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| 12 green |
Sandpines hosted the Coast Open tournament on Wednesday and Thursday. The weather was pretty good, but not quite as good as last year. The golf course continues to be in great condition, and the maintenance staff is receiving frequent compliments, especially regarding the greens.
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| Bear damage on 3 green |
Wednesday morning we found some bear damage on the 3rd and 12th greens. On the 3rd green, a bear played with the flagstick and ripped out some turf next to the cup. On the 12th green, the cup and flagstick were just pushed over.
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| Bear damage on 12 green |
This morning, we found similar damage on the 6th green. We have seen this type of activity before, although it is usually rare. Who knows, maybe the last group out has been eating smoked salmon lately. Thankfully, the repairs are usually pretty easy to make.
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| Bear damage on 6 green |
Speaking of wildlife, I have seen more coyotes on the course this year than in the past. I got a good picture of one on Thursday morning.
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| Coyote on hole 3 |
The practice greens were aerated yesterday. We will start aerating the rest of the greens on the golf course Sunday (October 16th) following play. The course will be closed on Monday (October 17th) and Tuesday (October 18th) to complete the process. If all goes well, we should be able to get the approaches aerated as well. At this point, the weather looks like it is going to cooperate, which will be a huge advantage.
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| Chipping green getting some fresh air |
I know there are those out there that have a hard time understanding why the greens need to be aerated, and especially when they are in such good condition. It is best to aerate during times of active growth. The turf can better handle the stress associated with aeration, and recovery time is minimized. If anyone has any specific concerns, feel free to contact me directly. I am again including a video on the benefits of aeration. I encourage those that have not seen this video to check it out.
