Fall Activities

Late fall is usually a good time for getting work done and playing golf but the wetter than normal and cooler than normal weather has put a little damper on that.  Since mid-October is seems as though if it isn’t raining it is windy. The weather usually averages out so perhaps the recent cool spell will be replaced with a few nice days to get the last rounds in.

We have a few things going on besides leaf cleanup on the course.

 

BLOWOUT – On October 30/31 we “blew out” the irrigation system. We rent a 750 CFM air compressor and set it up by the pumphouse. We then use the compressed air to “blow out” any water that could freeze in winter causing pipes to burst. We work in all directions away from the compressor to push the water to the ends of the course.

Although it rained both days it made the job quicker because we did not have to look out for golfers when turning on heads. Due to the size of our pipe system we blow out the system 3 times with time for water to settle to the low areas between each shift. This ensures a complete job and no problems next spring.

HOLE 2 DRAINAGE – You may have seen the dump truck and backhoe working over on the left side of hole 2. When we have medium and heavy rains the water that comes down swale on the left of hole 2 backs up onto hole 9 because our underground piping cannot handle all the water at once. We are extending the swale all the way to the pond so the drainage system will handle the water from the golf course and the new swale will handle the water coming from Trowbridge Drive and the Industrial Park.

The spoils or dirt from the new swale is being used to build a mound on the right side of hole two for a visual effect for holes 2 and 9. The mound is in the natural area and considered. The new portion of the swale will be out of play for most golfers and runs right along the out of bounds. It will not be marked as a water hazard but it may have casual water in it at times.

NATURAL GRASS AREAS – We hope to burn most of our natural areas this fall or next spring to reduce organic matter and mat that builds up from the leaf tissue. We have mowed the areas that are too close to buildings or the neighbors to burn but the others we will leave with hopes a low humidity weather window for burning will happen before spring growth.

Burning in fall usually provides a hotter more complete burn while spring burning is cooler because the ground is cool and wet.  With the industrial park and roads around the course we need the wind to be in different directions for burning different areas so it takes a few days to complete the job.

NEW TEES – Through the US Kids Golf Program Rolling Meadows is going to create a “PGA Family Course” with two additional sets of tees per hole. For a few years we had our “yellow tees” in the fairways. Those will be replaced with a blue and gold set to yardages recommended to allow juniors and beginners to use the same variety of clubs longer hitters use.

At this time most of the tees will be placed on the edge of fairways and marked with PGA Family Tee markers. The tees will not be limited to juniors or beginners as we expect some of our seniors to use them and hope other players will use them in the spirit of “Tee It Forward” to play a shorter course.

 

The graphic shows that if the average white tee player uses a driver/7iron to reach the green the Family Course Tee player will do the same.

We will mow greens, tees and fairways one more time to clean them up so we can spray winter fungicides on them. Greens will then be top-dressed with a heavy layer of sand to ensure a smooth surface for next year and to reduce thatch levels.

I hope to see you out on the links a few more times before the snow flies for good.