Glen Eagle Maintenance (3/1/24)

Golf Course

The recent warm and sunny weather has helped the course green up. This week has been spent preparing for the Talon on Friday/Saturday and the Ladies Member Guest next Tuesday. Good luck to all the contestants in both events.

Here are a few pictures from the course this week.

I look forward to seeing everyone on the course, and as always, if you have any questions, flag me down or shoot me an email. I always enjoy talking turf!

Glen Eagle Maintenance (2/23/24)

Weather report

This winter continues to be wetter than normal. The front that passed thru last Sunday brought us 2.75” of rain which is not only the highest February single event rain total, but was also more rainfall than we have had in any February since I started at Glen Eagle in 2019. With the wet winter we have been having, our lakes are a foot deeper than they were at this time last year. Having higher lake levels along with periodic rain between now and summer provides reasonable certainty that we will have enough irrigation water to make it thru until summer rains start.

I want to thank everyone who has made efforts to conserve water going into this winter, I am certain the conservation made a difference. Please continue to stay diligent until our summer rains start later this year.

Here is an article from the USGA, related to our current weather pattern.

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/course-care/green-section-record/62/issue-03/super-el-nino--.html

Golf Course

As the sun rose this week on the Club Championship, we can see the course looking really good and ready for tournament play.

#7 looking very tight…

Same on 17! Look at those bunker edges, the staff has them dialed in!

18 green looking tight and smooth!

Congrats to our 2024 Club Champions, Mrs. Kreeger and Mr. Rhoades.

Now on to the Talon next week!

We are changing the way we put the rakes in the bunkers. Two reasons. Having the rakes in the bottom of the bunkers made them hard to retrieve and second, the rakes would trap a ball on the face of the bunker.

As you can see in the pictures below the rakes are more accessible and even if the ball did rest against the rake head, it would be down the slope of the bunker face.

An Osprey enjoying the view from the snagged tree on 17.

I look forward to seeing everyone on the course, and as always, if you have any questions, flag me down or shoot me an email. I always enjoy talking turf!

Glen Eagle Maintenance (2/16/24)

 Golf Course

The sun is out and the temperatures are just about a perfect as they can be. This is truly what makes everyone love SW Florida in February.

The golf course is liking the sun and warm temperatures too. Growth is still slow due to the low overnight temperatures but our color is good due to the sun and warm afternoon temperatures.

Sylvestre was out this week keeping the grass green by applying fertilizer.

And it seems to be working…

Something else looking good is our equipment after the staff has detailed it! By utilizing days when we have shotguns to clean and detail our equipment, we can keep it looking practically brand new!

They also put their detailing skills to work in the equipment storage facility.

I look forward to seeing everyone on the course, and as always, if you have any questions, flag me down or shoot me an email. I always enjoy talking turf!

Glen Eagle Maintenance (2/8/24)

 Golf Course

We wound up with 1.25” of rain from the front that passed thru Sunday & Monday. Continued rainfall has kept our lake levels stable and at times, our lakes are higher than this same time last year.

The grass is still growing but slowly and is a bit off color due the the recent low overnight temperatures.

With the sun out and temperatures warming up some I expect the color to rebound more over the next several days.

You can do your part to help keep your course in its best condition. Keeping all 4 tires on the cart path near tees and greens is one way to do that.

Here is an article from the USGA explaining how that benefits the course.

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/course-care/green-section-record/62/issue-02/please-park-on-the-path.html#

Common Grounds

The flower are also enjoying the rain and sunlight…

I look forward to seeing everyone on the course, and as always, if you have any questions, flag me down or shoot me an email. I always enjoy talking turf!

Glen Eagle Maintenance (2/2/24)

 Golf Course

We continue to have nice sunny weather this week. It has been cold but I’ll certianly take cold and sunny over overcast and rainy.

Looks like we have a pretty good chance for rain this Sunday which is needed as our last rainfall was on January 16th. We are still doing ok with our lake levels but I have noticed them starting to drop. Periodic rain will insure we don’t run out of water between now and the time our summer rains start, normally in June.

I didn’t get any new pictures of the course this week but can honestly say I am very pleased with the course color and recent turf growth. That could slow back down with the cold weather but overall the course is doing well.

I did take some video of our crew out pencil tine aerifying the greens this week. This is called venting and is a very beneficial practice that helps oxygen reach the roots of the plant while allowing irrigation to filter into the root zone rather than sheet flowing off the surface of the green.

When we get done, you can hardly even tell we were there.

In our last Greens Committee meeting, it was noted that on many holes there is little to no difference in the length of the fairway and rough grass even-though the fairways are mowed at 0.7” and the roughs at 1.25”. This is due to carts matting down the roughs.

The recommendation was to utilize the 90 degree rule to enter and exit the fairways. I was also asked if I would prefer carts in the fairways or carts in the roughs. I explained driving in the fairways was preferred since it would help the rough grow taller.

Here is a brief review of the 90 degree rule:

 1. Drive down the cart path until you are parallel with your golf ball.

2.  Turn 90 degrees and travel out to your golf ball.

3. Once you are in the fairway, I would prefer that you stay in the fairway and travel down to the next shot. 

4. Once all shots have been hit from the fairway, exit to the cart path at 90 degrees to the final shot.

This will reduce the amount of cart traffic in the roughs and give the roughs the best chance for growth. 

Common Grounds

This week we worked on back planting more of the ficus along Glen Eagle Blvd. We added over 170 new Calusia to finish off the hedge behind Provincetown.

Calusia lined up waiting to be planted…

Calusia planted behind the ficus…

It will take a year or more but before we know it, the Calusia will fill in and grow tall enough to remove the Ficus, revealing the new hedge.

I look forward to seeing everyone on the course, and as always, if you have any questions, flag me down or shoot me an email. I always enjoy talking turf!