COLD!

21 degrees when arrived this morning, Forecast is for a balmy 38 today! As of now it looks like covers will remain until Tuesday.

Covering!

Due to the change in the weather predictions we will be covering the Greens today! We believe we will be able to remove them Tuesday.
Here is a cut and paste from the National Weather Service for 72113.

Today: Rain likely, mainly before noon. Cloudy, with a high near 49. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west northwest. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25. North northwest wind around 15 mph.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 36. North northeast wind around 15 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 19. North northeast wind between 5 and 10 mph.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 38. North northeast wind around 5 mph becoming east southeast.

Sunday Night: A slight chance of snow and sleet after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 26. Southeast wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Monday: Snow and sleet likely before noon, then rain and snow likely. Cloudy, with a high near 38. South southeast wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Monday Night: A 30 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 30. North northwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.

Monitoring the forecasts!

I wanted to give the membership a quick warning about the upcoming weekend. There is a very slight chance that we will have to cover Saturday. Weather forecasts suggest Saturday night might dip into the low 20's That in and of itself would not warrant us covering, however if the predictions for the rest of the weekend change some, then we may have to cover. I will know by tomorrow afternoon. Thanks.

Cover Deployment! This is only a test!

We deployed our covers yesterday. This was not weather related but a test of sorts. We have not opened and spread the covers since late last winter. In order to examine each cover and be sure they have not suffered any unexpected damage over the last 12 months we needed to spread them out.
So we simply pulled each one out, arranged it on the green, and re folded it back up onto the pallet. Everything was in good shape and the covers are prepared for use if Mother Nature decides to shock us with some winter weather.

Caution 9 fairway!

Recently we have had a couple of golfers slip on the protective mats we installed in the entrances/exits to 9 fairway. There are only a few slick spots where the turf is thin, but these areas can be quite slippery. We have placed signs at each entrance so walkers will warned.
Over all I have been quite pleased with the mats ability to protect the turf and the improved appearance of the area. However walkers need to be cautious this time of year.

No need to cover this week.

The weather is forecasted to get quite chilly tomorrow and tomorrow night. As of now, there is no reason to cover our greens. The duration of cold temperatures will be too short to bring our soil temperatures down far enough, long enough to cause any concern. I will keep a watch on the forecast just in case something changes drastically.
Just thought I would give everyone an update since this is one of the first cold snaps of the season.

Weeds Fairways and Greens!

This year has been extremely mild and a little wet. This is the perfect combination for winter weeds. We have already sprayed the fairways and will be spraying the Tee complexes and the Green complexes as the wet weather allows. Once sprayed it will take a week or two for the weeds to die completely. This is because the cooler temperatures slow the movement of chemicals through the plant.

Our Greens have more Poa in them than in recent years. This is because of the warmer weather we have had this season. I normally begin spraying the Greens for Poa right after we paint, but we have not been able to spray the herbicide yet! We have not had a real cold snap to cool the soil temperatures enough for the Champion Turf to go completely dormant. Spraying the turf with a herbicide while in a state of partial dormancy can be ddangerous. We have a cold front coming in this week, I am going to spray the greens directly after our next heavy frost. Probably Thursday morning. That way I know that we will have no damage to the Greens.

Here are some Pictures of Andy spraying the Fairways with Herbicide last week.