Course opening

We are set to open the golf course on Friday, April 1st. As you can see from the photo below, the turf is still brown and dormant. There is quite a bit of work that goes into preparing the course for the seasonal opening. Below are just a few of the tasks the staff undertakes to prepare the course for play. The staff is edging the bunkers & distributing the sand.

The staff is adding compost to the flower beds in preparation for the summer annuals

The greens are being rolled to help firm them for play

Leaves are being blown and cleared away

Numerous irrigation and drainage projects are receiving attention

Course Condition Emails & Texts

I have set up a new medium for NCC members to check on the daily golf course conditions. If there are any conditions that deviate from normal course opening and normal play, I will post a message between 6:00 and 7:00 AM in the morning. This is a way for you to check to see if there are cart restrictions, frost delays, course closings, etc. If everything is normal as related to the golf course practices for the day then there will not be a message sent out.

You can participate by going on line to http://www.rainedout.com/ and sign up to receive my updates by text or email messages. This information will be similiar to what you would hear on the golf course condition line.

Give me a call or send me an email if you have any quesitons.

Course Preparation

The snow has melted and course opening preparations are in process. It is still very soft and wet and the turf is still dormant. Even though the course opening is still several weeks away (targeted for April 1st) the staff is busy doing as much work as the soft soil conditions allows

The photo below shows the turf is still dormant
Leaves are being cleaned out of the bunkers

Fallen trees are removed from the course

Fallen limbs and branches are collected and removed

Low hanging tree branches are removed

Leaves are collected and removed for disposal

All flower beds have to be cleaned and prepared

Course Opening

As is the case every spring, our target date or opening the golf course is April 1st. Depending on the weather during the next three weeks, we have our sights set on another April 1st opening. The actual opening may vary by several days on either side of the 1st depending on the weather conditions at the time. I will keep you updated on this blog site and with emails for those of you who have indicated that you want the updates.

The driving range grass tee will not open until closer to May when the turf is dry and growing.

With the extensive amount of snowfall that we have had during the winter, the melting conditions will result in the course being quite wet during the early part of the spring.

Below workers remove ice and snow from the green' surface

Most of the ice an snow have melted from the green's surface

What Happens Under All That Snow

While snow can appear as a beautiful and calm blanket for a golf course during the winter month, undesirable things can be happening underneath. In the basic of terms, turf can survive under snow for extended periods but if there is an ice layer under the snow then the turf can only survive for a certain amount of time. While snow affords oxygen availability to the turfgrass plant, an ice layer prevents oxygen to get to the turf.

Each different species of turfgrass has its own specific threshold of tolerance before damage occurs to the plant under ice. For this reason sometimes drastic measures have to be initiated to protect the turf, even during the frozen winter when golfers are thousands of miles away from Chicago in the warmer climates. In the event that you would like to learn more about the effects of snow and ice damage to turf, please refer to the following website and article.

http://www.usga.org/course_care/regional_updates/regional_reports/midatlantic/What-Is-

Northmoor Country Club golf course under snow
The photo below is of Microdochium patch, a winter turfgrass disease.
We want to avoid this at all costs. It occurs under extended periods of ice and snow.

Numerous diseases can occur under the snow and ice

that can affect the appearance and playability of the

golf course the following spring.

The photo below shows the effects of ice damage in a shaded area on a golf course.
More winter and ice damage on a course in Virginia.
The photo below is of a 1 inch ice layer on our green at NCC.
Our staff removed the snow layer with a sand machine blade

so that we could get to the ice layer.

Once the snow was removed from the surface of the green
we shattered the ice layer with the aerifyer machine tines.

This allowed air and sunlight to get to the grass plant.

The surface of the green was cleared of ice for turfgrass protection & survival.

The Storm

Below are some photos of the snow accumulations at the club following the recent storm.

The Golf Course Operations staff clears the main driveway

The entry to the men's locker room was difted in with snow.

A view of the back of the clubhouse

The golf course is blanketed with a deep layer of snow.

There are 3 and 4 foot drifts of snow covering our fuel tanks

The Golf Course Operations staff braves the cold to clear the driveway

The cart barn is surrounded by heavy snow drifts

Range Turf Quality Factors

Below is a photo of the range tee prior to the renovation. The tee was 1/3 smaller than the new range tee.

The New Range Tee

I receive a number of questions and comments regarding the quality of hitting surface on the range tee. This overhead photo says it all. On May the 28th, before our memberships begins to actively utilize the golf course, the front half of the bottom tier of the range tee has already been "churned up" with divots. At this time the soil temperatures are barely warm enough to germinate new seed much less have it come up and rapidly fill in the divots.

We rotate from the front to the back of the range tee 3 to 4 times a year. In essence, we are growing 3 or 4 new stands of grass each summer. This process would be similar to a home owner planting, killing, and re-planting their lawn 3 or 4 times in a single growing season. You can see how the turf does not have the ability to gain a significant degree of maturity until it is time to hit off of it again.

Our range tee receives more use than any private club I have ever seen. We re-seed the used portion of the tee every night after the range closes but it can take 4 to 8 weeks for the seed to germinate and mature depending on the times of the year and the soil temperatures. We take every measure to expedite the maturation process but we cannot defy Mother Nature or the inherent growth & physiological characteristics of the grass plant.