Merry Christmas

I wasn't to sure about this whole blog thing at the beginning of the year when I started this one for the golf course. Well after the first year I would have to say I have really enjoyed writing and posting articles about the golf course. To all of you who have followed me this year I hope you have enjoyed my postings and will come back next year and follow me, maybe even tell your friends. I've had almost 3,000 page views this year and this will be my 84th posting. With so many views I either have some actual followers or my wife has been kind enough to view my blog almost 3,000 times. I would like to believe that it is actual followers, but if not at least my wife is up to date on my blog. I wish everybody a Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

Painting the Driving Range

We have already had more days below freezing this year than we had all of last year. Last year we experimented with turf pigments and had great success with them. This year has been a different story for us and all golf courses that have used pigments. Here at the country club we have already had three days at 25 degrees, last year we barely got below 30 a few times. With a pigment the leaf blade absorbs the chemical which in turn raises the turf canopy temperature upwards of five degrees. This allows the turf to stay greener longer due to the extended life of the chlorophyll in the leaf blade. We learned that with colder temperatures pigments are not the Country Club's best option. Now after all that I have said we have chosen to go in another direction. We painted the driving range Friday morning with a turf paint. Turf paints are not absorbed into the leave blade like the pigments they coat the leaf blade instead. This process is not harmful to the plant at all. Painting is a one time spray and must be applied to dormant grass in order to get the best look. Why does it need to be sprayed on dormant turf you ask? If sprayed on green turf or even semi-dormant turf the paint will fade away like a pigment does, once all the chlorophyll is taken out of the leaf blade due to winter dormancy.

Blue Bird Boxes

Over ten years ago blue bird boxes were made and placed throughout the golf course to encourage bluebirds to make our course their home. Over time these bluebird boxes have broken or have rotted and had to be taken down, which lead to very few bird houses left on the golf course. A group of early morning walkers felt that the bluebird population had dwindled down to almost nothing and wanted to correct this. Dudley Bowen, Mike Shelton, Byrd Warlick, Whitney O'Keefe, Brannon Sell, Bob Kirby and Grady Smith donated their time and money to make brand new bluebird boxes hoping that the bluebird population would return to what it once was. If you see any of these gentlemen be sure to thank them and do not forget to be on the lookout for a whole new population of birds in the near future.