Course Update #4
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. The 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 track and in great shape to hit our mark of opening the club late June/early July.
*Side story from Matt Gibb: The LAST thing we want to do is open prematurely and then have to close due to weak turf/roots. I experienced this at my home club in Toronto a few years ago, where we opened prematurely due to a promised open date, and it was a NIGHTMARE scenario. The course had to close for 3 weeks after opening for only a few days. This also happened to Hazeltine when they re-grassed many years back. We've come so far since closing last summer...right now, it's now all about patience, patience, patience.
Rough
There are a few areas around the course where we seeded in some bluegrass in the rough. For example, left of 2 fairway where we removed old mounds, same thing right of 15 fairway, the area around our new men's tee on hole 2. These areas should make a lot of progress before we open, but they won't be 100% grown in/consistent with the rough around it...nothing major here as it is in the rough, but something for everyone to be aware of.
#13 Green
This green has made significant progress from our last update few weeks ago. See picture below. You will notice a square area in the middle of the green that is a shade lighter green than the rest. This is where we had the most seed displacement last summer/fall due to rain/washouts, so this area was sodded in early spring with the same bent grass. The minor difference in color will fade away over time. All in all, we're really pleased with its progress. We are mowing it daily, and with long term warmer temps, it will only continue to improve.
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. The 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 track and in great shape to hit our mark of opening the club late June/early July.
*Side story from Matt Gibb: The LAST thing we want to do is open prematurely and then have to close due to weak turf/roots. I experienced this at my home club in Toronto a few years ago, where we opened prematurely due to a promised open date, and it was a NIGHTMARE scenario. The course had to close for 3 weeks after opening for only a few days. This also happened to Hazeltine when they re-grassed many years back. We've come so far since closing last summer...right now, it's now all about patience, patience, patience.
Rough
There are a few areas around the course where we seeded in some bluegrass in the rough. For example, left of 2 fairway where we removed old mounds, same thing right of 15 fairway, the area around our new men's tee on hole 2. These areas should make a lot of progress before we open, but they won't be 100% grown in/consistent with the rough around it...nothing major here as it is in the rough, but something for everyone to be aware of.
#13 Green
This green has made significant progress from our last update few weeks ago. See picture below. You will notice a square area in the middle of the green that is a shade lighter green than the rest. This is where we had the most seed displacement last summer/fall due to rain/washouts, so this area was sodded in early spring with the same bent grass. The minor difference in color will fade away over time. All in all, we're really pleased with its progress. We are mowing it daily, and with long term warmer temps, it will only continue to improve.
13 green
Hole 8
These pictures were just too good not to share. The first is taken from the red tee, and second from behind the green. You'll notice the new, fresh white bunker sand popping in the repositioned bunker on the right.
#8, from red tee
#8, from behind green
Lastly, these course updates will be on pause during the next few weeks while we watch grass grow. Kidding. They are on pause while we roll out our drone footage video tour June 5 through June 17. If anything urgent arises, we will be sure to communicate this out to the membership.
We appreciate everyone's patience in staying off the golf course.
Stay safe.
Thank you,
Jared Keller, Superintendent
Matt Gibb, Green Chair
