Golf Course Update

3/27/15 Golf Course Update

To: Vesper Country Club Members

From: Stephen Hicks, Golf Course Superintendent

Finally! A few days of melting and the first week of spring has come and gone. I wanted to provide another update to further communicate the challenges we are anticipating in regards to the extreme winter. We are all anxious and eager to get to work on the course. The Masters Tournament is only a few weeks away and I know you are all getting excited to tee it up at Vesper.

To give you some background on past opening dates. In 2013, we opened on April 13th. Last year, we opened on April 18th. If you recall, last winter was also very difficult and many areas of turf were damaged. This winter, unfortunately, was even worse. One for the record books.

We will not know the health of the turfgrass until all the snow melts and growth begins. As last week’s update stated, we have concerns for potential ice/winter damage on fairways. We are still feeling positive in regards to putting green health. We are beginning to employ some tactics on a few of our greens to speed up the melting process. Please remember that at Vesper we are in a unique situation, thanks to the investment in bentgrass greens, our risk for winter damage is reduced compared to the many facilities in our region that have Poa annua greens.  That does not mean that damage isn’t possible, especially after the magnitude of this winter and the ice cover that has been present since mid-January.

Over 3 inches of snow has melted over the past few days thanks to the warmer temperatures. We can now start to see some small areas of exposed turf, but overall there is still anywhere from a half-foot to 2 feet of snow on the property! We normally would be bringing back our greens staff next week to begin course preparations. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen and we can now be certain that the weather is going to delay our ability to get the course ready for a normal mid-April opening day. Based on current conditions, I am hopeful that we can be open for golf by late-April.

Below are few of the basic requirements that need to happen before we open the course:

1.       All of the snow must melt

2.       The frozen soil needs to completely thaw

3.       Once the frost dissipates from the ground we need time for the course to drain and dry down

4.       As soon as ground conditions allow equipment to be taken on the course, we begin course cleanup

5.       Basic preparations include cleaning up our tree work areas, picking up limbs and other debris that accumulates over the winter, repairing bunkers, and installing course accessories, and turning on the irrigation system

6.       If there is damage, these areas will need to be assessed so that repairs can begin

7.       Soil temperatures need to warm enough to allow turf growth to start

8.       We need to mow all playing surfaces at least two times

9.       The turfgrass needs to be growing and healthy enough to support cart traffic and foot traffic

10.   We also need to aerate the putting greens. We want to get this done early to avoid disrupting the greens in May

I hope these updates are helpful. We will get on the course and start working as soon as possible. I can’t wait to see you all back and enjoying this great property.