Winter Work

 

Once the golfers have sought the warmth of their living rooms or have headed south or west in search of warmer weather, there is still quite a bit of activity on the golf course. The Golf Course Operations staff works well into the fall and winter to finalize necessary tasks. These, behind the scene,  guys give a truly selfless effort working out in the cold to prepare the course.   These are just a few of the off season tasks that are accomplished.

  We are getting our new Border Collie "Bristol" acquainted with the property and chasing geese.

There are plenty of leaves to collect an dispose of.

The staff clears the parking lot of snow when necessary.

We have just "blown out" the irrigation system for the season.

Applying preventative fungicides is necessary to prevent winter diseases.

These photos show just how winter diseases can devastate a course.

                                          
 Rough mowing units are used to mulch the leaves

Ivan & Santos are preparing the winter planter boxes

 

Lorrie is planting the winter pots

Adding additional drainage is a winter routine

Our staff takes down diseased and unsafe trees

In-house tree removals

           Mario is repairing any irrigation system leaks

Todd is adding a layer of sand to the green's surfaces to protect the turf

Apolinar is topdressing the fairways with sand to help firm the fairways and protect the turf from winter temperatures

These are the guys that work before dawn and till dusk many days in snow, rain, heat and cold to give us the golfing conditions that NCC members and guests enjoy. 

 

Bristol - Border Collie

Please welcome Bristol, the newest member of our Golf Course Operations team.  Bristol is a finely trained  Border Collie that will replace Polly as our goose dog.  She is two and a half years old.  Her presence and contribution are quite important to our property.  She works and performs on specific voice command to harass geese to flee the property.  She will work mostly early in the mornings and later in the afternoons when there are less golfers on the course.  That is when there are more geese on property.   During the fall and winter months, she will be out on the course for longer periods.

 Left to roam the course uninhibited, geese leave a daily mess that is not only unsightly but also takes many employee man hours each day to remove in order to prepare the course for play.  Geese also damage the putting surfaces when they relieve themselves on the greens.

 

Great Golf

As the golfing season comes to a close, the mild October weather has provided a few weeks of extended golf for our NCC members.  Thanks for all your compliments on the course this. These playing conditions are on a level with the best clubs in Chicagoland.  I hope our members enjoy the course and are proud of their property.

 

                                           

 

            

         

         

         

         

       

        

         

 

              

                

                 

                      

Emerald Ash Borer

Emerald Ash Borer

On your next trip to the golf course you will notice a number of trees with orange tape around the base. These are ash trees and many are infected by the Emerald Ash Borer, an insect that has done devastating damage to ash trees across the Midwest. I will have a number of professional tree contractors visit NCC and provide me with a proposal for the removal of the ash trees.

Golfer safety, aesthetics and strategic location of the individual trees will be evaluated. We have treated several of the more strategically located ash trees without much success. While some of the ash trees are currently dead and void of any leaves, there are others that still have a decent canopy. Based on all accounts across the Midwest, once the borer is in an area, there is little or no hope for any of the ash trees to survive long term. All the ash trees have been identified for bidding purposes.

Once a proposal is in hand, I will submit the information and scheduling options to the club officials. Dr. Hurdzan, our Golf Course Architect, will be included in any replanting of trees on the course to insure they are in line with the desired playability and design of the course.

                                                                         

Flowers of Northmoor

 

The following photos are just a few of the landscaping scenes from around Northmoor's property

Lorrie Witt, Master Gardener, is our Horticulturalist and is responsible for our flowers at NCC

Hector and Ampiro have the expansive task of doing the majority of caring for the flower beds on the property.  These men do a tremendous job