On The Course June 26th, 2015

Early morning Coyote visit

 We have had a very busy week this week with a couple outside events and some great weather. The crew is doing a great job of preparing the course daily for play. We are mowing and rolling greens this morning and Nick Walters is setting pin locations. We have been doing some hand watering of the greens and tees this week. The fairway mowers are out this morning and Corey will be spot watering some fairways and bunker banks.

The development to the west of the golf course is starting to take shape and we will be working closely with them to help with screening the golf course and minimize the impact on the golfers. They are just about done grinding trees and should have that done before the end of the week. They have had some very good weather to get a lot done so far and will be putting in some extra time when the weather is nice. The hours of construction on the site are from 7am to 7pm and will have some impact on the golf course.

We had Sky Candy Studios out early this week to take some aerial photos and videos of the golf course. Will Wanahalla will be working putting some video clips together for marketing and for the website. We have taken a brief look at some of the pictures and video and they look very good.

Kurt Wacker spraying #5 Tee

Sky Candy Studios was out early this week taking aerial video and pictures of the Golf Course

On The Course June 18th, 2015

Nick Walters with the Pink Shirt mowing IM Rough

We have a Guest Day this afternoon with a 1:15pm Shotgun. We are mowing greens and fairways this morning. Once the greens are mowed and the surface has dried we will be rolling the greens. We have been topdressing the greens weekly and with the heavy dew this morning we cannot roll the greens until they dry up. The crew is working on push mowing and trimming bunkers banks.

The Development construction started this week and there have been a quick change to the west side of the property. The barn has been cleaned out as well as a significant portion of the tree clearing that is necessary for the development. After being on this course for over 10 years the typical views I have been used to are changing. The look we are seeing in the picture below opens up the view of the golf course from 2 down into 3 fairway. As the development progresses we will be adding a significant amount of trees on the perimeter of the golf course to help with screening. We have been able to save some trees that are right on the property boundary and will be working with the developer to try to keep as many as possible. We will also be working with them on some berms that can separate the development from the golf course and help with screening.

Different look down from the approach bunker on 2 to 3 fairway.

The Tree Feller made quick work of the woods to the west of #2

On The Course June 16th, 2015

John Thorvilson and Greg Soule Invitational Champions

 Invitational week went very well as we dodged a few weather events. The practice round on Thursday was looking to be a complete wash out but the heavy rain stayed to the south and we were able to complete the practice round and the Invitational event with very little rain. The crew did a fantastic job of preparing the course for the Tournament. Congratulations to the first repeat winners John Thorvilson and Greg Soule.

We are mowing and topdressing greens this morning. We will be doing a dry roll on the greens later this morning and early afternoon. Fairways, collars and approaches are also being mowed today. The barn has been torn down and clean up will continue later today. We will start seeing some construction traffic on the West side of the club starting with some tree removal on Wednesday. We will be updating the membership on important items related to the development as they begin work.

The Barn has been knocked down and clean up will take place today

Let me move this tree quick!

Kurt Wacker changing the pin location on #18 for the final round of the Invitational.

On The Course Invitational Friday 2015

Fairways being dry cut after the Invitational Practice Round

 We had a great day yesterday with only receiving 0.09" of rain and getting the Invitational Practice Round in without any storms. Today looks to be a perfect weather day with plenty of sunshine. The crew started mowing their first green at 4:00am this morning. We were able to get the greens mowed and rolled last night and they are being mowed and rolled again this morning. Fairways, collars and approaches are also being mowed in the dark this morning. The crew did a great job last night and are off to a great start this morning.

Sun setting on the Invitational Practice Round

On The Course June 10th, 2015

Luis mowing #9 Green

 We are mowing and spraying greens this morning. We are getting ready for the Invitational Event this week and the crew has been working on getting everything ready for the tournament. The weather has been pretty warm with some passing storms last night and we are expecting to see some spotty rain later this week. This week we have been able to get the fairways and greens sprayed. Tuesday morning Corey topdressed all of the putting surfaces on the Championship Course to help smooth and firm them up. We will be working on some trim mowing today and Sheldon is keeping after the quick growing rough.

The grading company has been working on the Executive Course adding a small berm and extending the fairway on hole #6. We appreciate the patience from everybody with the slight disruption in play on the Executive 9 but it will benefit us in the long run.

Alfredo rolling PG #1

On The Course June 7th, 2015

Invitational starts on Thursday

We had a couple passing showers last night. We received 0.15" of rain and no storm damage. The crew is mowing greens and raking bunkers this morning. Kurt and Reynaldo are changing pin locations. The Invitational starts this Thursday and we have a busy week leading up to that with the Minnesota Golf Course Superintendent Association Scramble on Monday.

On The Course June 5th, 2015

Our underground fuel tanks were removed this week in preparation for the new Maintenance Facility

 We are mowing and rolling greens this morning. We should have a pretty good weather day today as the course dries out from the recent rain. The crew is working on a lot of small detail projects throughout the golf course getting set for the summer golf season. The fairway mowers are on the course in the dark this morning and Sheldon has the big rough mower working on keeping the rough cleaned up.

We have been working with the excavation company for the Dominium Project that is south of the Executive Course. We are working on getting a grading permit with the City of Medina to create a small berm along the property line to be able to screen the Town Homes that are going to be built. This also gives us a chance to create a little more fairway on #6 of the executive course and relocate the tee off of the water and sewer easement. We will keep everyone informed as we move forward with this project. Right now it looks like a lot of material but the overall finish plan will look very nice.

We are working with Dominium on creating some screening for the Executive Course

Assistant Superintendent Corey Heasley earned Employee of the Month for May

The Sod areas throughout the course have grown in very well

On The Course June 2nd, 2015

We are lightly topdressing greens this morning

 We had a very busy Monday with our First Outside Event. We spot aerified a few areas on the greens that have still been a little thin this year. The areas were aerified with 1/4" hollow tine, seeded and topdressed by hand. The crew broomed in the topdressing sand and rolled the greens. There are a few small areas on the greens that we did this too and we should see them heal up nicely this week.

Today we are lightly topdressing the entire putting surface to smooth and firm up the surface. Corey is topdressing and Kurt is brushing in the sand with a coco fiber mat. We will be rolling the greens later this morning and should have a very good day for golf.

Sheldon has been catching up on the rough mowing this week