NGLGCSA crew players

Our crew participants (minus Bill Kiple who had to leave a little early)
Top Row:Bruce Lofland, Ryan Thill, Myself, Ryan Daust, Andy McCormick, Dennis Kargela
Bottom Row:Scott Hudson, Scot Haynes, Clay Lamere

NGLGCSA CHAMPS!!!!!

It is Official, team MGC #1 just defended our home turf and won the NGLGCSA crew tournament!!!!!!

Myself, Dennis Kargela, Andy McCormick and Ryan Daust played lights out golf to shoot a (-13)58 in the heavy fog where visibility was about 50 to 70 yards.

When we started I thought a 6 under round might win the event with our given climatic conditions but we made every makeable putt today. Congrats guys, a job well done!!!!!

Grounds Fall Schedule

Fall Maintenance Schedule of events

Sept. 27th - NGLGCSA Crew outing on Greywalls
Sept. 28th - Aerify back nine Tees Greywalls
Sept. 29th - Aerify Front nine Tees Greywalls
Oct. 3rd until done - Fescue mow down on Greywalls
Oct. 10th, 11th, 12th - Heritage Irrigation winterization/Blowout
Oct. 16th - Last Day Greywalls is Open
Oct. 17th until done - Put Greywalls course to bed for the winter
Oct. 24th, 25th - Greywalls Irrigation winterization/Blowout
Oct. 31st - Last Day Heritage is Open
Nov. 1st until done - Put Heritage to bed for the winter

Aerification of the Heritage Tees was completed today along with Vertical mowing of the Greens.
The cores left on the tees will be cleaned off tomorrow by vertical mowing (to break them up) and blowers to remove the debris.

Frost

Our first Big Frost of the Fall this morning. More are sure to follow.

Cooler weather and a little bit of rain, our turf is happier now!!

Many of you I am sure have notice the bird houses Scot and I built this winter and put out around the course. I donated the wood and my time for this project because I really wanted to help the Bluebird population in our area. Open fields make a golf course an ideal habitat for these birds. The program was a complete success as our blue bird population exploded!!

As you see in the picture above, it becomes difficult for birds to nest in these boxes when they are vandalized. Please help us and our wonderful ecosystem by just enjoying the beauty of these birds with their bug eating habits. Actions like these are counter productive and disheartening.

Topdressing date change

We were scheduled to topdress the Heritage golf course on Monday but that date has been moved to monday Sept. 19th. This change was due to an equipment failure on our topdressing vehicle this past monday when topdressing Greywalls. We are still waiting on the repair part and should be able to have it fixed next week after it arrives.

We Topdressed the Greywalls greens yesterday and it went very well.

I followed up the Topdressing process with a spray application to eliminate the fairy ring growing on the greens. I have been watching the fairy ring progress on the greens for the last three months. The rings and localized dry spots have been a battle and we were masking the effects with wetting agent applications and solid tine aerification. The fungal growth was to the point of mushroom growth through the turf canopy last week and a curative application was needed.

We also started the Native/fescue mow down yesterday on the Heritage golf course. I wanted to get to these areas a few weeks early this year so we can blow leaves into or through them when they begin to fall. We may even be able to mulch up these areas again in late fall.

Winerization of the courses

This time of year I always get many questions about when the course will close for the season. So I figured I would sum things up a little for everyone.

We close the Greywalls course first so we can get it all winterized for our long snowy season and then we move the process over to the Heritage and do the same.
This usually takes place the first to third week of October on Greywalls and the end of October/early November on the Heritage.
BUT it all depends on the weather forecast.
The last thing we want to do is risk running out of time and not getting everything done before the snow falls. If it snows before we finish, there is nothing we can do and conditions the following spring and early summer will not be good. We must play it safe or we will all be sorry!
During this time we winterize the irrigation systems, spray preventative fungicides on the turf, haul in all course supplies, snow fence off wind blown areas, spread organic milorganite on the greens, detail clean and winterize all of our equipment, topdress the greens with a very heavy rate of sand for plant crown protection and rope off all of the greens to prevent damage from human winter activities.
After all of these tasks are complete, the staff is laid off for the winter and my shop work begins. I start the winter long process of grinding all of the reels and rebuilding what needs to be rebuilt. I also get the plow on the work truck to plow the course lots and driveways everytime it snows. I prepare for the next season by setting up supply delivery dates, attend educational seminars and I get all of the paper work prepared for the upcoming season. The most enjoyable part of my winter work schedule is strapping on the snow shoes a couple times a week to monitor winter conditions; so we know what to expect in the spring.

Enjoy the rest of the season as September is the best month for golf in the UP!!