Agronomy Department and Course Update

October 9^th2013

            What a way to start the week, 2+ inches of rain Sunday night into Monday morning. This obviously put a hamper on a few of our plans, the tree contractor will be delayed a few days and the grading work on 7 and 8 was pushed back. Since the turf was too wet to mow on Monday we took the opportunity to start detailing bunkers for the winter. This will consist of Fly mowing, edging and scuffle hoeing the bunkers. Hopefully, you will notice the difference in the increased detailing.

We continue to have warmer days and the greens are responding with great growth, therefore, we are continuing our topdressing program. We will go heavier than last week, but we will brush the sand into the canopy. This will have no impact on playability and actually make the greens firmer, faster and smoother. The greens will also be treated with Fungicide to prevent Spring Dead Spot (SDS), to treat this disease we use soil temperatures to target the fungi’s activity.

 The overseed (rye grass) has been dropped on the Driving Range Tee, Targets, Teaching Tee and Chipping Green area. We are already seeing some of the seed germinate and we will spray the newly germinated grass with a foliar fertilizer tank to promote growth. We look to open some of the upper tees first to middle of next week (Oct 14-16^th).

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me (kmacdonald@valleycrest.com) and for more information follow us on Twitter @stivescc_vcsup and the Blog: http://vcgmstivescountryclub.blogspot.com/