Skip to main content

HGCC In The Know...




The weather is trying to turn but winter keeps hanging on. However, over the past few weeks we have been able to get out and finish a few projects! 

The Champ tee on #6 has been enlarged, sodded, and improved sunlight and air movement due to limb pruning.   The forward tee on upper #11 has doubled in usable space and we reclaimed an old tee pad on lower #11; it still had an original yardage plate buried in the ground! These tees will allow for more tee placement, variety, and traffic relief from our increased levels of play.  

Warmer temps and a dry stretch afforded the opportunity to begin basic preparations on putting surfaces.   They have been rolled twice, mowed once, and have been sprayed twice.  A spring fungal cleanup and precisely timed plant growth regulator for seed head suppression have been applied.  The later app is based on a measurement called Growing Degree Days as well as historical site knowledge.  

Spring clean up in the landscape beds around the Clubhouse, Pool, Academy, and Tennis facilities has started and is looking tremendous! All plant material has been pruned back, beds have been cleared out and edged, next fresh mulch will be going down and pre-emergent applied to all beds. Along with the landscape work the guys have started to clean up on the course as well from all limbs and debris from the winter.

As you are out and about around Highland look for the new faces that have been added to the Golf Course staff! Ryan and Chris are excited about the staff that has been hired for this upcoming season!

Late Winter and early Spring is the time of year that we must be patient to allow the turf to warm up and firm up before we allow heavy traffic on these areas. The freeze and thaw along with wet/soft turf can cause damage that will set us back well into the early part of summer. Please be patient and adhere to the play access instructions that are posted by the Golf Staff.  We are as excited to start the year as all of you, but we want to make sure we give you the best product we can season long.  Please view the short video from our friends at the USGA Green Section below....


Front Tee on upper #11 has doubled in size

Lower #11 tee addition

  
Upper tee on #6 has increased in size by 1.5 and has been leveled off to allow for multiple tee locations


First roll and mow of the season on greens and the new #6 green expansion

Spring clean up started this week and we cant be more excited with our partnership with
 Circle City Outdoors













Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HGCC In The Know: Record Breaking June

 The June chapter for 2022 has come to an end, but not before setting records for heat and lack of precipitation.  Midwest golf course infrastructure and turf varieties are made to withstand short spurts of both heat and drought.  Irrigation systems are designed, at their peak efficiency, to be supplemental to seasonal rainfall not as a long term lifeblood.   Prolonged stretches of both strains the limits of infrastructure, plant survivability, staff, and ultimately playing conditions short and long term.  I am very pleased with the results of the staff's hard work and diligence.  In such a long term wave of tough conditions, we can work to mask infrastructure issues to an extent, yet some cannot be completely overcome.  A prime example is irrigation coverage and control.  This combined with other issues such as growing environment, shade, etc. rears its head.  The 24 year old system has many deficiencies; with one of the most glaring be...
Post a Comment
Read more

HGCC In The Know: Fall Update

 A long, dry, and challenging season has come to conclusion...but the course could not be in better condition heading into Winter. We have taken advantage of the warm dry fall to restore the back 2 tee boxes on hole 16, reclaim 2,000 sq ft of putting surface on 2, 6, and 13 greens, and make turf surface repairs to the range tees in an effort to begin 2023 with good turf cover.  Irrigation improvements will occur on the tees over winter to provide us the tools to better grow in new, viable turf during the playing season.  A practice tee is a major challenge, especially with current usage.  Major improvements to bring the practice facilities up to today's standards are on the horizon!!   A very much needed Capital Improvement was the upgrade to our pump station. We were able to update the pumps, needed valves, resurface the skid and the control panel. These updates will allow the pump station to be a modern viable station for years to come. The new control panel a...
Post a Comment
Read more

A little Defense goes a long way!

One of the greatest challenges maintaining a golf property in the transition zone is to have a sustainable product season long.  A strong Defense is an important cog for a sports team, and it's an equally important part of turfgrass management.  This time of year is the peak weakness for cool season grasses.  Root systems have declined, months of mowing and traffic have occured, long and hot days are the norm, and rainfall is an all or nothing proposition.  Within 48 hours turf can be lost to heat/drought stress and/or to disease from high heat and humid conditions.  This time of year calls for the starting varsity defense. Defense comes in multiple forms.  Most often it involves a combination of what we don't do with added measures to the to-do list.  We remove unnecessary stresses by limiting processes such as grooming the turf, topdressing with a mechanical drag, and letting surfaces get to or past the wilt point.  We add processes such as tigh...
Post a Comment
Read more