Wildlife in our lakes

Just in case there was anyone who needs some more convincing that the salinity levels in our lakes are extreme, we thought this photo would be a good visual aid.  The Atlantic Blue Crab thrives in the salt waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Chesapeake Bay, and Gulf of Mexico.  But it appears as though at least one is happily making his home at The Forest.  This photo was taken this morning in the lake adjacent to #18 Bear green and the crab was large, roughly the size of a football.

Let the construction begin!

On Tuesday January 21, 2014, your golf maintenance staff began construction of 2 bocce courts on the lawn adjacent to the Grill Room.  Bocce has become a very popular activity at The Forest and we have begun upgrading these facilities as a result.  The courts will be 10' X 65' and will be recessed 6" below the turf, include a full drainage system, and have a Har-Tru playing surface.  We plan on installing wooden pergolas at each end of the courts complete with lighting.  Upon completion in a couple weeks, these courts will be a great place to enjoy the services of The Club with your friends and family!

Bear course sprinkler yardage markers

As you golf on the Bear course this week, you may notice the new yardage tags attached to the sprinkler heads.  We measured each head to the center of the green and installed some 300+ markers last week.  No sprinklers closer than 50 yards or further than 275 yards are marked and no new yardage markers were added on the Bobcat course.  We are hoping to begin an irrigation system overhaul on the Bobcat course within the next 1-2 years and will include the cost of adding these yardage markers at that time.

This upgrade on the Bear course will allow us to host USGA sanctioned events such at the US Open qualifier this past year, as GPS and range finders are not permitted in these events.

 

 

Sprinkler head re-positioning

On many older golf courses, you will see sprinkler heads located in the middle of tee tops.  This is due to the fact that when older courses were built, the main irrigation supply pipe would cut right down the middle of each hole, making it convenient at times to put sprinkler heads on tee tops.  The Bobcat course has several such instances.  There are a few reasons that this scenario is not desirable:

1. It reduces teeing surface area.  As we manage wear by moving tee markers daily, we are restricted by these areas.
2. It is a distraction for golfers teeing off.  Any foreign object on the teeing surface can be considered a distraction for golfers be it a weed, piece of trash, or a sprinkler.
3. It is a tripping hazard located in a high traffic area.

For these reasons, we have begun moving these sprinklers to the rough adjacent to the tee tops.  The first area you will see us working on is #13 Players/2 tee.  The sod patch where they sprinkler used to be should heal in 10-14 days and we will now be able to use this area as teeing surface.

 

New Equipment

Santa was a little late arriving at our Golf Course Maintenance facility this year, but he didn't forget us.  On Tuesday December 31, 2013 we took delivery of two slightly used pieces of equipment:

 

This Bobcat T-300 is one of the largest skid steer style machines on the market.  It is able to lift over 4000lbs and will be a huge help in completing the never-ending list of projects on our courses.  Our front end loader is 18 years old and despite great upkeep, it is not the most reliable.  The new Bobcat will help with the tasks normally handled by the loader as well as special projects such as bocce court installation, brush clearing, and cart path repairs.

 

 

 

This Vermeer chipper is the gold standard when it comes to commercial debris chipping equipment.  The BC 1800 model is capable of chipping a 19" diameter log...and no, that's not a typo; we chipped an entire tree with a trunk nearly a foot and a half wide without any problem.  During our brush clearing projects this machine will save us money on labor and debris haul off expenses.



Update on condition of overseeded tees...

As you may have noticed, the record high temperatures we have been experiencing over the past few weeks have caused the playing conditions on our overseeded tees to be less than ideal.  In particular, the turf on the Players/3 tee on #1 Bear and the 4 tee on #1 Bobcat is very sparse.  We have removed the tee markers and placed them on the nearest tee box and begun our T.L.C. process including:

-  Application of fungicide to kill the algae that has formed on the surface.  Grass cannot grow on algae, only on soil
-  Spiking and scarification of the surface to encourage soil/seed contact crucial for germination
-  Topdressing to cover seed and protect the crown of the new plants
-  Application of starter fertilizer high in phosphorous

I believe this program will help us achieve better results and that the tee markers will need to be removed for 3 weeks.  Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Sincerely,

Matt