Course Care - How you can help

As we get into the heat of summer and we are in our busy golf season the weather and player traffic can start to take a toll on the course. Our golf course consists of cool season grasses that flourish during the cooler parts of the season such as spring and fall but during the heat of the summer growth, and therefore recovery, slows down. Wear and tear starts to accumulate as growth slows and the turf has trouble keeping up until fall when it starts to grow vigorously again. During this time it becomes more critical to manage the wear and tear as best we can. There are many things we do in the summer to help the turf stay healthy such as plant protectant applications to prevent disease and insect infestations, light and frequent fertilizer application to help maintain optimal growth based on weather conditions, and good moisture management just to name a few.


There are a lot of things that the golfers can do to help out as well. The following pictures help illustrate the things you can do to help protect the course and why they are important.









DO NOT replace divots from Memorial Day until Labor Day. It is too hot and dry for the divot to root back in and it will die, taking up space and not allowing the surrounding turf to fill in as well. SAND ONLY right now please!

Please repair ball marks, even if you see one you didn't make. We repair them in  the mornings before mowing but they say that a ball mark will heal twice as fast if it is repaired within 10 minutes of being made. NEVER pry upwards or twist. The proper technique is to push down and into the center of the mark. You are trying to push healthy grass plants back into the center of the ball mark where the grass plants were smashed by your golf ball.

On the range please use a linear pattern for hitting balls. It uses less area and heals mush faster because the turf can fill in from both sides.

Please observe cart rules. Golf cart traffic can be very detrimental to turf that is under stress. Stress can come from being to wet, to dry, or too many carts in one area. When you see dry spots or areas where other carts have obviously been frequenting please try to avoid going through the same spot. "Scatter" is the best thing carts can do to help protect the turf. Try to drive over the best looking areas, not the worn ones. Nobody like the dreaded "cart path only" ruling but it is necessary in order to prevent damage to the turf. Although you may not see ruts, or damage like in the picture above from number 10, excessive moisture lubricates soil particles and increases compaction and damages roots which leads to problems when things start to dry back out.

Choose your shoes wisely: Thankfully this picture was not taken at Peninsula but todays selection of shoes that include some very aggressive spikes can be quite damaging to the greens. If you don't swing as hard as the pro's you probably don't need the kind of spikes they do. I love the non-traditional type of spikes but please try not to drag your feet on the green with any type of spike.