Any Given Monday

Have Frost, Will Travel

Certainly no one would have guessed this time last week that spring still had another frost left to go, but by Friday it was clear we had a decent chance at not one, but two! Grounds took this mornings delay in stride however, and used it to do some spring cleaning around the shop and barns. Organizing our out door storage and dump area were the primary goals, and I would say they were met. Hopefully as you all play the course this week you will notice the difference.

As of the end of last week all of the logs in the grounds parking lot are now gone; we also removed all of the remaining aerification sand. This frees up a great deal of space just in time for the return of the tennis season. We are still trying to find a home for the remaining mulch. We have a few areas on the course left to do, but if you or any of your neighbors are interested please feel free to take as much as you need!

Once the course had thawed, we did some work at the chipping green. Years of sand being added to the bunker berm had raised it's height considerably, and burned much of the turf there. Today we shaved that added height off and we will be sodding the bentgrass side of the berm in the days to come.  Quite a bit of sod went down around the rest of the course as well, with more on deck for tomorrow. Please keep your eyes out for ropes and stakes in these areas and respect their need to be left undisturbed.

Those are the high-lights from another Monday with the course all to ourselves. Hopefully everyone had a great weekend, and a happy Mother's Day.

All in a Monday's work!
Ryan A. Dunbar

Weekend Update: May 10-12

While this post will most likely be seen on a rainy Thursday evening, the weekend is forecast to be mild, but sunny. For all of you who will be at Cress Creek celebrating mothers and all they do, I wanted to share a couple notes on things you may notice.

I'm sure many of you have seen that our rough seems to range from "lush" in most areas to "man-eating" in a few, specific places. We are in a sweet spot right now for turf growth, especially turf maintained at rough height. Between spring fertilization, soil temperatures on the rise, and a few shots of rain the rough is growing like crazy! With many acres of rough to maintain and only three mowers and so many hours to mow, completing the entire course is not a single day process- but please rest assured we are doing our best to keep up.

I also wanted to call attention to the pond on 15 fairway. Installation of that ponds aerator (fountain) requires that the water level be low and we have been intentionally letting it run dry all week for this reason. Once we are able to install the aerator, the pond will be refilled. Please pardon it's appearance until then.

Lastly, there is no way to miss the collection of soil in our main parking lot.  This pile is made up of the spoils from the construction of our newly completed patio. The process of removing this pile has already been mostly completed. If all of you could please extend us just a little more patience, the rest will be removed before this weekend. 


Have a happy Mother's Day weekend!
Ryan A. Dunbar
Assistant Superintendent


*Are you receiving two emails of this blog post? Please click the "unsubscribe now" link at the bottom of this email. You will continue to receive blog posts from the new Cress Creek Country Club website. Thank you!*   
 
  

Any Given Monday

Before the sun was out Cress Creek Country Club's crew was hard at work. As many of you know, Monday's with no outings scheduled are often project days for grounds, today was no different.

We started the day on 18 fairway, and the practice tee. Both these areas, along with 8 approach were seeded to improved varieties of turf late last fall. For the most part these areas have established nicely but, just as with any large scale grow in, we were prepared for touch up work. An underwhelming spring ensured that our preparation would be put to use. With the weather shifting in our favor we took today's opportunity to seed. For the most part both areas remain undisturbed and play should not be disrupted.

We have also been mowing these areas with the same interval and equipment as the other features on the course. Mowing newly established turf encourages lateral growth- which in turn helps new turf to fill in any areas that may not have performed as well.

In other establishment news: This year we took a slightly different approach to aerification in an effort to improve efficiency. Cores harvested from the greens were taken to the nursery and planted, cores from the tees went to the rear of 9's left-hand tee a week later. Both areas are now showing new, healthy growth. Should the weather stand by us they will hopefully establish with only a small need for touch up work. Beyond the time and money it saves, renewing the nursery via this method also has one agronomic perk that seeding and sodding do not: Any sod taken from the nursery will have been established from our own unique greens, and cared for from inception using the same practices.

All in a Monday's work!
Ryan A. Dunbar
Assistant Superintendent

*Are you receiving two emails of this blog post? Please click the "unsubscribe now" link at the bottom of this email. You will continue to receive blog posts from the new Cress Creek Country Club website. Thank you!*