TREE REMOVAL 10 CREEK

We utilized the small break in the weather to complete the tree removal on hole 10 this morning. Arbor Masters brought out a track hoe and removed the remaining root ball. We are happy to have this project done before the spring rains start flowing down the creek.

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MORE SNOW

This week came and went and we are left with an additional 7" of snow at Deer Creek.  We obviously spent most of the week removing snow and making sure our property is safe for our customers.  We are still working on the golf cart fleet repairing any broken components and most importantly we are evaluating the batteries and replacing any of the weak batteries to ensure a trouble free round of golf when this snow melts away.

COLD TEMPERATURES AND SNOW

What does the recent change in weather mean for the golf course?  The recent snow is a welcomed form of moisture for our extremely dry soil conditions.  We were over 4" below normal rainfall since October prior to this snow event.  The snow can have a negative impact on the turf if the snow cover remains for a long period of time.  Snow mold can injure turf if the conditions are right.  We see the most snow mold injury in this region in the late winter months, February and March, when the soil temperatures are starting to rise and the frost is leaving the soil.  We protect our greens with a preventative snow mold fungicide application so we will be fine on the putting greens.   

Far more dangerous is the cold windy conditions that we have experienced of late.  Fortunately the snow has acted as a blanket for the turf protecting it from the harsh extremely cold wind.  The snow will melt and slowly replenish the soils with some moisture.

I heard that we will have melting temperatures in the near future from a weather forecaster this morning.  Hand in there and don't put your golf clubs too far back in the closet.   

BLIZZARD

The snow is falling at Deer Creek. We are plowing snow for the clubhouse events. We needed the moisture, but not necessarily in the form of heavy snow accumulation. You all know how this works, it will melt and we will be back on the course soon. This does stop our bunker project. Once the snow melts we will be hauling sand again.

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Tree removal from the creek on 10

We removed the tree from the creek by 10 green just before the holiday break. Thank you to the team from Arbor Masters, they are awesome. We took advantage of having the professional arborists on site and we had them clear some branches from 7 and 9 tees.

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New Greens At Deer Creek

We are enjoying some winter golf and enjoying our new greens at Deer Creek Golf Club.  As you all know we are not finished with our greens.  We are still maintaining the greens at an increased mowing height.  This decision is in the best interest of our long term goals of increasing greens speed and putting quality as we progress through the 2011 season.  We want to gradually decrease the mowing height so the greens can mature properly resulting in a lush putting surface that is smooth and quick. 

One of the most important things we can all do to help protect our new greens is to properly repair our ball marks.  Please watch the attached video to see an example of the proper way to repair a ball mark. 

"Two-four-six-eight, We can winter desiccate!"

Megan Kennelly is a researcher for Kansas State Univerity and she offers wonderful timely links to relevent subjects that pertain to the turf industry. 

Please read her current post at the following link. "Two-four-six-eight, We can winter desiccate!"

BUNKER PROJECT PROGRESS

We are renovating all of the green side bunkers at Deer Creek.  We start by removing all of the sand and drainage in the bunkers.  We then install new liner in the bunker.  Finally we add new drainage and sand resulting in a new sand bunker that will play awesome and drain well for years to come.

We currently have all of the green side traps excavated and liner installed.  We are now in the finishing stages of the project where we are installing the new sand.  We currently have 30% of the bunkers filled with sand.  We plan to complete the remaining 70% by Feb. 15, 2011.

We are in the process of preparing our golf cart fleet for the 2011 golf season.  We will service the batteries and complete a service checklist for all of our golf carts.  We plan to service approximately 10 cart per week until the entire fleet is ready to go.

Brent Stephenson Golf Course Superintendent

I am the creater of this blog and I will be posting periodic updates to inform followers of the projects and maintenance projects happening at Deer Creek.