MGC Re-Grass 2019/2020

14 Green MGC Members -  Our drone footage video tour continues with the middle part of our back nine, holes 13-15.   Enjoy. Matt Gibb, Green Committee Chair Hole 13: The 13th fairway underwent the usual expansions, bringing the left and right fairway bunkers back into play. At the green, we retained the steep, banking slope on the left/back side of the green, but slightly softened the overall back to front slope for more usable pin positions.   As most of you know by now, this green provided the most challenge in getting the seed to take hold with the incessant rain last fall.  Jared and team have done a fantastic job  helping this one along this spring.  ( You may notice some light brown areas on front of 13 green, these are patches of sand/seed.) Jeff Mingay:   “The bank on the left side of this green actually became a bit steeper in the process of softening its general slope to accommodate bent grass. We gained some...

Hole 10 MGC Members -  Our drone footage video tour continues with the start of our back nine, holes 10-12.  This trio of holes underwent minor changes, compared to others.   Enjoy. Matt Gibb, Green Committee Chair Hole 10: Aside from some minor  fairway and green expansions, one of Minnesota's most famous par 3's is largely unchanged.   Hole 10 Video Link - Click HERE Hole 11: This hole is largely unchanged, however, the fairway expansion on the right side is the most noticeable difference.  Similar to the fairway expansion on 9, balls will now "run away" more to the right, providing more playability and challenge.  The green underwent minor expansions. Hole 11 Video Link - Click HERE Hole 12: The fairway expansions on this hole is the most noticeable difference, bringing the fairway bunkers much more into the field of play.   The green underwent minor expansions. Jeff Mingay:    “Wideni...

Hole 8 MGC Members -  Our drone footage video tour continues with closing out our front nine, holes 7-9.  The back nine begins Friday, June 12.  Enjoy. Matt Gibb, Green Committee Chair Hole 7: Standing on the tee, the most noticeable change is the expanded fairway on the left side, which really highlights the wonderful undulations in this fairway.  The approach shot is visually a little different now without the large elm left of the green, which was  removed because it was causing significant shade on the green.  As a result of the tree being gone, the  humps off the left side of green are now much more pronounced/noticeable. Jeff Mingay:    “I’ve always thought the  seventh is one of  the  prettiest holes on the course, but also that it could be presented better. Now, f rom  the tee, more short grass brings some beautiful terrain to light.  And, with the fairway twisting around  bunkers, th...

5th Green MGC Members -  Our drone footage video preview tour continues below with holes 4-6.  It was great to see the member engagement for holes 1-3 released on Friday 6/5.  We had 658 page views through Monday morning, the most of any re-grass blog post.   Next up is holes 7-9 on June 10, then June 12/15/17 for the remaining. Enjoy. Matt Gibb, Green Committee Chair Hole 4: Hole 4  is essentially the same two tier green we all remember, but it underwent some very subtle changes which will improve turf conditions.   The front/lower portion was raised slightly so that there is less of a bowl down below to collect water.  This, combined with XGD drainage, will reduce pooling water in summer and winter, improving turf health.   The front left bunker was moved a little to the left and back to provide a wider entry to the green.  The prior version had a narrow entry, and with all the walking traffic/push carts, ...

MGC Members -  Welcome to our drone footage video preview tour.  We hope this gets everyone excited for what's to come... At the bottom of this post, there is a write up and video link for holes 1-3.  We will be releasing 3 holes at a time, next up being Holes 4-6 on June 8, then June 10/12/15/17 for the remaining. However, before we begin, please take the time to read the below, a recap of everything that what  was done during the re-grass project. INTRO: The reason for this entire project was to convert our playing surface to bent grass.  Bent is a superior playing surface and is also a much hardier strain of grass with stronger/deeper roots,  to help withstand our winters. While we were closed and under construction, we wanted to improve the golf course wherever possible.  As you can imagine, the course has changed a lot over the past 100+ years.  Most noticeably, our fairways and greens had significantly shrunk from their ori...

MGC Members -  Quick update for you all as we head into the home stretch.  All in all, the course is really coming together and looking incredible. Course Opening Date In recent days, the green committee and Dan's staff have been fielding some more questions wondering why we can't open the course sooner than our approx. opening of late June/early July.   While the course looks fantastic , the grass on  tees/fairways/greens is only part of the story.  Equally important – maybe more so – is what’s happening  below the surface .  T he roots are the key. The roots need to be strong enough to support daily play/traffic/etc.  The roots need to average ~6-7" depth across different parts of the golf course.  While we are there in many spots, there are others that need time to reach these target depths.   Once we average that, we can safely open.  And with warm temps here for the foreseeable future, we are right on ...

#1 Green #5 Green MGC Members -  With our expected course opening in late June/early July, it's amazing to think that after all this time, we are approx. 6 weeks from playing our beautiful new golf course.   With opening day in mind, we feel the need to remind everyone that while the golf course will be significantly improved, it will not be 100% perfect.  There will be worm castings from time to time, there will be the odd small bare patch, etc.  At the Town Hall in spring 2019, we stressed that this is a long term deal.  As the grass matures, we will see improvement year after year... Overall, the course is continuing to come together very nicely.  As discussed in prior posts, the course is 95% there, but the pesky 5% is what's driving most of the staff and resources. With warmer temps in the lo ng term forecast and soil temperatures stabilizing over 55 degrees, the course will really start to fill in nicely. ...

#15 fairway looking back to the tee, with skyline in distance MGC Members -  The warmer temps of late are really making the place start to shine.  If you've been to the range or around the clubhouse, you've likely noticed how things have started to green up around 1/9/10/18.  All tees/fairways/greens are coming along very well. 13 green has been our lone outlier/pesky one with the slope/grade and washouts with all the rain last fall.  It has made some good progress since our last update.  We have our turf experts Brian Horgan and Sam Bauer coming out in the next few days to check in on the course.  We will be seeking their opinion/advice on how to best handle 13 to bring it up to speed with the others by opening day.   Although the golf course may appear like it's ready for play, it's what's happening below the surface that will determine when it can support traffic.   One of the many metrics we use for determining when...

MGC Members -  We wanted to pass along some thoughts on the golf course and how it came through the winter.  Please also see the pictures below, taken after the first mow of the season. Last week, the state government finally granted permission to golf courses to maintain their properties.  So Jared and team got right to work and mowed all the short grass - tees, fairways, greens.  (Please know they are taking all necessary precautions to help prevent exposure by social distancing, staggering start times, assigning specific equipment to each individual etc.) Overall, we are very pleased with the health of the turf - very dense, and uniformly green.  As expected, there are a few small bare patches here and there, but nothing that won't go away with warmer growing temps and consistent mowing.  One item to note.  If you recall, 13 green had some washouts last fall due to rain and slope of that green.  So Jared and team are...