Hello All-
As the weather slowly begins to warm, we start to think
spring is arriving. The spring season is very important for the turf. It has
been “asleep” all winter, now it is slowly waking with a warmer sun and rain.
The frost layer is gone but the underlying soil is still very saturated. It
will be nice to get some warm rain to flush the cooler water that currently
sits amongst the root system. As the soil temperature rises, the turf will
begin to shoot out and grow like normal.
I am sure you all follow the weather like I do. This weekend
looks to be pretty nice for this time of year. In preparation of this, we have
put out one set of tee markers for each hole. We have placed them at the front
of each of the men’s tees. I do this in an area that receives little play to
save the best areas for the season. I would ask anyone who plans to play this
tee, please play within the markers. For anybody who would like to use the
forward tees, you are free to play where you like. I will be keeping the
temporary pins in for this weekend. The greens are still a little soft to
sustain play. If we do damage now, it will be hard to play catch up once the
season begins. I anticipate mowing next week, at which time we will reevaluate
and make changes if needed.
Now that I have gotten everybody excited about the course
opening, I need to bring up aerification. I understand where the membership is
coming from in their dislike of this practice. Having said that, there are few
things that a turf manager does to his/her golf course that is more important
than aerification. I plan to do our spring aerification Monday and Tuesday,
April 25th and 26th. This time of year, the turf is actively growing, allowing
for quick recovery. I am attaching a link to a great read on aerification done
by the USGA Green Section. It is a bit long but worth the time if anybody is
interested in what aerification does for turf health.
See you on the course
-Elliott
http://turf.lib.msu.edu/gsr/article/bevard-putting-3-4-11.pdf