This months update will catch up with what's new on the course and down at the shop. It will also serve as an introduction for any new members reading this for the first time - Welcome to Greener Notes, the grounds department's blog on course conditions and happenings.
Tee for two
Two years ago the Greens Committee decided to make improvements to teeing surfaces by leveling or enlarging ones that needed it. We're at the halfway point in this process.
Tees addressed fall/winter of 2015-16 are as follows:
Forward tees on 4, 9, 14, 18 and Mid/Back tees on 6, 9, 11, 18. Tees were shaped and left to settle over the winter. As soil dries enough to work, sod will be brought in. Both sodding and seeding will be used and will depend on the needs of the site.
The goal of creating more useable teeing area without making tees unnecessarily large was the goal. Renovated tees will be back in play as soon as the new sod can handle the foot traffic - about 2 weeks from date of sodding.
 |
| 6 tee before |
 |
| 6 tee final grade |
 |
| 18 tee before |
Bridging the Gap
The bridges around the pond and creek on 10, 11, and 12 are complete and impressive. Slate Hill Constructors was hired as the builder and worked all winter through some awful weather to engineer and build these beautiful additions to the course. We'll be adding some shrubs at the ends of the bridges to help blend them into the landscape and be working on mending ruts left from construction. Those areas will be played as "under repair", generally, until we've completed the repairs and grass has recovered. Your patience, as always, is appreciated as we heal up from this project.
 |
| 10 bridge before |
 |
| 11 bridge before |
 |
| 10 bridge |
 |
| 11 bridge |
 |
| 11 bridge after |
 |
| 11 bridge after |
 |
| Maintenance road bridge |
New Additions
Tuscarora invested in a new fleet of mowers and course-trucks in 2016. Age and downtime had finally caught up with our old fleet and increasing repair costs made the decision an easy one. The new package includes new tee mowers, greens mowers w/groomers, fairway mowers, bank mowers for greens and tee surrounds, and two 'Truckster' work vehicles. Their purchase was one we take seriously and think ourselves fortunate to be in the position to use the latest in course maintenance tools. It's not often when a course can truly say they're using the state of the art in cutting equipment. We look forward to many years of service from these machines.
New Storage
As the Grounds Department updates itself with the cutting edge in cutting equipment, we saw a need for a better storage solution for that investment. Our goal was to have a storage building that was large enough to give shelter to all equipment, old and new. It will create a place to better store tools, irrigation pipe, and bulk fertilizer. We completed the build over the winter and kept it under budget.
 |
| The "Butler Cabin" - Our old tool barn that doubled as a raccoon nursery |
 |
| Site prep |
 |
| First poles going in in January |
 |
| Hustle while there's no snow |
 |
 |
 |
| Starting to look like something |
 |
| Almost there |
Ball marks & divots
They're the bane of heavily played golf courses. We ask for cooperation in reducing this damage every year, but without a course marshal or camera watching every green, there's no way to tell who does or doesn't take care of the course. What we can tell is there's more than a normal amount of unfixed ball marks on all greens and they seem to be generated in the late afternoons to early evening. All we can ask is to police yourselves and please fix your ball marks. If your family plays, mention it to them. The Pro Shop will have more on how they'd like ballmarks repaired in a future update.
Weeds Never Sleep
It's time to gear up for seasonal weed applications on your home lawns (if you go in for that kind of thing). Soil temperatures will be nearing the magical 50 degree mark where Crabgrass can germinate and dandelions will soon be in full bloom. We've completed a wall-to-wall application of a crabgrass preventative herbicide at Tuscarora. We'll be making applications on dandelions and clover throughout the next couple weeks as weather and play allow.
If you see something in your lawns or on the course right now that you think is annual crabgrass, it's not. At this time of year, that grass is a perennial weedy grass called Orchard Grass that becomes less noticeable as the season progresses due to it's finer texture. We don't treat for Orchard Grass as it requires round-up which comes with it's own set of problems.
 |
| Orchard Grass |
 |
| Crabgrass |
Coming Up
For the months of April and May look for the following maintenance happenings out on the course as the weather improves:
- Greens aerifying (complete 4/21)
- Weed control
- Cart path repairs
- Clubhouse & Tee sodding
- Bridge area clean-up and seeding
- Irrigation installation near new tees
- Weekly topdressing
Course bathrooms will be useable when night time temperatures get warmer. As in years past, we won't charge the irrigation system to outside bathrooms until we leave freezing night time temperatures behind, we've broken pipes in past years by opening the course bathrooms too early - Porta-johns until then.
