Large-Tine Aeration and Sand Topdressing progressing great!!! Two more greens left to do on Thusday 10/28/10.

Staff aerating #15 Green and shoveling the sand topdressing across the green, filling every single hole 9-10"deep with sand. The goal is to increase water percolation and gas exchange for winter and next season. The objective is to provide firmer and even better greens for next year.



Staff finished eight greens on Monday October 25th. After a rain day on Tuesday and relegated to finishing the sand installation on Par-3 GC #8 Sand Bunker it was back to the "deep-tine aeration' on Wednesday. Ideal conditions (lack of dew) from the strong winds allowed staff to hit the greens at sun up. Eight more were completed today. Greens #10 and #14 will be completed on Thursday. The large Practice Putting Green was done one week earlier if you wish to compare the recovery. This aggressive cultural procedure was implemented (per U.S.G.A. recommendation) from Fall of 1993 to Spring of 1998 and allowed for the greens to play at the level seen this last decade or so. Staff will assess the greens next season and respond to their needs accordingly.


Arturo our main equipment operator with a ruler showing the 9 1/2" depth the tines penetrate.


Close up showing the 7/8" diameter aeration tine and the 9 1/2" depth as seen by the soil at top of tine.


Staff on #6 Green. Please notice Alberto "hamm-ing-it-up" as he fixes his hair for the camera! He is the orange coat in the middle. Double click on picture for close up.

Move over turtles, 'Uncle Buck' is here!

After not seeing a single buck...Wham! Three show up on Hole #18 with the largest being a 10-pointer and the others following his lead were 6-point young bucks. Staff also saw, but was not able to get a decent picture of a doe last month that appeared every bit as large as this buck. 10-Point bucks are typically seen here every two or three years. Remember you can click on the picture (up to twice) to enlarge the view.









White Ash (Fraxinus americana)/ Autumn Blaze cultivar Hole #10.
Yes, this variety is also suspect to the European Ash Borer aka EAB. The top 25 ash trees (including those pictured here) at Winnetka Golf Club are treated preventativly (in-house) for this borer, alternating years of injection and soil drench treatments.




My apologies to any and all loyal followers for not blogging once the weather dried up in early September. No excuse is good enough, but my priority was to get as much turfgrass recovery going once the weather cooled off. With not much rainfall these last several weeks, more than usual time was allocated to being on the course. Thank you for following this blog all season. Stay tuned as more posts are soon to follow...