Welcome Rain, Unwelcome Wind

With the good this weekend came the not so good.  After going a full two weeks without measurable precipitation, the 0.9" of rain that we received from Saturday through Sunday was much needed.  I was already seeing cracks opening up in many rough areas from the lack of moisture, and the rain that we received should really help along the seedlings that germinated from this spring's interseeding.  Although we thankfully avoided the severe storms that caused so much damage in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Iowa, the strong winds that accompanied the storm system did create quite the mess on the course.  Most of the branches are on the small side, but there were a few big branches that took falls.

On the slope that runs from the clubhouse parking lot towards eight tee, one half of a large oak split and fell onto the parking lot.  With it went the cable that provides internet to the clubhouse, but that's much better than hitting a parked car.  This morning, Wolfe Tree Services will be coming to cut down the other half of the tree, as it's aimed directly at the golf cart storage building.  Otherwise, one of the towering white pines near the fairway bunkers on the sixth hole had a large branch snap off yesterday, and this branch created a domino effect below it.  We will be cleaning that up today after the guys from Wolfe cut down the hanging branches.

Besides routine mowing and maintenance, much of our time last week was spent picking up ground stumps and filling in and seeding the remaining holes.  All that remains for stumps is a half-ground enormous silver maple between holes one and nine; this stump was worked on for at least four hours and still isn't done. 

The other special project that we had time to start last week was bunker edging.  Over the years, grass has encroached into many of the bunkers.  While you, the golfer, probably don't think that smaller bunkers are a bad thing, the edges become ragged, unsightly, and difficult to maintain due to growing grass in pure sand.  In most cases, we can see exactly where the bunkers are supposed to be, but we also use a soil probe to determine their boundaries.  Last week, we completed the greenside bunkers on holes one, two and five, the fairway bunkers on hole eleven, and the small top left greenside bunker on nine, and the finished products look really, really nice.  We will be doing more of this as time allows.