Sunday, April 25, 2010

Excited for this week.

We were able to get all the fairways sprayed last week with Pre Emerge for knotweed. Time will tell the effectiveness.







I am very excited to be starting our walk mower program tomorrow. I did a few hours of training last Thursday with the Baroness reps. I was very surprised at the quality of cut we got. Even after removing an area that had just been mowed with our current Tri Plex riding mower.

The walk mowers have several attachments. A De-Thatcher, Groomer, and a rotary brush. We will be using the De-Thatchers on Monday. They will help clean out the old grass, provide better water penetration, air movement to the turf plant crowns and help prep the thin area for seeding.

Once we have De-thatched, we switch to groomers for the next few weeks. The groomers just "tickle" the turf. They help cut out lateral turf growth and promote vertical growth. This vertical growth helps provide a more true putting surface and better ball roll.

However, most of all we need some nice growing weather. That is the biggest key to healing the course. I have to remind myself that we are only in April.


-- Post From My iPad

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Dreaded Knotweed

Today we started the spring battle with our arch enemy KNOTWEED!
We started spraying Gallery, which is a Pre-Emergent Herbicide. We got a few fairways done before play got to heavy. We'll continue tomorrow as play permits.

It is crazy out there this spring. Everything is on a new schedule with this warm weather. Weeds are coming, grass is growing, my oh my! It's not to often you are spraying Dandylions in Apr, but we will be next week.

Tomorrow is a big day for me. I will be getting trained in on our new Baroness Walking Greens Mowers. I am honestly excited for this new endeavor. I think it will be the first time Hiawatha has ever walk mowed greens.

What can you expect from Walk mowers?
-precise cut
-less compaction
-no potential for hydraulic leaks
-more upright growth

Pictures to come soon

-- Post From My iPad

Friday, April 16, 2010

Changes to the course

Just wanted to mention a few changes we have done on the course. We have replaced our old flags with new Logo Flags. They look great!

We have started to paint the inside edge of the cups as of Wednesday this week. I plan to continue to paint them all year. I think it is a nice touch.

Today we cut an intermediate rough (First Cut). This will be cut at 1 1/4".
So, we will have fairway 3/4", first cut 1 1/4", rough 2 1/2".

There are changes coming to how we mow greens as well. I will reveal that at the end of this upcoming week. I will leave you guessing for a bit.


-- Post From My iPad

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Rain Just in Time

The rain last night and today was a lovely site. It seems last night that one of our irrigation pumps decided to blow up. Luckily we have a spare. It will be installed tomorrow afternoon. YEAH!

Now of course I want the rain to stop this week so we can get some spraying done. I'm funny that way,


-- Post From My iPad

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Irrigation

Well as of yesterday, we were able to get the irrigation running. After replacing some faulty electronic components in the pump house. As of this morning I think we have half a dozen or so irrigation spots that need to be repaired. Overall the repairs will be pretty routine.

Next week the plan is to get all the fairways sprayed with pre-emerge herbicide to try and combat the HATED knotweed.

-- Post From My iPad

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

April Showers

Today the Metro Area saw a much needed rainy day. A nice slow soaker, is exactly what the golf course needed. Although it is early April, it was dry out there.

I don't know how many Tech Geeks we have in our midst. I for one am an openly proud tech geek. As I sit here typing this Blog, I am doing so on my Brand New iPad 32gb. I love this thing.

If any of you out there have thought about one or wondered whats all the hype, you need to go out to your local Best Buy or Apple store and give it a spin. It's a thing of beauty.

Ok back to golf.

As we start into April, I am very excited about the things to come to Hiawatha this year. I have many projects planned. Some of them will be small changes to our cultural practices. Some will be cosmetic changes to the golf course. More on those later as the details unfold.


-- Post From My iPad

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Happy Easter!

Good Morning Golfers. Happy Easter to you all.

-- Post From My iPad