Turning Old Into New!

Granite is a very porous material and stains easily.  Over time, our tee markers have aged and become stained on every side that wasn't seal coated originally.We attempted to clean the granite with many different

Yellowed granite is easily cleaned using a sand blaster

chemical products but nothing worked.  The solution came from sand blasting using a very fine grit sand. Each tee markers can be sand blasted to look like new in under 3 minutes!  After sand blasting, the granite surface is sealed to better withstand weather, use, and natural aging.  For the relatively small investment of $200 to purchase a sand blasting cabinet, all of the tee markers will look brand at the start of the season in 2014 and match beautifully with the new hole markers!

2014 Preparations

It’s no secret to anyone living in Michigan that this winter has been incredibly snowy and cold.  According to USA Today, Detroit has received 48.6 inches of snow to date this year when the normal average for an entire winter here is 42.7 inches.  Hopefully everyone has a great snow blower because we still have two more months of winter left!  I think I can comfortably say that everyone’s ready for some sunshine, warm weather, and golf!

All of our staff remains busy even beyond snow clearing by continuing to trim low hanging tree branches across the property.  The North course is complete and we’re now busy tackling the West course.

BEFORE

AFTER

In the shop, Hector has been very busy servicing all our equipment and preparing for the 2014 season.  Part of preparing for this coming season was eliminating inefficiencies from 2013, by building custom trailers for hauling push mowers, weed whips, and backpack blowers.  The need for this trailer was due to the difficulty of loading and hauling these tools in the bed of our John Deere Gators as well as safety for employees.  Last summer we noticed that a lot of time was lost by loading and unloading these tools from the bed of a cart because they didn’t fit well and the mowers were awkward and heavy to lift.  Hector built the first of two custom trailers last week and it turned out great.  The small equipment can now be safely loaded, unloaded, and hauled across the property.

Winter Weather Delays

The Redi-Rock wall continues to be delayed due to mother nature.  The highs this week are in single digits with wind chills below zero.  Materials and equipment are on site now and the project is ready to begin.  When the weather cooperates, the project is slated to on take 4 to 5 days to complete.  Stay tuned for updates, and stay warm!

4 North Redi-Rock Wall Project: Day 1

Day 1: Material staging on site.  46 blocks delivered today. Each block weighs 1 ton!

Snow Blowing Greens

Clearing 5 West Green

Snow cover is considered a good thing on northern golf courses during the winter as it acts as a natural blanket for turf, insulating it from harsh desiccating winds while still allowing the needed exchange of gases. While the majority of the time this is true, there are situations dictated  by weather in which clearing the snow from key playing surfaces, such as greens, is a good idea.  

The weather this weekend is supposed to rise above freezing for a period of time but then quickly drops down again to below freezing temperatures.  The situation turf managers are trying to avoid by removing snow from greens is ice build up.  The ground below the snow is still frozen and will not allow melting snow to drain through the profile. As the snow melts it can collect in low lying areas with poor surface drainage and form sheets of ice. Through years of research it has been found that Poa annua can survive up to 30 days under ice while bentgrass can survive up to 90 days under ice.  Our greens are predominantly Poa annua so this is of special concern to us.  Today our staff tackled clearing snow on a few key areas of the course prior to the warmer weather moving in this weekend in hopes of limiting any large ice formation which could injure/kill turf this winter.  With that said, it's always a gamble whether or not these efforts will actually pay off as winter damage can occur even after the best efforts to ensure turf health have been taken.

Winter Wonderland

Freezing cold temperatures and snow are the story so far this winter.  With 6 - 10 more inches of snow expected this weekend, the 4 North pond wall installation is currently on hold for better weather.  With that said, the grounds crew continues to tackle tree trimming around the entire property despite the snow cover and bitter cold temps.  The North course is now half done and we will be tackling the West course soon.