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.