Golf Course Update

Battling Mother Nature

What a battle it's been keeping the golf course green this month. As of right now it feels like we are losing.  We expect to lose some turf during the summer months but with the high temperatures and relentless winds, we have more dry areas than we normally get this time of year. The temperatures have been in the mid nineties to triple digits most of the month and the wind never seems to let up.  Day and night it constantly blows.  Not only does this cause havoc with our irrigation at night but it makes it hard to spray during the day.  Another reason we have more dry areas is because our irrigation computer was down for three nights until I was able to get a replacement. We manually watered for three days but it doesn't compare to what a computer can do.  We are diligently working to keep the course green and the hot spots and turf loss at a minimum. You may notice us running sprinklers during the day and hand watering greens, tees and fairways. My staff tries to be as courteous as possible and stay out of the way  but sometimes they might miss getting a sprinkler head turned off before you come upon them.  June and July is the most difficult time for us in golf course maintenance, but as the days get shorter and we start to catch a break from Mother Nature, the course will start to look better.  I'm still praying for rain.  Thank you for your patience and understanding.

  

Audubon Update

Golf and the Environment

From Audubon International - The Benefits of Naturalization

For many people, answering the question "Why Naturalize?" when posed by employees, committees, or neighbors can be an unsettling prospect.  Successfully communicating the many benefits of naturalization can make or break support for establishing wildflower or prairie areas, naturalized desert areas, naturalized pond or stream shorelines, and golf course roughs. 

The Environmental Benefits of Naturalization

• Maintains a diversity of plants and animals.
• Protects ecosystems and ecological communities.
• Improves water quality.
• Maintains the gene pool of particular plant and animal species, promoting hardiness, disease resistance, and adaptability.
• Minimizes erosion.
• Supports an aesthetic appreciation of natural beauty.
• Creates positive, progressive, and constructive attitudes about the natural environment.
• Promotes stewardship of the environment and contributes to the conservation of local wildlife species.

Additional Benefits of Lake and Pond Naturalization

• Maintains the food chain for a variety of wildlife species.
• Enhances "structural diversity" of plants along the pond margin. Plants of varying heights and types increase wildlife diversity.
• Provides improved habitat for amphibians, such as salamanders and frogs, especially in ponds that do not contain fish.
• Provides shelter for fish and freshwater invertebrates
• Supplies food for aquatic organisms.
• Provides waterfowl and wading birds places to feed and rest.
• Stabilizes shorelines and reduces erosion.
• Minimizes or eliminates chemical runoff, especially when combined with a "buffer zone" in which no chemical is applied.
• Improves water quality as plants take up excess nutrients and produce oxygen to aerate the water.

Financial and Labor Savings

• Lowers maintenance costs and reduces the need for high-intensity or time-consuming maintenance.
• Reduces equipment wear and tear.
• Reduces the need for gasoline, pesticides, fertilizers, and water.
• Enables staff to concentrate where it really counts - highly visible areas or, for golf courses, the playing surfaces.

Additional Benefits

• Increase wildlife sightings.
• Adds distinctive contrast and natural beauty to the landscape.
• Provides places for nature study and enjoyment.