Five more!

Five more ... the number of additional touchdowns the Chiefs would have probably scored if their game against the Texans was a quarter longer. Fortunately for Bill O'Brien and all seven Texans fans, they only had to sit through the normal four quarters. Three of which did not go their way.

"Five more" is also the number of additional trees removed from the east side of the green on #18 West last week as we continue to tackle the shade issues there. This makes 13 trees total out of this area. The big oak tree that resided up against the cart path was removed. It had split almost all the way down the tree, probably from a lightning strike ( pictures below ). We tasked that out to the professionals at Princeton Tree Care. I'm glad it is on the ground. Since we had noticed the split that tree was making me nervous. Two more medium cedars and two smaller oaks were also removed. Those we did in-house. We did all the stump grinding in-house also.

I'm happy with what we have accomplished here. It will no doubt help that green complex. There are four more trees I'd like to do, but all four may be outside what I'm comfortable attempting in-house. There are professional tree care companies for a reason.

Refer back to our first post about this area if you haven't already ...

Some USGA articles about shade:

USGA: Casting Shade
USGA: Shade + Traffic = Dirt
USGA: Let There Be Light
USGA: Light The Way To Healthy Putting Greens

Picture of #18 area before ...

Screenshot of phone app showing sun position ... 

Picture after first set of trees were removed ... 

Picture after last weeks removals .. 

Big oak tree cracked ...

Winter!

After all of the rain the last few days, I thought this post may be appropriate. While the calendar may say otherwise, we have entered winter mode. The grass is growing very little, if at all. Things are soggy and soft. And we get very little help from the sun.

So what does that mean? Any wear or damage we sustain will be with us until April. This includes frost damage, ball marks, divots, old cup plugs, and any wear or damage from cart traffic. 

What can you do? Make sure you replace divots and fix ball marks. Bear with us with cart rules also. We may have a nice day here and there, but if we've been wet or frozen, we will still likely be on the cart paths with the carts. Our only motive for keeping carts on the path is to protect the golf course for the days, months, and years to come. 

Read more from the USGA below ... 

USGA: Winter On the Golf Course