LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR OF AGRONOMY
Hello everyone , we hope you are doing well and looking forward to some great fall golf !
September brought us a lot of rain . As I am writing this , we have had 19 ” of rain in the last 12 days , which has caused us some delays with the irrigation project . We are trying to get back to schedule as quickly as we can , but since the ground is saturated , we need to dry it out a bit .
Deer Run- We were able to get the greens aerified for the fourth aerification . It has helped improve the soil structure tremendously , and we are currently getting a substantial root system , which are very healthy .
Also , we were able to verticut the greens in two directions prior to punching them . We are happy to say they have recovered extremely well .
They have additional crew members on site trying to get irrigation back on track , which was scheduled to be completed by the end of the month . It will be close , although we have completed holes 1-9 , the driving range and holes 10-18 . It will be a hard push to get to the finish line , but we are doing everything we can to achieve it .
As they complete the remainder of the holes , we are trying to have all repairs to cart paths and sodded areas completed as fast as possible . Once they are complete , we will have some minor repairs done heading into November .
Turtle Run- Turtle run has remained in good shape all summer . We did verticut the greens and top dress this month .
In lieu of a core aerification , we will be doing the Air2Gas aerification again in October . This has proven to be beneficial , with the tine fracturing at the 12 ” depth . There is very little to no disturbance .
We will be doing this process hopefully twice through the winter season .
General maintenance- We will continue to prepare for a busy fall season .
Our winter pre-emergent program will start towards the end of October . This will help keep any winter annuals , as well as po-annua , from germinating . Also , we will be applying a pre-emergent for po-annua on the greens this year . This will be applied in October and will have a followup date 45 days apart .
We will be over seeding the tees again this year , as well as the driving range tee . As the weather gets colder , we will continue to spray the pigment and foliar fertilizer this year .
We have lots of plans to improve the golf course this winter , and we will continue to work on them through the cooler months .
We ask that you please obey all our ropes and signs .
As we received a plethora of rain a couple weeks ago , it was disappointing to see some of our residents going around and moving the ropes so they could drive their golf carts through these areas .
We work tirelessly on trying to give you a good product . Please help us in doing your part to keep the carts off the protected areas .
As always , we ask that you please repair all divots and ball marks .
We appreciate everyone ’ s efforts and look forward to having a great fall season !
Until next time , have a great day !
Jimmie Murphy
Director of Agronomy
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