After one of the driest summers on record, the grounds staff is looking forward to the Washington rain coming our way.
However, I am sure come February we will be singing a different tune.
This season seemed to never want to end and it looks like it may not for a few more weeks.
The rain holding off for just a bit longer will be a benefit for our team, and allow us to prepare the golf courses for the winter.
Some of the majoy tasks you will see us working on before the rain finally does come are: aerification of tees, fairways, and approaches, repeating spring aerification on our greens, overseeding distressed areas form the season, and drainage projects.
Drainage is key to all golf courses across the nation, however most of them do not see 70+ inches of rain throughout the winter.
There are a few areas in need of drainage to improve playability not only in the winter but also in the summer.
Over seeding distressed areas sooner rather than later will make a great difference to our courses come spring.
If we wait too long into fall and winter, it will be difficult to get the seed to germinate and the seedlings to survive.
Giving the plant a chance now will pay off come April.
Aerification of tees, fairways, and approaches will help the golf course handle the rains this winter.
It should allow the property to drain better over the next few months allowing for better winter conditions.
This will also provide a healthier product for the following season.
Breaking up the compaction as well as removing organic matter from the profile should have lasting benefits on the golf courses.
Lastly, we hope to aerify October 9 and October 10 – weather dependent.
We will be repeating the process we had so much success with this spring, as we saw our greens respond better than every.
Hopefully by doing it this way, we will have a high-quality product during the winter that can also handle the feet of rain we anticipate.
So, before the rain does finally start pouring, we hop to get the course in the best shape possible to handle the Pacific Northwest fall.
Patrick McKenzie
Superintendent
Gold Mountain Golf Club
