View from the clubhouse conference room

Sandpines had a 10 day stretch in early April with no precipitation (April 7th-16th). We had to fire up the irrigation system again. Jerry and I have been happy the results of the new irrigation programs we put in place in the off season. We now have programs for dry spots on tees, fairways, and rough. In the past, we used multi-manual programs on the irrigation computer to achieve similar results. The new programs can be turned on or off and adjusted up or down quickly compared to adding or removing multi-manual programs one station at a time.

3 green basking in the sun

Peterson recently finished a complete rebuild of our primary greens mowing reels. The reels were in need of some attention and he put a lot of time and effort in to make sure they would be ready for our peak season. He really went above and beyond with the project. The reels look brand new. It reminded me of the type of work you would expect to see on American Restoration (History Channel) from Rick Dale and his staff.

Vintage 1993 Toro reels recently restored by Peterson

The driving range tee is now open for play. The hitting stations are painted with marking chalk and are designated with 4 green stakes with bag stands/club holders behind the hitting area. They will be moved as needed. In order to maximize the use of the grass on the driving range tee, please place your ball at the grassy back edge of your previous divot, removing just a small portion of grass with each swing (as shown in the picture below).

You may have noticed a gentlemen walking around the course with a weird looking back pack and antenna combination a couple of weeks ago. He was here on behalf of SkyGolf in order to create accurate maps and information for SkyCaddie products.

Member of SkyGolf staff working on hole 11

Greens aeration is right around the corner. Monday (April 28th) 9 holes will be aerated, and Tuesday (April 29th) the other 9 holes will be aerated. All holes will be open for play both days. We will have a delayed starting time both days. During the aeration process small (.25 inch) hollow core tines will be used. The healing time will be greatly reduced compared to large (.625 inch) hollow core tines. I feel we can get away with smaller tines during this aeration based on our current turf conditions. This will not always be the case, and we will likely use larger tines again in the future.

I am often asked why aeration is important. The video below does a good job answering that question. I encourage you to check it out.