LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR OF AGRONOMY
Dear Member ,
We are off to a cold start this year . According to the farmer ’ s Almanac it is going to be a cold winter . This will slow our Bermuda grass growth and recovery down . Please do all that you can to help us protect and care for it .
Greens We have been spiking and ninja tinning the greens to help with the drainage and air transpiration . We will continue to put out a foliar feed with pigment and granular every two weeks .
We will try to roll greens more than mow through the colder months . This will help build food storage and when the soil temperatures do get in that 60 degree range they will have nutrients available . We also applied a pre-emergent to the greens for Po-annua , goose and crabgrass . We will apply this a couple of times a year to keep our greens weed free . We will also be applying light coats of top dressing monthly .
Tees We continue to fertilize tees monthly and the aqua tees 2x a month .
Fairways We have sliced fairways and continue to apply fertilizer both foliar and granular . We know that certain areas are thin where we had the nematode and weed pressure . We continue pushing these areas .
Course Details We have completed all of the chipping and major tree trimming . We will begin spreading out the mulch around multiple areas , mostly trails . We have also started trimming up some of the hammock areas that are along the golf courses . We will be cleaning them up to be more manageable . This will help with the appearance of the golf course in general as well as help sun and air movement . We will not be doing all of them , just some key areas .
We have also added some muhly grass and coquina areas around some of the tee boxes . We did this in lieu of putting up ropes to control traffic . This will allow us to grow grass around these areas as well as improve the aesthetics . We continue to ask that you please respect the golf courses and watch where you drive . There is an enormous amount of cart traffic and if you can do your part to help us that would be much appreciated . We know there are handicap situations , but we still have guidelines . Handicap carts should never be closer than 30 feet from any tee or green . We also ask that you never drive between bunkers and the greens .
The ball marks have been increasing as well . How long does it take to fix a ball mark ? In the summer in takes 21 days for a ball mark to heal , that can be doubled in the winter months . The other thing that happens is when we mow , if they are sticking up it causes damage to a green by scalping the turf . Please fix and repair all ball marks .
Until next month , stay warm , stay healthy and play well !
Best Regards ,
Jimmie Murphy
Director of Agronomy