100 Days of Summer

Whew!

The time to grow in greens from winterkill? Apparently 2 months.  Glad it's over.  Would've been quicker with a warmer spring, but we did the best with what we had.  Greens height of cut will be lowered as the new seedlings mature. Expect slower rolls on longer grass as a result.  Taking heights down too quick is risky through the summer.  It's best to be safe with this and play it cautiously.  I expect the slow return to normal greens height to be completed by autumn at the latest.

Blog Delay
I've been neglecting regular posting lately for a couple of reasons.  The primary one is the weather has been ideal for getting work done and there's a lot to do.  Not so much time or energy left to sit down at the computer and tap these things out. Secondly, the laptop I use to do all my correspondence developed a problem in its hard drive, so, I'm in the process of hashing out the warranty with Dell.  Will post when able!

Pond Update

Thanks to some land management mistakes by the farmers to our immediate east (across Munro Rd.) our pond was inundated with their creek dredging silt and topsoil run-off over last winter.  They failed to use silt fencing or straw bales to mitigate the downstream flow from the work they did and the result was 50 cubic yards of slop that we had to dredge out of our pond a couple weeks ago. I've spoken with the DEC and they're aware of the problem with this specific (dairy) farm operator.  We'll be watching them closer going forward. 

On a positive note, we did get our beautiful fountain working again. Wired in with room for another fountain if needed.  There's already an improvement in water quality.  We'll never have a deep crystal clear body of water as long as the pond is fed by streams that traverse through actively manured and fertilized farmland.  The nutrient load is too high and the rock bottom of the pond is too shallow to keep it cool.  But we will do the best with what we have.  I'm looking at introducing lily pads into the pond to help cut the sunlight in hopes of slowing the heating of the water. 

Thanks to Tim Loveland for the work he did to get this rolling, Jeff Hanlon for materials and support, and Caryl Electric for the work on our side of the pole.  And thanks to everyone else involved who tried to light a fire under NatGrid corporate to expedite this job.

     

Ground Control

Ropes and stakes are a necessary evil on golf courses and I hate resorting to them.  What I do to avoid having to use them is put signs out suggesting an action.   

WET AREA STAY OUT

KEEP OFF

CARTS ON PATH

You get the idea.  When they're disregarded, we have to bring out the ropes and stakes to physically stop people from driving into spots we don't want them to go into.  We don't like having to put them up anymore than the golfer likes having to drive the long way around to get to a tee or to their ball. Please help minimize the use of ropes and stakes by keeping your golf cars out of areas that are obviously signed and telling you to go an alternate route. Thanks.

  

Right of 15 green - carts are not invited.
If you're driving a cart in here, don't.
Park in the approach where the turf is healthier.

Adjusting Collars

Once or twice a year we adjust the width of the collars so they're all uniform. It looks nice. While we're in the middle of it, it looks like our operators are drunks. Courses, who care to have uniform collars, adjust them periodically.  You may see them do this, or you may not. We've done this every year for the last 14 years, so by no means is it something new at Tuscarora. And every year I don't mind explaining the process for those who are concerned that we've forgotten how to mow our greens, or our operators aren't doing the job correctly. 

The blue dots in the foreground are where the greens mower is to trace their 'clean-up pass' which establishes the collar width.  Since the collar can be too wide or too narrow depending on the site, clean-up passes are halted for 1 -2 weeks to grow out the areas I want longer.  This is the second week we've been letting the greens edges grow out.  When I'm happy with the length and feel the greens can be cut with a clean-up, we'll start cutting them.  

Further, clean-up passes around greens aren't mowed everyday. Anywhere.  If they were, there would be very little live grass around the edges of greens due to excessive mowing injury.  For this reason, some days, even with collars adjusted, you'll see an un-mown greens edge,  And now you'll know why.   

If you have any questions at all on this method, please don't hesitate to call me or email.