Published: April 23, 2009 06:06 am      

Golf course news and notes for April 2009

Winter-like weather has delayed the healing process on the aerified greens. Cool temps, heavy frost, and April snow have drastically hindered new growth on the greens. Soil temperature is a very important factor when it comes to healing aerified greens in the spring. The sand that the greens are grown on is quick to freeze and slow to thaw. As soon as it warms up and the sun decides to make an appearance, the greens should begin to heal more quickly.

Greens aerification is an inconvenience to golfers, but it is an absolute necessity. To ensure quality conditions throughout the entire year, golfers must endure a couple of weeks of not so quality greens. Aerification prevents severe problems in the hot part of the summer. Among other benefits, aerification encourages root growth, relieves compaction, and helps the movement of air and water through the soil profile.

An abundance of rainy days and a lack of sunshine have made it difficult for the maintenance crew to get caught up on mowing. The grass in the roughs and on the fairways is growing very fast at this time. If mowing gets rained out one day, catching up becomes hard. When the mowers get rained out for multiple days, catching up becomes a nightmare.

The soggy conditions on the course this spring have not allowed the golf operations staff to permit cart traffic on the course as much as they would have liked. It is the goal of the management at Lake Tansi to allow cart traffic on the course as much as possible. Hopefully some drier conditions will prevail and carts will return to being allowed off the trail. During the 2008 golfing season at Lake Tansi, carts were allowed off the path 201 out of 210 days. There has already been a 20-day stretch this spring in which the staff was unable to allow carts off the trail.

The maintenance staff has added about 15 acres of new “natural areas.” Several key people at Lake Tansi asked that the maintenance department reduce costs by letting some “out of play” areas on the course become natural areas. Adding more natural areas will reduce mowing hours, fuel usage, fertilization costs, and pesticide expenses.

Another cost reduction strategy incorporated by the golf maintenance staff is the installation of perennial landscape plants around the pro shop and 19th Hole. Getting away from so many annual flowers will reduce labor expense, watering, fertilization, soil conditioning, and yearly plant costs.