Tree Planting

Stuarts Nursery in Fond du Lac had a stock reduction sale to sell their 2.5" and above nursery stock with great trees for only $90.   Considering these trees often cost $250 to $320 this was too good to pass up and we purchased a variety of oak, maple, cherry, beech, ironwood and coffeetree's for the golf course.

46% of our trees are ash and will expected to die in the next 10 years both due to age and the emerald ash borer, so it is important we keep planting trees.  Our goal is not to have tree lines fairways as that is not the type of course we have but to use trees as back drops and to provide definition to holes.

We took delivery of 16 nice specimens and planted them behind the greens on holes 5,7,8 and 20 to make up for ash and maples that in decline.  The current trees are too close to the greens causing problems with airflow, shade and roots encroaching under the green.  So although these trees are not close to the green they will be visually appealing for years to come.  Other trees were placed right of hole 8 to replace three pines that died and one oak left of 22 fairway to separate it from hole 16.  The last tree is a cherry and will be planted near the clubhouse area for aesthetics. 

On the subject of trees we have quite a few of memorial trees throughout the golf course and a plaque in the clubhouse stating the person the tree is for, the year, the type and location of the tree.

Mike Nelson steadies the tree while it is being backfilled.

What a stretch of weather!!!!

We must thank Mother Nature for this just incredible stretch of weather that not only took us from snow to open in 5 days but has provided some of the best March turf conditions ever.  The crazy thing is not only are the days summerlike the nights are summer like with lows in the mid 50's or higher.  Greens are being mowed daily while we are nearing summer schedule on tees and fairways. 

We have not mowed rough yet but just like your lawns it is time.  The bad thing is once we start mowing it encourages growth so the more we need to mow, the same will happen at home so get that lawnmower tuned up.

Trees are starting to bud and should be hardy through any cold snaps but if you have fruit trees you really need to hope for some cooler nights to slow the process.  If it freezes after they go to far you will lose your crop for the year.

Due to the early opening we are going the first few weeks with the tees open but no tee markers allowing players to tee off wherever they want.  The golfers seem to enjoy it and the staff mowing tees do not mind not having to pick up 90 rocks per 9 holes.

If you have played the front 9 you may have noticed the sink hole on the path between hole 1 white and silver tee.  We will not know how or why until we dig it up but the 24" plastic culvert but it seems to have been crushed and moved underground by some force of nature.  The new pipe is ordered and will be here next week. 

Enjoy your time out on the course during these bonus days!

Not open yet, but soon.

Wow what an amazing change in the weather!  We were able to open the driving range on Friday March 9th and will open 18 holes on the golf course on Tuesday March 12th.  Last weeks 8" snow melted fast but left the ground pretty soft and then Thursday night the low was 22 and Friday never got over 34 so that slowed our progress and prevented a weekend opening.

I took a long walk on the course Saturday and while the turf is still quite dormant everything looks healthy with little damage from ice, voles or snow molds.  The ground was still frozen solid in most places from Fridays cold temps but is thawed now.  We do have quite a bit of snow between hole 5 and 6 and 7 and 8 while 15 green has at least 10" on the left half.

You can see only the front right corner is clear of snow.  I expect that to be gone by the end of this week.

We will be walking only on Tuesday but without rain we should be able to allow carts soon.  We are going to start without formal tee markers and just have a sign asking players to tee off wherever they want for the first few days.

I hope to see you on the links!