#17 Fairway Cut

Last week we began the process to of lowering the rough on the left side of #17 to eventually convert it to fairway height. It will take several weeks, as we are slowly reducing the height to keep from scalping the grass. This area is a low spot where the fairway and rough converge, which tends to collect a lot of balls. I have personally witnessed many difficult lies in this area due to the balls being half in the rough and half in the fairway. Hopefully we have corrected this from happening in the future.

2014 confirmed as hottest year on record

Pace Turf had reported earlier that 2014 was likely to be the hottest on record for the planet. Now, we unfortunately have confirmation of those worst fears. This week, Scientists at two independent organizations — NASA (the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) issued separate data compilations showing that 2014 was the warmest year since record–keeping began in 1880. Two other scientific groups that track global temperatures — one in Japan, and another in Britain, will issue similar reports in the near future. Extreme heat was the norm in much of the world last year, with records set across large areas of every inhabited continent. Only the eastern portion of the U.S. recorded below average temperatures in 2014. Of even greater concern is that the 10 warmest years have all occurred since 1997.Scientific consensus is that the majority of planetary warming is the result of human activity — primarily the production of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses that are produced when fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) are burnt. Political and social consensus has been more elusive. Regardless of your thoughts on the causes of global warming, there is all kinds of other economic and environmental reasons to regularly review our fertilizer, pesticide, water and fuel use patterns, and determine whether more can be done to conserve.

New Mow Lines

I have been getting a lot of questions regarding the orange lines in front of the greens. These lines represent where I want different mowers to operate. The first line is four yards in front of the green and is maintained with a walk mower. The second line is about 15 yards in front of the green and is cut using a light weight triplex riding mower. From there out, we mow with our larger fairway units. I decided to make this change to reduce unnecessary compaction due to the fairway units cutting what is now being cut with the triplex.

Problem Areas

With cooler temperatures and some much needed rain, the golf course is in pretty good shape. However, we still have several areas that are a thorn in my side. Despite our many efforts, we have been unable to get these areas to fill-in. One thing nearly all of these areas have in common is that they receive a lot of equipment and/or cart traffic and are very compacted. At this point we have decided that our best plan of action would be to strip, rototill and sod these areas. Unfortunately, we need to wait until the end of February or the beginning of March, when we have a little warmer soil temperatures.

Reduced mowing schedule

Although we have been warm for several days, last weeks frosty conditions have dropped soil temperatures to around 50 degrees. Once soil temperature dips below 55, plant growth really begins to slow. Therefore, we adjust our normal mowing schedule to coincide with the grasses growth rate. Greens are currently being mowed 4 times a week and all other areas are cut twice. This reduced mowing schedule is working out well, allowing my staff to take some additional vacation time and using any extra labor to attack several projects around the club.