What's the difference?

So why and what is wrong with this picture? Answer is to come later!


Answer: pre-emergent herbicides were applied to the left. This shows just how important they really are!

# 3 walkway update

#3 is finished! I couldn't have asked the guys to do a better job! It was a huge task, but hopefully you seniors and ladies will enjoy it much better than the dirt trail!

Burried in the Sand

See the images below for our latest project on 6.  This is one of those "hidden gems" on the course that went away along the years.  It adds so much character to number 6.  A clean hill side, along with the two original bunkers that were there allow this hole to offer so much more aesthetically appealing.  Holes 6,7, and 8/17 have been the focus of this winter's projects along with our walkways.  I hope you are enjoying each of those, especially the one on number 3.  Pictures of it are soon to be added!  Enjoy the early works of number 6 and I will update you with many more pictures as this project is only half finished, even though both bunkers are fully "clean" again!  There are more to come to help this hole become a stunning signature par 3!

 

 

They turned over the sand in the intire bunker in order to bring back the fresh white sand!  All the crew has done an awesome job for me and we continue to do new things to enhance your golfing experience.  

First phase is completed, now onto getting depths, and cleaning up and enhancing the surrounds of the bunkers.  Stay tuned for more updates and enjoy!  

What's in The Bag?

Well it has been way too long ago since I have last posted.  Life got a little busy there for a few days/weeks.  Fertilization numbers have driven me to the point of insanity!  Pricing, analysis, timing, how long each product lasts, and the list goes on and on.  I begin with this, because I really want to educate you, the golfer on what really each number in the analysis means, and why we need each one and just a few thoughts that go into the fertilization of your golf course.  Just like our bodies need a certain percentage of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, so do plants, just in the form of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium (or the big 3).  These are the macro nutrients that plants require.  Just as our bodies need the big nutrients, their are also hundreds of other vitamins and minerals our bodies need.  Plants are the same.  This is why it is very important to know the type of grass you have and requirements that each grass takes at a certain time of the year.  It would not be wise for me to fertilize our fairways and tees in December.  Why?  Because the plant is not actively growing and taking in food.  It would be wise though to fertilizer Fescue in December, to keep it growing through the winter months.  Now that we have that out of the way.  How do you know what you need?  Nitrogen, which is the most important for growth (foliage and above ground growth).  So you have Ammonical Nitrogen, Urea, Nitrate, Insoluble, water soluble and the list continues of all the different forms of Nitrogen available and benefits of using a balanced approach.   Our second number phosphorus helps root formation.  Contrary to belief, phosphorous isn't a bad thing--only if it is done improperly, like most things in life.  Turf must have it to form roots and better anchor itself and take up water and other nutrients in the soil.  Lastly, we get to Potassium.  When you think of potassium in humans, we think bananas and cramp preventives.  This is similar in turf.  It is the stress guard for plants.  Stress from disease, insects, heat, and cold.  It is important to keep all of these in perspective.  To view more on this, visit a great website that NC STATE updates regularly http://www.turffiles.ncsu.edu/Keywords/nitrogen.aspx.  Now the tricky part for me is getting something that is going to give golfers the best possible playing conditions.  What is acceptable in the rough is not in the fairways, or greens, or tees.  Each area has its own uniqueness about it, and when choosing fertilizer, its not just, oh lets go throw some fertilizer out and watch it grow.  If you want the most consistent playing conditions for golfers it is imperative that we uses a slow release fertilizer that will release only a minimal amount each week.  The ones I am looking at are to get us 4 months of a slow feed.  This will minimize the effects of spikes in growth and baling hay in our fairways and rough!  With all of this said, it is just a quick rant, while maybe educating you minimally, that I honestly am analyzing fertilizers way more than I probably should, but I just want to put out a product that will give me the best product available--all the while keeping prices in mind.  I feel that the products I will go into detail throughout the year that we are applying at the time, are going to give us better results as we go throughout the summer.  I want to do some areas that will maybe give me some answers--there is nothing like in field research side by side.  If you can't tell a difference in roots, density, and blades, then really are they much different of a product?  Only time will tell and I plan to find out!

Stay out of the Water! (If you are weeding around it)

Our goal this year is to keep the pond maintenance at a higher level.  We plan to keep them trimmed, and neater, as much as we can.  I know there are some areas that Gary Player has designed that has its limits to how well it can be maintained, but if it is at all possible, we will do our best to make this be a priority on our list, just as it is cutting the rough!  I hope you will enjoy these, as hopefully you can find your golf balls easier, as well as enjoy it aesthetically.

 

 They did a great job cleaning up the pond on number 10.  It makes the ride down

Player Blvd. more appealing, as well as teeing off number 10.

 

 

Cruz is making sure he gets all the tall grass around the pond!

 

Francisco working hard cleaning up the pond on #10!

 

Our Pond on # 4 green, received a face lift today. 

If you look very closely you will notice the new

ornamental grasses that we have planted.  These have

been taken from the clumps at the Driving Range.



Off the Cart Path

 

Tonight's 1st post will be a little different.  Tuesday night, I had the privilege to attend an FCA Fundraiser for Cherokee county.  I was invited by a great friend and former Assistant Superintendent here at River Falls in the course's younger days.  He is now Superintendent at Cherokee National Golf Club in Gaffney.  Our guest speaker that night, some of you may have heard of, especially those who love fishing and outdoors.  Hank Parker, a 2 time Bassmaster champion spoke, and challenged everyone in the room, including myself.  The biggest thing I learned that evening was that we should share our faith in Jesus with everyone we meet and come into contact with.  This place is only temporary, but heaven/hell is our permanent home.  Why should we worry about a few temporary discomforts that others may make us feel, but be compassionate about our faith and compassionate about others, even if they don't accept us.  We need to take a stand for Christ.  FCA is the only recognized religious organization left in schools.  This is unacceptable.  He said, "why is it that they don't take Alla, Buddha, Muhammad...(and others) out of schools/government?--Because Jesus is the one that is alive and living and died on the cross for our sins.  They realize that, but do not enjoy the discomfort that he causes them as they live out their sinful lives."  I really thought this couldn't be any more true, and that instead of making excuses for people--its not the guns--its the lives.  We have taken Jesus and the Bible out of everything.  There is power in the Bible, those that live and follow Jesus know that he died on the cross to save us from our sins.  This is what is wrong with the world today.  I firmly believe that we can make a difference, and one that will change our lives, our country, and our kids/grandkids lives.  I hope going off the cart path tonight will impact your life.  Life is short, and but just a vapor--please know and be confident that you are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ dying for our sins on the cross and rising again.  Please share with all that you know and lets turn this country back to Jesus.   

Saturday Morning Thoughts

The weather has drastically changed for the better!  Crisp cool mornings, with warmer daytime temperatures.  Perfect weather for a round of golf!  It has been an exciting weekend so far, as the golf course has been packed and the greens are rolling extremely well right now for the time of year.  On the stimp meter this morning we averaged close to 12ft, this after the greens were mowed and rolled.  The roller will smooth out the ball marks on the greens from the many shots that pound them each day.  The ball marks don't recover as quickly this time of year, so please help assist us in repairing yours, along with at least 2 others.  We hope you are enjoying how they roll and how receptive they have become to your shots.  If you were at the course this morning, you will notice we had water running on our greens.  This is to knock some of the frost off of them, so that we are able to work on them, and to get you out on the course quicker.  Below is an image at #8 of the frost being "knocked off" of the green from the water.  Notice the frost still very heavy on the fairways.

Also, we hope you have noticed the work on 17, one area that has needed the most work this winter.

 

Our work on the walkway for the women and seniors on number 3 are in full force.  This is just a part of the process that we do in order to get the walkway just right.

 

 

We hope to have this finished at the beginning of next week. 

 

As mentioned in an earlier post, we have been in full force spraying, as you can see in the picture below, greens have been sprayed and you can see the blue dye on the fairways where we sprayed our pre-emergent herbicide. 

 

 

My staff and myself, hope you enjoy this beautiful weekend.  Come out and see us at River Falls and enjoy the beginning of Spring!  Sunday you have the opportunity to come out later in the afternoon, so don't forget to Spring your clocks Forward!

 

 

 

 

 

It is always refreshing to be able to come to work, and this is what you arrive to.  This is God's way of saying, "stop, and look at the beauty I am surrounding you with."  Moments like these make my job so rewarding, especially on a cold winter day! 

Roaring Like a Lion

March has come in "roaring like a lion!"  We have seen snow, wind, rain, sunshine, and sleet--all in one day!  On the golf course we are Roaring as well as we are beginning to get set for another exciting season of golf.  Our winter has been fairly "normal" weather, but what really is normal around here?  Some years its warm--last year, and some years its freezing and snowing all the time--the year before.  We have had an abundance of rainfall this year and our reservoir ponds have filled up quite nicely heading into the season.  Now on to some more interesting things!  We hope you are enjoying our new rock walkways that we are installing.  T.J. and Cruz have been working hard on these and are doing an amazing job.  Please use these instead of walking on the turf in order to prevent wear and tear around these areas!  We are trying to tackle the worst spots first this season, and continually make new ones until we complete all the designated areas.  If you haven't been out to the course in a while, please view some pictures of the work in progress on the projects page!  We are currently trying to "spruce" up some areas with mulch from the tree work that was done along the power lines.  Along some of these areas, we have added landscaping (day lilies, ornamental grasses, crape myrtles, and other trees and plants).  We have also begun addressing some of the areas that have become worn through the years due to cart traffic.  We are taking sod from our "sod farm" and asking that you please try to avoid these areas with carts.  An example of this area would be number 7.  We have chained and roped this off until we are able to get this area established again.  Once established, I have devised a plan to open a section at a time and rotate as it becomes worn.  When it becomes too worn, we will once again close the area.  Thank you for understanding; we really want to give the best playing conditions possible to you, our most valuable asset.  We will continue to tackle some of these areas throughout the year and really want to make River Falls Plantation an enjoyable experience every time you come out!

Spraying is in full force!  Rigo, has done an excellent job putting out the Specticle Preemergent.  This chemical will help prevent our summer weeds, especially targeting the sedges, kyllingas, and crabgrass.  If you notice the "blue dye" this is where we have sprayed so far.  If there are any questions about this Herbicide, please do not hesitate to ask.  We began spot spraying Departure (Generic Round Up) on areas that are infected with Poa in our fairways and rough.  You should start to see the green patches yellowing as the rains and warmer weather allow the chemical to pass through the plant.

Our Diamond Zoysia Greens have responded excellent all winter for us.  We have had great color and hope you have enjoyed the speeds and reception of shots.  Speed of greens is very important to me, and we will do all that we can to make the "astigmatism" of slow greens in the summer and lightning fast greens in the winter to slowly fade away from your memory.  We are continuing to recover on a few greens from the "take all patch" infection that came on in September.  They are currently disease free, just waiting on the new growth to fill in these thin areas.  We have sprayed 12 and 13 in order to tackle the Poa outbreak that occurred in these areas. 

I hope you will notice the love grass we have been trying to establish on number 8 tee box hill as Francisco, Rigo, and Roberto all worked hard on moving the plants from the top of the hill on 4 over to 8.  We will continue this project as the grass begins to grow in order to see where we need coverage.  We will continue to try to move love grass around and plant fescue seed in order to have a pure coverage in these "native" areas, especially ones that are not going to "catch" your golf ball.

I hope that you have found this enlightening, as well as informative on a few things that have happened at River Falls Plantation during the off season.  I will continue to write these often, and if there are ever any questions, please ask, and I will try to answer as much as I can for you!  If you haven't played lately out at River Falls--come out, I think you will find each day we are improving and the course is playing tremendously. 

In the coming days, I will share more insights to the projects we have planned and provide pictures for you to view of the progress we have made!  It is important that we continue to improve each day during the off season and prepare our plans on how we are going to tackle the growing season to make the most consistent playing conditions possible. 

From your Superintendent,
Daniel McDowell Jr.