Fairway Overseeding

By weeks end, we will complete our fairway overseeding program.  This will be the 4th consecutive season we have overseeded the fairways and it's made a world of difference in the quality of turf. This is a long, 3 day process of sitting on a tractor and dodging sprinkler heads.  Austen is at the helm of the tractor and doing a great job!

                 

Tee Aerification & Overseeding

                 

Monday we completed the tee box aerification and overseeding process.  We pulled 1/2" cores on 2.5" spacing followed by 5lb/m of Perennail Rye.  Once seeded, we brushed the tees so the seed would fall in the aerification holes giving it a great seed bed for germination.  With the shot of rain last night (.6"), we should be seeing germination by the end of the week,  The process went great and caused zero disruption to golf.  

Emerald Ash Borer- Course of Action

As many of you are aware, the Emerald Ash Borer is confirmed to be in Omaha and is already effecting many Ash trees in the area.  I did a inventory of Ash trees and counted a total of 65 trees with 31 being considered 'high profile'.  The trees that are 'high profile' have been tagged and treated.  Treatments will continue every 20 months until we hear we're in the clear.  The untreated trees (marked with a white dot) will be removed this winter.  To offset the loss of so many trees, we have begun putting together a tree replacement program and will plant new trees in the future months.  To monitor the trees, I will create a inventory book which will include a picture of each tree, measurements and the amount of chemical injection that was used per tree.  We're hoping to stay ahead of this and salvage the best Ash trees on the property we can.  

'Fun Fest'

I want to take a minute to thank those who participated Field Club's biggest tournament of the year, 'Fun Fest'.  We had great weather  for the participants and it seems fun was had by all.  I heard nothing but positive comments about the entire set up (course, staff, food, etc.) and the positive feedback was passed along to ALL staff members who made it happen.   We are blessed to have a great staff at all levels throughout the club, which makes it fun to come to work everyday.  Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to what the future holds at FCO.

The gallery surrounds #16 green to watch the shootout

Christine Steele took time to paint the FCO logo on #1 and #12 approach.  Added a nice extra touch!

Mole Sniper

Andy is proud of his catch!

An ongoing problem on the course is dealing with animals whether it be raccoons, skunks or moles.  Andy has taken this personal and is putting things in his own hands to deal with the issue,  More traps will be out on a daily basis and we'll be taking a head count as we go.  This is not the first catch of the season, but from here on out Andy will be on a incentive based program!    

Cleaning up around the edges....

Since there are so many large trees in such a tight area, establishing playable turf in certain areas is impossible.  To clean up the area, we have cut in an outer edge, applied 'round-up' to the area and covered with mulch.  This is an instant improvement and gives the area a fresh and clean look.  This is the first area we have converted, but we will be doing more in the future months.  The area you see in the below picture is #3 (south of Woolworth) along the cart path.

Before

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

     

After

#18 Tree Work

The last of the planned tree work (until November) was completed on Friday.  As you can tell from the pictures below, right of #18 fairway was overgrown and in desperate need of a heavy prune.  In total, we removed three trees along the right edge and all the remaining trees were pruned up.  This fall, we will remove two more trees that are tucked in there and once done, we will add a irrigation head and seed the bare spots and establish turf in those bare areas.  The fairway mow pattern was shifted over to the right as well.  This will help give a clear shot to the green if you hit along the right edge.  Huge Improvement!

Before

After