Mid-February thaw!

With the warmer temperatures this past week we were able to actually make a trip through the course without getting stuck and what we found was very typical for this time of year. 
It looked as though we had a decent amount of traffic this winter from cross country skiiers.  Here is a nice set of tracks right across one of our greens.....not recommended!  However, with spring growth and a bit of fertilizer, the tracks will disappear with no damage.

There were also a few foursomes that found their way to the course as well! Here are some close-up pictures of the effects of deer traffic on frozen greens during the winter. 

The deer traffic is a little more severe than the skiier traffic because of the depth of the impression on the green.  This is because the weight of the skiier was more evenly distributed across the length of the ski, where as the weight of the deer is only distributed over a couple of inches, or the length of the hooves.
Here are a couple more pics of deer traffic.

We also found a couple of drains that began to erode around the edges.  These will need to be dug up and concrete will be added to the drainage tile connections that have gaps in them.  As you can see in this picture, the ground has settled a couple of inches and will need to be raised after the repair is made. 

We have checked the status of the satellite box between holes #2/7 to see if moving the box to higher ground has paid off by keeping the box and its electrical contents out of standing water.  Here is a picture of the box, notice the ice and snow piled up where the box used to be.  It appears to have been a successful move, so far so good!

Microdochium Patch, a.k.a. snow mold, is visible on some locations throughout the course, none of which appear to be severe.  Microdochium Patch is a mold that can cause pink, yellow or tan patches measuring from 1 to 8 inches in diameter, these patches can coalesce into larger patches if severe enough.  This mold can be spread via water movement as well as foot or cart traffic.  Disease severity can be reduced by reducing thatch through aerification and verticutting, as well as reducing shade and leaf wetness.  In more severe cases a contact fungicide may be applied to reduce disease pressure, especially on highly maintained turf such as a golf green.  Here is a picture of the disease in one of our fairways.  The white around the edge of the patch is actually the reproductive spores, they can be either white or salmon in color. 

This all but too brief thaw is a reminder that spring is getting closer, so it's time to start thinking golf!  Dust off your clubs and we hope to see you out here on the course in the near future!