March April Newsletter 2018

SETTING THE STAGE Well 2018 certainly got off to a chilly start with temperatures going below freezing 20 days in January and the average temperature nearly 5 degrees below normal for the month! That made it very difficult to get rounds of golf in and led to a lot of covering and uncovering of the bermuda greens at Founders. The good news is that with the colder than average temps we haven’t noticed any added stress to the greens at Founders and very little in our other turfgrass areas. Early spring is an important time of year for several tasks that set the stage for course conditions throughout the year. The first of which is greens aerification at Legacy. This will take place the week of February 20th and into March. We have modified the process this year to include a deep drill aerification in addition to our standard core aerification. This application consists of 5/8” drill bits on 5” spacing penetrating the greens profile up to a 10” depth, which is very beneficial inhelpingmoisturemove through theprofile inolder greens likeours, aswell as creating opportunities for deeper rooting. This should be very beneficial in summers like 2017 in which we encounter a lot of rain and humidity. It is important to note that the deep drill process should not add any time to the overall healing process. Another very important task is our spring fertilizer/pre-emergent herbicide spread, which is scheduled for both courses in March. This application includes fertilizer granules with a herbicide sprayed onto the particles. Once watered the herbicide washes off and locks in just below the surface, creating a barrier against weeds. The coated fertilizer particle then settles into the top of the soil and slowly breaks down over time, providing the turf with continuous feeding throughout the growing season. Other important tasks taking place this time of year include preventative maintenance on both irrigation pump stations, collecting annual soil samples for data analysis, spreading of pinestraw in beds and native areas, bunker maintenance (depth checks and adjustments as required), physical properties testing on the greens at Legacy (by an accredited lab), and seeding of fescue in select native areas at the Founders. Successful and timely completion of tasks like these will put us in position to provide great course conditions throughout the year! JasonMiller Director of Golf Course Operations

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