At the greenkeeper's farm we are happy with how the winter has been so far. No long periods of snow and relatively dry. The course is in good shape considering the time of year. Disease damage on the greens is normal, not extraordinary and the fairways are kept in good shape thanks to the mandatory use of mats, which you are so good at using. The deer have also not been bad either at the bunkers or fairways. It looks good even though we still need two months of winter.
February is a winter month and therefore it is very difficult to predict whether we can work outside or whether we will be pushed inside. There are lots of machines and cutting joints to tackle, but a number of painting and maintenance tasks in the clubhouse can be tackled if King Winter looks ahead. This winter smells like winter will come with 14 days of snow and frost until March when we are all really ready to get started again.
Whether winter comes or not also determines whether we one day choose to go out and mow the greens or surroundings. It would be great to give the greens some definition and nice stripes. We maintain the playing quality by tumbling once a week, which will probably be increased to 2/week at some point if the weather is dry. The same applies to bunkers.
Major maintenance work on the track in February:
- Week 6 and 7: Renovation of trails. During the periods when the weather allows for cutting and laying turf, we will start freshening up our trails.
- The path from the clubhouse to the 1st tee will be paved with new gravel and will be led to tees 45/49/52.
- Week 8: Renovation of bunkers. After a few weeks of trails, we tackle bunkers.
- Week 9: Spring cleaning of tees
- Aerating greens
Watch out for the pitch:
Keep up the good work of using mats. It helps a lot. It's more difficult on the tees. There are too many divots. Help your partner by reminding him or her to use the mat here too.
Keep your distance from the green systems. Follow the white stripes around them.
Align your impact mark.
Follow these tips and you will help bring our golf course through the winter so that as much of it as possible remains when spring comes.
Remember, this is when the red deer shed their antlers. They look funny afterwards, but it's amazing to watch how quickly the new antlers grow out. They're one of the fastest growing things on Earth. Right on your golf course.
Enjoy.