The golf course will be open for play beginning this Saturday, 3/2/2024, with tee times starting at 12 noon. Sunday tee times will begin at 10 am. This March 2 opening is a little over 2 weeks earlier than our average opening day of March 17. All of us at Elcona are looking forward to a great 2024 golf season!
When you do enjoy that first round of the year, we have a couple reminders for you. First, a general etiquette reminder to please fix your ball marks, replace your divots, and keep your carts 30 feet from greens. The turf this time of year is not readily growing at a high rate and takes a lot longer to heal from damage, even if it is repaired properly. A little bit of help maintaining your golf course now will provide great conditions on the greens, fairways, and rough surrounds throughout the golf season. Thank you!
Secondly, we still are in the process of grinding and filling stump holes from the trees removed over the last couple of months. The areas that have been ground but have not yet been filled will have green and white stakes marking their location, please heed caution in these areas for your safety and the safety of our cart fleet. I anticipate all of these holes will be filled and ready for seed/sod by the end of next week. Our staff has done a wonderful job so far cleaning up all the winter sticks and debris that came down, and we have turned our attention to preparing turf and landscape areas for the 2024 golf season. Our debris sweeper will be out when ground conditions allow it to further clean up leaves and sticks in the rough.
Given the unpredictability of Indiana Spring weather, the availability of the golf course continues to be on a day by day basis. Zach and I look at forecasted lows to set first tee times each week to give you an idea on frost delays and how to best plan your tee times. On the days that low temperatures dip well below freezing, we sometimes cannot open the golf course due to frozen conditions, even if the air temperatures are well above freezing and the sun is out in the afternoon. Pictured above is a large reason why. In the early/late months of the golf season (February, March, November), the angle of the sun is much lower in the horizon. There are a few high traffic areas on the golf course, like this path going to 15 green, that do not receive much, if any, sunlight on these days due to the lower sun angle and trees blocking that sun angle. The above picture was taken at 2:20 pm yesterday, when the air temp was 39 degrees. It takes a much higher air temperature to thaw out an area like this that does not get any solar radiation whatsoever. Other areas like these on the course include the short game area, the entire left side of 2, hole 7 (near 16 green), 4 and 13 green, 12 green, and the small practice green next to the clubhouse. If a monsoonal rain comes, it may close the course for a few hours or even a day given the slower drainage properties the soil has when it is colder. If you haven’t yet, please download the Clubhouse Online app, which will allow you to receive push notifications instantly if course availability changes.
One question I get a lot when opening the course each year is how often are you mowing greens and other playing surfaces? The simple answer is “as needed”. Nighttime temperatures are dipping into the upper 20’s on many occasions, and combined with soil temperatures in the upper 30’s/low 40’s, growth is quite slow this time of year. Playing surfaces will be mowed or rolled as the weather and growth dictates, with increased frequencies as more consistent warmth arrives to our area. More than likely, we will be rolling more often than mowing to smooth the green surfaces for play while the grass acclimates to spring time weather. Other practices, such as raking bunkers, will be done on an as needed basis. Bunker rakes will be put out over the next week along with all other course signage plaques. Ropes and stakes are also out, please heed them to protect the turf in those areas for the entire golfing season!
If you have any questions about the course, please reach out to me at ryan@elconacc.com. I am excited to say for the first time in 2024, I look forward to seeing you out on the golf course!!!
Ryan
Rub of the Green 