The 2012 golfing season is winding to a close and what a season it has been. Rounds of golf were up again this year amounting to another record breaking season. The weather has been very mild this winter and the course has held up well to the tremendous amount of play we see from November through April. Comments have been positive and I feel we are finishing the season on a high note. The Stonebridge maintenance team is ready to switch from maintenance mode to summer renovation mode, and I suspect that my next blog will be explaining some procedure we are doing to get the course ready for next winter!
Because of the unseasonably warm weather we have been enjoying the grass has started growing again, and we have already done some aggressive work around the green perimeters. I mentioned this in the most recent addition of The Voice, but I can go into more detail in this blog
One of the routine procedures of greens maintenance involves running a stick edger around the perimeters of the greens. This is done where the TifEagle meets the Celebration Bermudagrass. The reason we do this is to slow the encroachment of the Celebration into the green. If left unchecked we would loose several inches to a foot of putting surface each year. This is a gradual process that goes unnoticed until a close survey reveals how much of the original surface has been lost. By edging the greens regularly we are slowing this process by clipping back the Celebration runners. As you can see in the picture above, some of the runners had already moved inches into the green and had to be dug out. That is what has caused the sand filled holes around the perimeter of the greens. With regular edging we are not preventing the encroachment, only slowing it. At some point 3 to5 years out we are going to have to reestablish the original shape and size of the greens. There is a wire buried around the perimeter of each green that we can send a tone to get their original shape. Time will tell how effective our edging is and how many years we can go before taking on this project.
If you have been out to the pool lately you will have noticed an upgrade in the potted plantings around the pool deck. This project was started last year as a collaborative effort between the Grounds Committee and the Design Committee, and seen through to completion by the new committee.
Pavers were removed around the knee wall and the Royal Palms and beach pebbles have been installed. Glazed pots with colorful flowers have been strategically placed in the pebbles.
Three Pony Tail Palms have been added to the deck at the Magnolia Room windows.
The potted palms that used to stand by the doorway have been relocated.
Italian Cypress have been added at the doorway to the exercise room.
Confederate Jasmine is planted in 3 planter boxes around the building. The wood trellises will be removed and the vines will grow around the wire frame installed on the building and trained into an espalier.
The finished product looks great and the staff received many compliments when doing the instillation. Nice work by the committees and Lee Dixon's Common Grounds crew!
As we reach the end of the season we are already seeing play slow on the course, and the roads around town may be getting a little less congested. If you are heading north, have a great summer and we will see you next season. If your staying here, we will see you around!
Alan Bakos, CGCS
Director of Grounds
