Annual Tree Trimming

Thursday we started pruning trees. Over the last few years we have made our way through the entire golf course pruning. This year we are revisiting areas we trimmed the first year. We pruned trees down the right hand side of #6 fairway. We trimmed along the cart path on # 7 and to the left of the fairway. Some other holes we will be going to next week will be numbers 9, 10, 11, and 12.

I would like to clear that we are currently not removing any trees. We are only lifting up canopies for two reasons. The first to help promote better air flow for healthier turf. This is something I know many of you have heard from me before. The second reason for some of our pruning cuts is to help with playability and shot making. A good example of this you can check out this weekend is the tree by the bunkers in # 7 fairway. Hopefully the pruning there will allow for a bail out shot underneath that tree.

Rain Has Come Again!

We have received 4 1/2" in the last 24 hours here at the course.  This is a very welcomed event!  Hopefully this rain will find its way to our rivers and lakes for the coming summer.  I know that this is not a drought buster rainfall, but a few more like this one before the summer we will be in a lot better shape.  This is our first truly measurable rain fall since September.  In the last week we have gotten around 5" at the course.

Monday's Projects

Today we spent the morning finishing the sod transplanting on the berm at the front of the clubhouse entrance. We took this sod from our newly constructed vegetable garden space. This area of the berm was contaminated with bermuda that should be buffalo.

We spent time on our greens today completing several processes. We deep tined all putting surfaces today. We core aerified with 3/8" tines in low areas that hold surface water and sodded areas from this past fall. The core aerification in the low areas will help reduce the impact of the surface drainage. The recently sodded areas will benefit as an aid to survival through next summer's stress.

Pictured below is # 17 green and an example of one of these low areas.

Cimarron Hills Vegetable Garden

We have begun work prepping an area adjacent to the kitchen to start a vegetable garden.  We should have the majority of the prep work done today.  We will have our first young plants going in in the middle of March.  Our horticulturalist, Shannon, has made the seed selections and will be starting the seeds indoors here at the Turf Care Facility.  This will truly be home grown vegetables from our property!  Chef Ryan will be able to utilize these high quality vegetables in his creations.  This is a new feature for the club and we have high expectations, in the Turf Care Team, this will be very successful and beneficial for our club.