Goose Control

After a long course closure due to weather and frozen conditions in the past weeks, we were finally back on the course Sunday morning for some winter golf.  For those of you who have played since then, you surely noticed that there is a lot of "Goose Debris" around the collections and in the fairways.  With the extremely low temperatures this time of year, the geese that haven't flown south are just looking for any place to land.  When the course is closed like it has been and there are no golfers out there deterring them from landing, The Reserve looks like a 350 acre park to them.  Recently, we lost one of our best weapons in goose control, agricultural fireworks or bird bangers as they're commonly called.  The State Fire Marshall determined that the State Police didn't have the authority to issue agricultural firework permits to golf courses and thus, all permits expired on December 31, 2010.  There will be a bill in the 2011 legislative session that will give authority to the State Police but until it passes we will have to come up with other ways to control geese.  We continue to do our best to scare the geese away but they are very persistent this time of year.  Until conditions permit and we can get our blowers out in the fairways without causing major damage, we will clean -up the debris the best we can. 

In other course news, we have been keeping a close eye on #11 South this winter and have decided that it is in the best interests of the green to switch to a temporary on that hole.  Currently, there is no time line for re-opening the green, but as weather conditions improve we will continue to assess and move forward from there. 

Winter Damage

 We have reached the point of the year where frost delays are becoming a common occurrence.  In previous Reserve Reminders we've discussed the negative effects of frost, but for those of you who did not see that information, here is a brief overview.


Picture A



  Plants are comprised mostly of water and when that water freezes, the ice crystals in the turf puncture the cell walls and cause damage to the turf.  When the crown of the plant is frozen and then crushed under foot or cart traffic, the result can be death of the plant.  With the lack of plant growth during the winter months, damaged turf will be an eye sore and cause problems until we get to the spring and the growing season.   

   To the left, Picture A shows potential damage from foot traffic on frost covered turf.  The frozen water in the plants doesn't allow it to "Bounce Back" and cells within have now been damaged or destroyed.  Pictures B and C show damage resulting from cart traffic on frosty turf.

Picture B

Picture C



Picture D

Besides frost, we are now experiencing another cause of winter damage and that is frozen soil.  Some of the worst turf damage can be caused by concentrated foot traffic during the thawing out phase after a long freeze. When this occurs, the top inch of the soil starts to thaw and becomes very soft while the soil beneath is still frozen solid.  Foot traffic at this time causes a shearing action of the roots, in much the same way a sod cutter removes turf from the underlying soil.  The damage caused by root shearing can be devastating and result in the loss of a green for months.  Also, the softness of the green surface during the thawing phase will just accentuate wear and foot printing from golf traffic.  Picture D shows the results of concentrated foot traffic during a previous thawing out phase.  



   I hope that this sheds some light on the issues we are dealing with during these cold months.  Our number one priority is ensuring the long term health of the greens.  We hope to get everyone back on the courses as soon as they are ready.  Happy New Year!  

Winter Work

  Although its felt like it for some time now, today officially marks the beginning of Winter.  One of the questions that we field a lot down here this time of year is "What do you guys do during the Winter?"  First of all, you have to remember that our crew size during the Winter is significantly smaller than during the golf season.  Even though we don't mow with the same frequency this time of year, when we do get a break in the weather to mow, it takes a lot longer to complete.  When we're not mowing, we are working on projects that we otherwise wouldn't have time to complete with a full mowing schedule.  I thought I would take a few minutes and go over some of the projects we are working on.

  One thing that we can all agree on is that there will never be enough drainage.  We are committed to continually improving winter playability here at The Reserve.  Installing new drainage is a time consuming process that can impede play, so we limit our installation to the winter time as to have the smallest effect on play.  

  We also use the winter time to remove all blackberries and other invasive species from the golf course.  Each year we are required to remove all invasive vegetation from the Gordon Creek corridor to ensure a healthy and thriving wetland habitat for years to come.  We also clear out blackberries around the boarder of the property to create a buffer and keep all boundary lines clear.  This is also the time when the cattails and sedges in the creek systems need to be removed in order to make room for next years growth.  

  Finally, the photinia and arborvitae hedges around the courses have stopped growing for the season so we will prune them up to make sure they don't get overgrown as well as to ensure nice, uniform growth for next season.

 Along with these projects, we continue to work on other smaller projects to improve the golf courses for the upcoming season.  If you're one of the golfers who's willing to brave the winter weather, you're sure to see us out there so feel free to stop and say hi.  Happy Holidays! 

Water Water Everywhere!!

  Winter is in full swing now which means cold temperatures and enough rain to make us long for those 100 degree days of July and August.  Currently, we are in the midst of a particularly wet cycle in our weather pattern.  Since last week, we've had roughly 6 inches of rain here and it definitely shows on the course.  The most effected areas are the bunkers.  Heavy downpours cause the sand to wash down the steep slopes and settle in the bottom of the bunkers.  The damage that can occur in just minutes with heavy rains takes hours to repair.

  First we have to skim any dirt and silt off the top of the sand and then we relocate the wet and heavy sand back to its original spot ensuring sand depths of 4 inches in the bottom of the bunkers and 2 inches in the face of the bunker.  It's a very time consuming and labor intensive undertaking which can take 5 workers an entire week to finish.  We have a large list of things we'd like to get accomplished this winter and our list of finished projects will be a lot smaller this spring if we put all our man power into fixing washouts as they happen. 

  That being said, with the heavier rains predicted for the better part of the week and weekend, we will hold off on bunker repairs until the weather turns for the better and our hours of work won't be washed away overnight.  With a little luck and some cooperation from Mother Nature, we can get the bunkers fixed in the near future and continue moving forward with the rest of our winter projects.