The term “March Madness” is one that brings lots of joy (for those who can accurately predict brackets) and at a minimum good times watching a game that all of us in the Boilermaker Hoosier state enjoy. The term also can accurately describe our activities on the golf course as well, with both the golf course waking up from the colder winter season and project season beginning to wrap up. Below are a few brief updates on both points:
Looking at the longer term forecast, there are many more good days than bad for golf. Please continue to call the golf shop for the latest availability. Golf course mowing/maintenance is still temperature dependent, and on an “as needed” basis. As temperatures moderate, rounds played increase, and more of our seasonal staff return, mowing and raking frequencies will increase. It has been nice to see many of you enjoy your course on warm days!
Starting Tuesday, the Practice Facility will be open for you to hone your game on. Elcona is blessed to have a wonderful Practice Facility, including a second to none Short Game area. It has many areas that provide creative lies for you to hone your game on. This is a club amenity that few, if any, have in our area and is a tremendous asset to your membership here at Elcona, and saves the golf course from excessive wear from practicing on it. There are 3 bunkers for dialing in your sand game too. The Practice Tee will be set up on the very front tee for the first couple of weeks to allow the main tee a little extra time to warm up and begin growing.
I will continue to remind you all of simple golf course etiquette that is a major part of your responsibility as a member of Elcona. Above is what I found driving to 2 green on March 16th, where someone apparently walked in, played their shot, and walked out the front of the bunker. The rakes have been out and available for use since March 9th. Please be considerate of your fellow member and replace divots, rake bunkers after use, and fix at least 2 ball marks each green!
The arrival of early season golf serves as a good reminder why we delay tee times when there is frost. On mornings where the temperature will be below 40 degrees (like this weekend!!!), it is always best to call the pro shop for the latest availability of the course. The Clubhouse Online app will also communicate to you this information via push notifications.
Frost is essentially frozen dew. It can form when the temperature approaches near freezing. The ice crystals that form on the outside of the plant can also harden or freeze the cellular structure of the plant. When frost is present, the normally resilient plant cells become brittle and can be easily crushed internally or pierced like a knife from the outside ice crystals. When these cell membranes are damaged, the plant loses its ability to function normally. Think of this like cracking an egg: once the shell is broken, it cannot be put back together. Although damage will not be immediate, the proof will emerge within 48-72 hours as leaves turn brown and die. For more information on frost delays, click here for a great USGA video explaining them.
The irrigation upgrade project is nearing its completion. Over the winter, North American Pump cleaned one our our wells and rebuilt the pump for that well. Wissco has around 150 sprinklers left to convert old decoders to the new style of controllers. There is also troubleshooting that they will help with once we begin filling the system, which will happen this Wednesday. Don Stevens from Automatic Supply has been installing upgraded pump controls that were needed, mainly because parts were becoming obsolete and unavailable for us to make repairs. While this type of investment is not a sexy one, the irrigation system is the heartbeat of any golf course and makes or breaks our ability to provide you great course conditions!
The new green tees on 4 and 14 continue to make progress. Our staff is finalizing grade work on 14, with sod install planned for late this week/early next week. We will be taking bentgrass for this new tee from the beginning of 14 fairway, and replacing the fairway sod with bluegrass from our local sod farm. The tee on 4 has been rolled a couple times, and next week will be aerified and topdressed. Both of these tees should be open by late April or early May as long as the weather continues to cooperate.
We have a few other seed and sod projects to work on in April too. All the stump holes from our winter tree work will be either seeded or sodded based on their proximately to major in play areas. We will also be lining the edge of 3 pond with tall fescue sod. Erosion of the soil/seed was a major challenge in growing in that area last year, so we will be placing sod along that edge to blend in with the fescue that has established. Continued seeding of the entire pond surround will continue with finer leaf fescues. Fine fescue was selected for that area to provide a low maintenance buffer that would protect the pond from runoff contamination, while also making it easier to find errant shots off the tee and a playable shot to the green. This variety of turf does however take a couple years to fully mature into a complete stand and patience is needed. We will continue to work on making this area better!
While many of you will be enjoying next week on a beach, we will be starting aerification on all playing surfaces. We will be doing aerification on greens Monday (Front 9) and Tuesday (Back 9), weather permitting. The solid tines I am using this year are 5/8″ in diameter, which are slightly larger than in previous springs, by a 1/8″. The reasoning is to better incorporate a higher amount of sand into the soil profile and reduce organic matter. This will better firm up the surfaces over time and maintain a healthy soil profile for proper root growth and surface drainage. While we are closed entirely Monday, if we miss the rain that is forecasted, the Front 9 will be open and available for play on Tuesday. Our goal is to have all 18 holes completed and open on Wednesday. If the weather does not cooperate, we will close and complete this process on the next best day to do so. The video above is from last fall’s aerification and is the same process we are using next week.
Fairways will be aerified using solid 5/8″ tines the rest of the week while the course is open. If you encounter our staff while you are playing on the course, PLEASE give them a couple minutes to acknowledge you are playing the hole and move out of your way. Sometimes they will have their back to you and will not see you while they are concentrating on performing the job assigned to them. My staff and their families thank you for looking out for their safety. We will be aerifying tees Monday, April 8th. All of these dates are weather permitting, and any changes to this schedule will be communicated to you via email/push notification.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out at ryan@elconacc.com. Have a safe and enjoyable Spring Break and I hope to see you out on the course soon!
Ryan
Rub of the Green 