Great weather continues

The last small pile of snow melted off theWest side of the Driving range tee last night. It should dry up in the next day or two then we can prep that area for an early practice season.
New Driving range mats are on order, I hope they come in by the end of the week. The driving range should be open by next week if all goes well.
If this weather continues we will be looking at a record opening date for the Heritage.

Greywalls green #4 looks to be the last green covered in snow and ice, but by the end of today even that surface should be melted off. Valley snow still remains on Greywalls from winter drifting but by the end of this week that should be gone as well.

Two more staff members are starting on the Greywalls course on monday. We will then operate with two guys on each side while keeping an eye on the long term weather forecast. I dont like getting real excited yet, after all it is only March in Mqt.

Why we apply Fungicides in the Late Fall

This is a picture of #16 on the Heritage Course today (3/16).
I am sure you notice that the Tees and Fairways look very green yet the rough looks Brown. The entire rough is infected and over taken by snow-mold. This is a wonderful example of why a fungicide application has to be made on all of our Greens, Tees and Fairways before the winter. In order to make these critical applications we have to close earlier than 'the day before snow arrives for good' in the fall.
I always smile at the effectivness of these applications this time of year, one can see exactly where a boom was turned on and off.
The rough, which is maintained at a higher height of cut will recover and green up within a month. The much shorter cut Fairways, Tees and Greens would take all season to recover from major snow-mold damage as seen in the rough.

Another wonderful day of snow melt, at this rate the Heritage greens might all be melted off by Monday. We took down the snow fence today and we are really impressed with what we see on the Heritage course, it looks very good.
There is still to much snow over at Greywalls to get out and around with any utility vehicles. By the end of next week we should be able to get some tools out and start work on GW also.

Warming up

This early spring has everyone giddy with excitement. The snow is melting off very fast, the 3 feet we received several weeks ago is now gone and all that is left is snow pack from earlier winter. The peaks and mounds are all emerging but the mega drifts and a good 1 ½ feet of harder packed snow still remains in most areas. Everything seem to be looking great from what I can see on the Heritage course, all of the areas treated for Snow-mold last fall look very clean. I know what the 10 day forecast says, but we may not be out of winter just yet and disease pressure for Pink Snow-mold is very high right now. I think we may have one more arctic blast left before it is all said and done.

This extended melt down may stick around long enough into next week to melt all of the snow and ice pockets off our greens early. That would be wonderful as it would eliminate my worry for the disastrous freeze thaw cycles that occur this time of year which creates plant crown hydration and winter kill.

I had a wonderful time at the (Golf Industry Show) GIS several weeks ago in Las Vegas. I attended all of the general session educational events then I walked the show room floor for 8 hours talking with vendors and exploring companies containing new innovative products. I ran into many old friends on the show room floor, it was nice to catch up and talk a little turf and business. The last day there I made the drive out to PGA West in La Quinta, CA to see my former Assistant Scot. He is doing well at his new post and his desert course played great.
I landed back in Marquette just in time to deal with three days of snow.

Crazy Winter
I feel as if I am back down State with the temperatures and meltdowns we are having.

Reminder to everyone to get out and enjoy the sun while snowshoeing the property. Please just stay away from greens and tees to prevent compacted ice conditions which could potentially cause winter damage/kill.

I have completed my clean sweep of the Heritage shop (cleaning, organizing, repainting parking lines etc.) I also had to redo the Chemical storage room to correct some potential issues. I am also almost done doing the clean sweep of the Greywall shop. I built some lofts in the rafters for extra storage and rebuilt several of the shelves after do some reoganizing. Today I am going to repaint the parking lines and prep for all of the wood working, sign sealing and painting that has to be done before we open. Starting next week I will be back in the Heritage shop to finish grinding reels in preparation for the spring.
Between the time I have to spend in the office to prepare for the 2012 season, time helping to clean out the clubhouse and do repairs in there, plus snowplowing the lots and snowshoeing the property to monitor winter conditions I am to the breaking point on time.
I will be attending an educational symposium next week (weds.) in Wausau, Wi. It is put on by the Northern Great Lakes Chapter of the GCSAA. I will also be attending the GCSAA conference in Vegas the week of Feb. 27th. I look forward to learning and getting updated on issues facing our golf industry.