines.  Aeration of greens was the main focus.  The weather cooperated nicely, and despite a few equipment problems, we were also able to complete the aeration of approaches.

The precipitation total for April has been updated, and can be accessed by clicking on the precipitation history tab.

I put together a video below showing our greens aeration process.  I have not made many videos, but hopefully it will give you the general idea of what goes on at Sandpines during greens aeration.  There is a short clip in the video showing the TB 200 brush, which we were able demo during the greens aeration process.  For more information on the TB 200 contact Mike Powers at A&L Supply.

I would like to thank the maintenance staff at Sandpines for their dedication, hard work, and long hours this week during greens aeration.