Long lost July 22nd Blog recently found...check out these pictures to wet your appetite for the upcoming golf season.

PLEASE NOTE: This blog-post was drafted on the same day as the (7-22-10)WGC National Orchard blog-post. Then, less than two days later the course was inundated with 4.12-inches of rain and changed all plans...Please enjoy the following never-before-seen pictures from last season. Tomorrow is March 1st, just four weeks away from the traditional 'targeted' opening day (weather permitted) of the last Friday in March!!! Enjoy.



Notice the adult Bluebird on nesting box. Please double click to enlarge the picture.

Newborn Bluebird babies, notice in the background an egg starting to hatch. This is yet another successful Bluebird box located at #11 Approach Pond on the #14 side.

Deer browsing near #9 Bridge flower boxes.

Red-Tailed Hawk early morning next to #14 Green along the dike with some breakfast.

Lotus Pond looking from #13 Tee across pond to #12 Green.

An unidentified frog (Spring Peeper?) on Lotus leaf in center of picture. Can anyone help identify frogs please call 847-501-2056. Thank you.

Bee buzzing the Lotus plant looking for nectar.

Back in November, was that a Redd Foxx Sighting at Winnetka Golf Club ?!!!

Seriously the Red Fox has returned to Winnetka Golf Club. Sorry not the Chicago raised comedian/actor who passed away in 1991. I couldn't resist the plug for one of my all time favorite comedian/actors and sitcom shows. Actually Redd Foxx was born John Elroy Sanford hence the name of his six season long sitcom. His mother was half Seminole, his hair was reddish, thus his nickname.

Until last year staff has not seen any Red Fox since 1991 when the Coyotes moved in.

Carts er, 'Fox on Paths Only' at #2 Tee. Notice the golf carts at the tee and #5 Fairway. REMEMBER you can double click on any picture to enlarge.


Not sure if Fox is feeding or drinking water. Notice the golfers on #2 Fairway.


Between Holes #2 & #5. Fox scratching an itch as the ducks swim by.


Red Fox sitting as sentry to the course.


Red Fox on the Driving Range in October.


Now for some fall pictures not previously posted.
#17 Green Sweet Gum tree.


#10 White Ash.


Clubhouse & #1 Tee Flowers.


#2 Bridge & Pond.


Your "2010 Golf Maintenance Team".

ONLY 65 more days until our scheduled opening date of March 25th, weather permitting. Only once since 1996 have we had to delay opening into April!!!

As a Chicago Bear was quoted about playing the Green Bay Packers for the NFC Championship, immediately following the Seattle Seahawks game, "CAN'T WAIT"!!!

PLEASE help with our "French's Mustard Container Drive 2010-2011"

The "French's Mustard Container Drive 2010-2011" is moving along at a great pace! Getting closer to our goal of 100 bottles by April 1st. The Winnetka Golf Club Maintenance Staff would like to send a big THANK YOU out to all the family's whose mustard bottles were at the end of the containers useful life span. We understand that this is a process. It may take several months for people to use a 14 oz. bottle. We are prepared to wait...and wait...and wait. The golf course will always have a need for bottles for years to come. As we go through the Holiday Season please remember to use as much mustard as your family can handle in your cooking.

Feel free to put your name on your donation so staff can personally thank you next season. This will confirm your donation for next tax season.

Mustard bottles can be dropped off Tuesday through Sunday at the Winnetka Golf Club-Clubhouse located at 1300 Oak Street.

Veterans Day-Post

World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.” On October 8th 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first "Veterans Day Proclamation". November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars. The restoration of the observance of Veterans Day to November 11 not only preserves the historical significance of the date, but helps focus attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

We wish to honor all military personal past and present in commemorating this years Veterans Day. Coincidentally we have had three United States Marine Corps veterans from three distinctly different eras employed on the golf maintenance department over the last few decades. Unfortunately, Gil Schmidt the former Chief of the Winnetka Fire Department (during the 1970's) who was employed by the park district for 22 years until retiring in Fall of 2006 at the age of 82 had recently passed in Spring 2010 from a long battle with cancer. Gil proudly served our country during World War II in the Pacific, seeing combat throughout the "Gilbert Island Campaign" with some well known battles made into movies such as "Tarawa".

Mark Anderson, (Asst.GC Supt./Drainage Specialist) proudly served his country during a more tumultuous period in our history. He served with the 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Division from 1966-1969 attaining the rank of Corporal. Mark was "in the Nam" from July 1967 to August 1968. He was involved in numerous battles such as the Tet Offensive/Hue City, Khe Sahn, Phu Bi, Con Thien etc. Following is the cover of the recently published book "Lions of Medina" by Doyle Glass. Mark figures prominently in the book if anyone is into history or wants to learn about a three day operation where fighting was measured in feet, not miles or meters.



Our most recent former Marine is David Evanshank who has been employed since Spring 2007. David came on board just in time for the GC renovation and was instrumental with the new irrigation system installation. He wears numerous hats, some of which are Irrigation Technician, Spray Tech and Mechanic, responsible for all 90 actual reel-type cutting units/mowers and assists Rico Contreras/Lead Mechanic with other equipment repairs. David served from August 2000 to August 2005 with the 3rd Marine Air Wing attaining the rank of Sergeant. He proudly served in the North Arabian Sea during "Operation Enduring Freedom" immediately following 9-11.


Below is an S3 Viking about to land on the USS John C. Stennis.
THANK YOU, to these fine men and all the men and women who have served our country.


The following two video's were taken by David during deployment to the North Arabian Sea for "Operation Enduring Freedom" on the flight deck of the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74). The first is a sonic boom during an approved flyover. The second is a F/A-18 landing; one of the jets David was a mechanic on.

Wanted Dead or Alive...mustard containers that is!!!

This unusual request for used French's Mustard containers (size 14 ounce and larger) can help us maintain your greens at Winnetka Golf Club. Every day the greensmower operators head out for their 5-mile walk in the 3 hours allocated for morning preparatory work. The mowing of "their" four (4) greens every day is only a portion of each operators morning task. They have a 50-penny nail and a special ballmark tool with one-inch long spikes, that in the hands a skilled individual can repair most any type of ballmark. They also bring with them two or three mustard bottles of green colored sand mixed with SR1119 Bentgrass seed to 'topdress' every ballmark and assist in filling any voids. These mustard containers take a beating and need to be replaced every few months. My family has asked for a moratorium on eating any more mustard... thus this unusual request during the upcoming off season. Thank you in advance. Mustard bottles can be dropped off at the Winnetka Golf Club -Clubhouse located at 1300 Oak Street.

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...