Tuesday, February 12, 2013

February Update



During January and February my equipment technician Dave Ertl, has been busy renovating all of our cutting units, tuning up engines and performing other off season equipment maintenance. 

I have been busy plowing the parking lot, grooming the cross country trail and preparing next year’s operating budget.  A large part of the budget is planning all of our fertilizer and pesticide application throughout the season.  Early order discounts end at the end of February so all plans and orders need to be in place by then.  My assistant Jon Lamb is laid off for February and March and we are looking forward to his return in April.
 

The big concern I have right now is all of the rain we received back in January.  We received .43 inches of rain on the 27th and .3 inches on the 28th, everything was flooded under the snow.  We still had 100% snow cover before and after the warm rain event but after the two 50 degree days all of that rain on top of the frozen ground froze into huge puddles all over the golf course.  Annual Bluegrass can live under ice for up to 60 days and Bentgrass can survive up to 90 days.  I am assuming that the snow and ice will melt before we get close to the 60 mark but it’s impossible to tell what kind of turf conditions we will have this spring.  The best scenario would be for everything to melt quickly and not refreeze after a few warm days.  Our turf conditions went into the winter in good condition and hardened off to dormancy in the correct way.  Right now there is nothing we can do but wait for spring.  Last year we opened the range and 9 holes on March 15. 



 I will continue to groom the cross country trail on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for as long as I can.




Traverse City Golf & CC


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