Finally, into our routine

It's taken all spring for us to finally feel like we are in the golf season routine.  The frequent rains and wide temperature swings have really kept us from getting into the maintenance routines that we normally follow, but now that the weather has turned, we've been able to stop pumping bunkers and squee-geeing fairways, and get to mowing and maintaining the course.  It's a good feeling to feel like we just aren't spinning our wheels, and getting things crossed off the to-do list.

The biggest thing on the to-do list for the last week or so has been prepping the course for the member guest this Friday.  At the beginning of the week last week, the list of detail work and touch-ups that needed to be done was a long one, now it is has been whittled down to just a few minor things like pulling weeds around the clubhouse and repainting the hazard lines.

One change to the course that you may have noticed this year is the long grass around the creek on the right side of #4 fairway.  There are a few reasons that this was done, the first being the amount of labor that it takes to keep it trimmed.  It takes 32 man hours to keep it trimmed with weed eaters every other week.  That is a great deal of labor that can be better utilized other on areas of the course.  The other reason is that letting it go was the original intention.  When that area was seeded, it was seeded with a mix of wildflowers and prairie grasses, not grasses that were meant to be maintained at low heights.  The hope is that many of these seeds are still in the ground and will come up when given the opportunity, and it appears that this is the case seeing as there are already a few wildflowers showing up and many of the prairie grasses are looking really good.  This longer grass will also encourage new wildlife to show up on the course.  I hope you all enjoy the "new" look of the creek as much as I do.

The new look of the creek on #4

Wildflowers are starting to pop up already