We need to make a new adage for the month of January; in like a lamb and out like a lion! The end of December and the first part of January were well above normal causing us to mow greens, tees and fairways into January. The warm weather allowed us to get many other projects accomplished that would not be able to get done if the ground was frozen or snow covered. Some of these included drainage work in low wet areas, drainage work in bunkers that hold water, finishing leaf cleanup, and starting to take down dead trees and pruning low branches.
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| Mowing fairways on January 7th! |
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| Tree pruning. Low branches on #1 |
Since the second week of January winter has showed up and we have started on winter jobs. One of our main priorities in the winter months is to keep the parking lot free of snow and ice. Our equipment was given a good test last weekend with old man winter dumping around 6" of snow on the course. The new bobcat that was purchased in the fall was able to plow the deep snow with ease and helped us to be more efficient in our snow plowing operation. Other winter jobs that will be accomplished in the coming months will be pesticide record updates, working on equipment, doing landscape designs, the sanding and painting of some golf course accessories, staff recruitment, tree work (weather permitting), and the attendance of turf and horticulture seminars. I was fortunate enough to attend the Indiana Green Expo conference in Indianapolis and learned a lot of new turf and horticulture information as well as earning pesticide credits.
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| Snow plowing lot with bobcat |
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| Indiana Green Expo turf seminar |
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| Landscape design behind #11 green |
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| Cutting down dying oak tree |
The new snow might not be great to drive in, but it sure does change the landscape of the golf course into a winter wonderland!
Winter Pictures of the Golf Course
Brad Piecuch
Assistant Superintendent/Horticulturist
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