It's about time!

Wow, it has been a year since I last posted!  Finding out my wife and I were having our first child last February really changed a lot of my time, and especially now that she is 4 months old!  It is exciting and at times exhausting!  But enough of the excuses for why I haven't posted.  Be on the look out as I will be regularly posting now!  I'm excited to be blogging once again.  I will be updating you on all that has happened this past year in a 2-3 part series, 2014 in review.  There will be photos, updates, and insights from what we have done and what I have learned this past year!  Check back within the next few days for the first part of "2014 year in review."  But for today, who is excited to be getting a glimpse of spring?  I know for one I am!  It is great to see the greens begin to green up, but it is also a stressful time for me as I monitor them closely coming out of dormancy.  This year we are later than I ever anticipated putting out our pre-emergent herbicide.  The weather was a major hurdle, as we had to deal with snow, ice, rain, and just terrible cold weather that wasn't conducive to go and get the spray out.  Because of this cold though, it has delayed the soil temperatures from warming, and it has widened the window in order to put out the pre-emergent/round-up combination.  It should be finally finished tomorrow as we will be spraying the tees...weather permitting!  This is all the "blue" you are seeing all over the course since last Friday.  We have been able to get out and limb trees, so hopefully you will have better shots, as well as we will get more sunlight on some greens, and the rough so hopefully the bermuda will start creeping up closer to the base of the tree.  I hope that you will come out and join us as the weather is warming up and soon the grass will be greening up!  Check back often, because I will be updating often to keep you, the golfer and homeowners informed.  You may even learn some new turf information as I will be giving tips, and explaining certain reasons why we do the things we do!  On a final note, it was great hosting the Byrnes Invitational again this year as we had approximately 70 high school golfers here yesterday and was great seeing such talented young golfers.  The winning score was a 67 by a golfer from Byrnes.  That is an impressive effort.  I look forward to sharing more days of the Golf Course Superintendent at River Falls Plantation and my great staff.

Daniel

White as Snow

As I write this post, I am feeling fresh and renewed.  This is not the typical post, but at the same time, this has not been the typical week!  During preaching this morning at church, I sat in the pew and felt moved to do a post on this.  It has been an interesting week.  First it started off with beautiful weather on Monday, that turned into snow on Tuesday through well the better part of the whole week.  As it melted things started becoming more drab and putrid.  Things got even more interesting once the snow had stopped as it became extremely windy.  But just when you think things are over, an earthquake hits.  4.4 on the Richter Scale  (it has been rumored a Valentine's Kiss caused it--but no official word yet if true...).  Not too shabby of an earthquake for SC either.  My pastors words resonated in me this morning and I'm going to try to share more feelings and more in depth of how I portrayed this past week.


Snow to me is purity in the finest form.  God intends for us to see purity when it snows.  It is a cleansing of the earth, just as God sent Jesus to purify us from our sins.  Just reflect on the beauty of snow.  Everything is so peaceful, quiet and serene during the snow.  It teaches us to be a kid again, stop, put aside all of our worries.  Why?  Because we have forgotten the finer things in life.  God has to send a reminder to us each snow.  This reminder is that he purifies us.  With him, and our relationship with Jesus Christ and the blood he shed for us, the sin is gone and washed white as snow.  Isn't that a remarkable thing?  In today's times, we needed that snow more than ever.  Sin is running rampant in our country, and we have become immune to it in so many ways.  Forgetting God and what is right and our purpose for being on Earth.  God doesn't forget us though, he simply sends us reminders.  Snow.  God is telling us it isn't too late, just look around and see how pure God can make the earth, all by sending snow.  The nutrients and benefits that snow bring to this earth are unmatched by humans.  Why?  Because only God can send something so pure to help replenish Earth.  Only His son can wash away our sins as well.  I'm thankful God sent us the snow for us to stop, sit back and realize that there is more to life, and that we should be reminded he is always with us. 


If that isn't enough of a wake up call for us.  Think about those winds you felt piercing you Friday.  When we don't "figure it out" and think to look at God, he reminds  you to feel his presence through the wind.  Sometimes we resist, but you can't hide or forget God.  He will make his presence felt--Good or Bad, I just hope its not too late for us as a Human Race.  We have chosen the life that the Corinthians chose in biblical days.  Life without consequences and rules, and forgetting why we are truly here.  We have thrived as a nation and area just as Corinth did as the center for trade.  Sin consumed them, but through this, we see God's ultimate love for the Corinthians and how to live a Godly and holy life.  But with that, we also have become immune to so many sins that it is sickening to think about how we actually are tolerant to so much.  We need to wake up and not forget God, and get Him back in the center of our lives, our community, our nation and our world.  With that said, this leads me to the next event this week, the Earthquake.


Earthquakes don't often happen, but when they do it gets lots of attention.  God is shaking us wanting to get our attention.  Don't ignore this!  Don't leave Him out of our lives.  Seek him, please don't forget Him!  He wants to rejoice with us and share the great times, and be there for you during the hard times.  Hard times and trials are God's way of showing us love.  It shows us that no matter what, he will be there for us and that if we seek Him and His will, even though we may not always like the outcome, we will grow stronger for the future, and things so great, that we cannot fathom at the time will come in our lives that we never would imagine, all because we trusted in God.  Please use this as a wake up call.  God is shaking us, wanting our attention.  He wants us to thrive as a nation, a nation that is prosperous, a nation that FEARS  Him and one that is there for each other.  No man is without sin, but each day we can strive to be more like God's image, the image we were made from.  Thank you for reading something different other than golf today, this is the real meaning and purpose for us here on Earth.  Put God first today.  Don't forget about Him.  Thank him for all of your blessings and realize that he is with you through it all.  Just know, he has promised more for us.  That is why in our near horizon, life is about to SPRING--don't you just feel revived knowing that the bulbs will be flowering, the trees will be blooming, and the GRASS will be greening up!  God bless each of you and please I hope and pray you will share this with someone who may need this today.

Winter weather update:

I've received numerous questions if we will be covered for the upcoming snow.  Some courses in the area are covering, but my plan is to leave the greens open.  The forecast of 4-6 inches of snow will act like a "cover" and allow the soil temperatures to regulate and not be too cold.  It will give beneficial natural nutrients to our greens also, that we humans could never duplicate.  The reason some courses will be covered is that they have black covers that will melt the snow faster.  With white covers I feel it would be opposite and melt slower, thus a longer duration of being covered.  I hope this helps!  Stay warm, be safe, and enjoy the snow that is predicted.  One last note, if you or your kids play on the golf course, stay off the greens!!  Thanks.

Daniel

Course Closed For Covering

We will begin covering greens Tuesday morning and will be closed until this next wave of arctic air passes.  As of now, it looks like we will remain covered until sometime Saturday.  Please check with the pro shop as well on the blog for updates as to when we may take the covers off!  Thanks so much, stay warm, but come out and play tomorrow before the arctic blast gets here!  It should be a great day for golf!

Those dreaded Covers...

I know covering prevents golf...But really do you want to play when it is 35 degrees out and 15 mph winds?  Okay, I know there are some of you extremist out there!  So back to the covers and why we need them.  The diamond zoysia grass is a warm season turf that needs protection due to the low mowing heights that exposes the crown of the plant to much harsher conditions.  Covering greens is a common practice done on ultradwarf (bermudas and not technically Diamond Zoysia, but it is close enough that I typically call it an ultradwarf) putting greens during the winter months. This process helps our greens hold heat in the soil profile, prevents plant desiccation and protects turfgrass plants against extreme cold temperatures and wind.  Desiccation is basically dehydration.  This in turn during the cold makes the plant even more stressed, thus causing the plant to die or what we call "winter kill."  This is something I don't ever want to see on our putting greens.  This is why sometimes you may be thinking, "why in the world is he covering greens?"  Well it is always better to be safe than sorry.  I have many factors that determine when I cover.  A few of these factors for not covering even though the temperatures do dip below 25 degrees include how much moisture is in the greens--if we just got 3 inches of rain, the rain has heated up the soil surface just enough to keep us safe--unless it is prolonged coldness.  This factor is for usually only one day after the rain. If it is going to be windy and 25 degrees with daytime temperatures not getting to 50 degrees, then you will see the covers come out.  Duration of the cold is another factor.  If it is only going to be 23 for 15 minutes, and then the temperatures may jump up quickly and the day was warm before (above 50 degrees) then you will not see covers.  As for this last spell that we had, you saw record low temperatures that were accompanied with very cold winds, thus we left the greens covered for 6 days.  This kept the moisture from the previous rain in so the desiccation factor, plus the extreme cold was a textbook case of a no brainer cover.  Soil temperatures under the covers during that extreme cold only got as low as 33.  I would of course love to have them warmer, but I do not feel any anxiety considering the temperatures outside were 6 degrees.  In summing this up, if temperatures are below 25 degrees, there is a good chance the greens will be covered.  But--like I say, there are many factors that determine if I am going to cover.  If I am ever in doubt or unsure, you can bet they will just go ahead and be covered.  Winter kill is nothing to mess around with in the spring, so therefore it is better to be safe than sorry!  As I write this blog, the forecast for next week could be putting this practice into use.  As of today, it looks like we may be covered for an extended time period.  Check back later to see if we cover, and when we plan to reopen!  I hope you found this helpful in understanding why we bring out "those dreaded covers."

On a side note:  if the forecast will allow, we will sometimes use the practice of uncovering half of a green for daytime play, then recover during the afternoon for the night.  Because of this, we usually put the pins up front anytime we cover where this could be a practice we use.

If there are any questions please never hesitate to ask!

Winter Update!

Well it has been way too long since my last post.  A lot has happened since September.  We've had record colds, rain, more rain, and more rain in the forecast.  Did I mention it was cold?  Over the next few posts, I plan to really go more in depth on a few maintenance practices, projects in the works or those that are completed.  I'd love for some feedback in the next few weeks and I'd love for some questions or ideas.  We have many big plans in place to complete before the "season" begins.  Some of these will be included in future posts.  I plan on an upcoming "series" of posts that will do in depth on covering of greens, painting of greens, winter management practices, winter practices, and lastly some issues we have, or have been seeing that each of you can help assist us make these areas better.  I will post many pictures, and invite each and everyone of you to come out and play a round at River Falls!  When we are dry--that's a big when--the course conditions are favorable for a fun round of golf!

September--Fall is in the Air

After an unusual summer, that was honestly just plain crazy, we are now in a "drought" as I like to say now!  We seriously are very dry.  This is not a bad thing for the golfers though, as the greens are firm (almost getting a little too firm) and the speeds are rolling very consistent with speeds that are making a lot of golfers very happy.  I noticed due to this very weird weather pattern we are having where the days are mild, and the nights are cool, with such dry air--seed heads are trying to form again on the greens.  I once again treated with a herbicide called Princep (simazine is the active ingredient for all of you chemical junkies).  This is still a culture shock to me to spray such a thing.  I did mix a Minor nutrient package along with iron--just in case we get an off color stunting from this spray.  It is very intriguing that this is the recommended spray, and is something for all the turf managers and superintendents reading this blog to really almost scratch your head and say, "really--on green turf?"  It worked excellent in the spring, and I'm hoping to get some Poa annua control out of this this fall as well.  On to bigger and better things--the sod that we installed on the course is doing well.  It isn't growing as fast as I had hoped for, but it is healthy and doing well.  This weather pattern of cool nights and mild days, along with absolutely zero rain isn't helping it to grow in, but it is still a healthy stand of turf.  We will begin to use these tees very limited throughout the fall and winter, and once the grass begins to grow in the spring and summer these will be the primary tees as I plan to re-work the other tees on these areas.  I'm excited to see all of the visitors out here coming to play as all the bentgrass courses are healing in from aerification.  That is one positive about the diamond zoysia is that we aerify one time, in the dead of summer when its almost too hot for golfers any way.  We have great greens when the bent guys are healing in, so as a sales pitch to those golfers of other courses that read this, come out!  The finished product for the waste bunker really thrilled me, and I have enjoyed each of the comments that I have received on this new addition.  How do each of you like the red carts?  I think they have an appealing look on the golf course.  I wasn't sure exactly how I would like them at first, but I think they really pop and look sharp!  As summer winds down, so does our maintenance crew.  Its not the hustle and bustle of cut cut cut cut cut the crazy growing grass, but lets make progress.  Lets get projects done!  I look forward throughout the fall and winter and upgrading and bringing new and improved areas that I hope that each of you will enjoy and make your River Falls golfing experience one of a kind!  Fall color is soon for us to enjoy, come out and play golf and enjoy the beauty of fall.

 Initial Plugging of #13 under the Tree--It is beginning to grow in extremely well.

Prepping for the waster bunker

Middle stages of #16 waste bunker

Almost ready.

Just a sneak peak of a close up of how great the Diamond really is!

uh oh!  Spots like we had last year trying to pop up!

'Take all root Rot'

Sprayed Torque and then 10 days later sprayed Heritage TL and today they are almost non existent.

Yes, this used to be the massive sink hole on 3 green!  It filled in nicely

6 tee box before our shaving it down to tee heights!

How bout these Candy Apple Red carts