2 green basking in the sun on 2/15/12

The weather on Wednesday was spectacular.  We started off with a frost delay, but it warmed up quickly and actually was close too tee shirt weather by noon.  The blue sky and brilliant sunshine really has me itching to play some golf sometime soon.

7 green

I have received a number of compliments on how well the greens are rolling lately.  The growth has picked up over the last couple weeks, so we have been mowing and rolling the greens a bit more frequently.  The recent top dressings have also had an impact by filling depressions and imperfections helping to create a smoother surface.

Hawk enjoying a snack on 14 fairway

Earlier this week there was a hawk eating what appeared to be seagull on 14 fairway.  On closer inspection, the prey turned out to be a kite instead of a seagull.  The next day I spotted the hawk in a tree being pestered by a bunch of crows.  I need to work on getting a fancy camera like David Phipps at Stone Creek so I can get better detail, but at least these give you the general idea.  By the way David's blog just hit 40,000 page views.  If you have not seen it yet, check it out (http://stonecreeksuper.blogspot.com/).

Hawk in a tree being annoyed by crows

It was a productive week for the maintenance staff.  The greens, approaches and tees were all fertilized.  So far, the greens have been mowed twice and rolled once since Monday.  Other accomplishments included:  tee divots were filled, sprinkler heads around the greens were edged, a couple more stumps were removed, pampas grass plants around the clubhouse were trimmed, fairway mower reels and bed knives were ground, and cleaning out of  the clubhouse parking lot drains was initiated.

7 fairway wet spot renovation in progress

The wet spot on the left side of 7 fairway that is located about 60 yards from the green was also renovated this week.  The organic layer that was impeding infiltration was removed and replaced with sand, and then seeded.  It will take some time to recover, but the area should be vastly improved once the grass fills in.

Turf damage caused by cart traffic

There seems to be an increasing amount of turf damage caused by cart traffic occurring just off the cart paths next to tee boxes.  The area pictured above is next to 10 white tee, but similar turf damage is popping up next to several other tee boxes as well.  Please park fully on the path while teeing off.  If another cart or mower should need to pass, they can go around your cart or wait until you are finished teeing off.  If we do not correct these bad parking habits, we are going to be looking at mud holes next to tees for a long time.