Chilly mornings, warm afternoons and a little rain. This is the weather the grass loves. It won't last for long with mid-summer heat rolling in today and through the weekend but the rollercoaster with return early next week.
We started off the week finishing the construction haul road between holes 13 and 18. The team graded out the remaining topsoil, applied soil amendments, seed and covered it all up in straw matting. We will need to keep this area wet while the seed germinates. Please play this area as ground under repair and keep all golf carts off the straw matting.
With the grass finally growing we started working on texture. This week we started brush-cutting greens and grooming tees and fairways. This will help with the ball roll on the greens and smooth out fairways and tees. Brush-cutting greens stands the grass up for a cleaner cut but will reduce green speeds temporarily. We will try to only brush-cut in the beginning of the week so green speeds will be better for the weekends.
Also this week the team completed a full bunker maintenance. We checked all sand depths moving sand around where needed and also completed our weekly full bunker trim. Please remember it is a full club effort when it comes to bunker maintenance. Proper raking and correct entering and exiting helps not only the players behind you but also the grounds team to keep the new bunkers in tip-top shape.
As we start heading into summer and the school year is coming to an end, our summer help starts showing up. On Thursday we were able to train our new employee, Jonah, on his first greens route. Fernando watches closely as Jonah lays down some nice lines for his first greens cut.
Lastly, with the forecast calling for upper 90's and record-breaking heat this weekend, Matt and the team took the fans out of storage and installed them on holes 6 and 11. We use the fans in combination with syringing the greens to keep air moving and surface temperatures cool during the hot summer days. Please do not turn off the fans while playing but feel free to stand in front of them. What you are feeling is exactly what the grass is feeling when the fan passes by.
