Spring Is Here!

17th green in late March

Although the calendar indicates that Spring time is here, I think Old Man Winter is trying his hardest to hang on tightly.  We’re seeing night time temperatures starting to stay above freezing on a consistent basis, and the days are getting warmer and more conducive to turf growth and recovery.  Most of the greens on the golf course are still dormant, and the ones that have begun to break dormancy are coming along slowly.  A few of the greens are displaying weak turf, but I’m confident that with the forecast of warmer temperatures and rain, as well as a little TLC from our staff we will be playing golf soon.  We’ve laid down some permeable covers to try and regulate soil temperatures so that those greens can recover and green up more quickly.

I’ll keep updates rolling in more steadily now that the season is getting closer.  As for now, I wanted to communicate my excitement for the upcoming season.  My staff is getting geared up and ready to go, and we’re looking forward to providing a high quality golf course for the 2009 season.

Thank you for being a member at the Orchards, and as always please don’t hesitate to get a hold of me with questions, concerns, or just to chat.

Matt Streeter

Golf Course Superintendent

February Update

2009 Season Preview

            It’s been a snowy winter and we’re a long way from green grass and golf clubs, but we’re busy preparing ourselves for another successful golfing season here at the course.  I’d like to take the time to thank everyone for being a member at the Orchards.  I anticipate seeing all of you on the course very shortly as we melt away from winter conditions.

            2008 was a successful and challenging season, and I’m looking forward to making 2009 even better.  We were fortunate to make some solid improvements to the course last year, and hope to do the same this coming season.  Our overriding mission is to provide top quality conditions on a daily basis, not just for tournaments or guest events.  It is because of our membership that we have such a high quality golf club, and our aim is to keep you proud of your course each and every day.

            I hope to return many of my staff members from last year, which stands to benefit all of us.  Our intimate knowledge of this golf course, coupled with active feedback from our management staff and the membership will help facilitate the production of high quality conditions on a daily basis.

            Please don’t hesitate to offer any suggestions or ask any questions you may have.  An open line of communication and dialogue is important to me.  I’m interested in listening to your feedback as we approach this golfing season.

            Thank you, see you on the course!

Matt Streeter

December 10 Update

Winter weather seems to be upon us, although it has felt as such for several weeks now. The golf course is covered in a light dusting of snow, and I’m impatiently waiting for more significant snowfall.

Last week we performed a solid tine aerification of all greens except for holes 3, 7, 8, 11, & 13. Those greens were not aerified because the ground was simply too frozen to do so. Our thought process here is that a late season aerification will offer a place for any water to move away from the crown of the grass plants during winter thaw events. We intend to perform our normal spring aerification as usual next season.

As of Friday December 5, all greens and tee boxes were closed for the season. I welcome and encourage members to head out and discover the beauty of the golf course this winter, but please keep any activity to the rough areas if possible. The property looks and behaves much differently during winter months, and it’s important that we all take precautions to make sure it comes through the winter as healthy as possible. Please avoid any standing water, shallow ice accumulation, or bare areas with little to no snow cover- as these areas pose the greatest chance for winter injury. And as in the past, some greens and tees will be roped off, so please be aware of this as you venture out onto the course.

If not already completed, all flagsticks, tee markers, rakes, ropes, signs, and other course accessories are in the process of being taken off the course. This is the time of year when our game plan for spring and summer is formulated- which includes all equipment maintenance, accessory repair, cleaning, scheduling, ordering, and planning.

Thank you for your membership at the Orchards this season. I hope that you had an enjoyable golfing experience, and wish to make 2009 even better. Please don’t hesitate to call, email, or stop by the shop so I can better acquaint myself with you and we can talk about the coming season.

Happy Holidays- I’ll see you in the spring!

Matt Streeter

mstreeter@palmergolf.com

September Update

Sorry for the lack of updates over the past month or so as we’ve been busy keeping up with the perfect growing conditions.  Our college help has been gone a month or so now, which means we’ve had to adjust to the decrease in man power.

Our greens aerification has been delayed until mid October so we can offer a longer uninterupted playing season for our membership.  The greens are playing well overall, and we’re happy with the progress that “the 5″ have made since their inauspicious start in April.

Holes 3, 6, 8, & 17 are undergoing drainage installation.  The theory behind this installation is to eliminate the ability for water to accumulate on the putting surface, which caused the damage we suffered last winter/ spring.   This project should be completed in a week or so, and the subsequent topdressing/ watering/ and other aftercare should be minimally invasive and last the rest of the season.

I’ll try to get some pictures up soon.  This is surely the best time to work and play on a golf course in New England!  Take care, happy golfing, and as always ask us any questions you may have.

See you on the course,

The Keepers

Mid July Update

Summer conditions all around- from the heat and the humidity, to the stormy activity at times, and to the patterns of play on the course, it’s definitely summer.  This time of year becomes “maintain mode” for our crew.  Projects and new ideas become lower priorities and the priority becomes simply keeping the course healthy and playable.

In our opinion, the course held up really well for the 50th annual Jimmy Young member guest.  Conditions were dry and hot, but overall those factors seemed to have helped enjoyment and playability of the course.  Here are some shots we took after our crew finished readying the course for tournament play:

15th Fairway

12 Fairway from a worms eye view

7th Green

Please also stop by the official Orchards website to see more pictures.

Hope you’re enjoying the course.

The Keepers

Lightning

All of us are familiar with the sounds, feelings, and sights of an oncoming storm.  While on the golf course, no matter if you’re playing the game or working the course, those warning signs always signify one thing- get to safety and shelter.

Here’s an interesting example of the pure destructive force of Mother Nature.  Last Monday evening some storms rolled through our area, and a White Pine in the vacinity of #7 teebox was struck by lightning.  While we’ve seen our share of storm damage over the years, we’ve never seen a scene quite like this.  Take a look at a few of the pictures we snapped.  Due to the widespread area of debris and damage and the fact that we needed to have a tree company come in to take the damaged trees out, we had to close #6 green and #7 middle/ back tees for most of the day.

Here’s the scene:

Overall, the course is looking good.  The recent mild June weather has been very nice, and we’re feeling pretty confident going into the hotter summer months.  Be sure to ask us any questions you may have.

See you on the course,

The Keepers

June 12 Update

Although not yet here technically, summer is definitely making its presence felt- and the golf course is benefitting from such a scenario.  We may be feeling a bit uncomfortable as of late, but the warmth is exactly what the turf has been in need of.  The finely managed turf has had a chance to “fill in”, and is starting to become much more consistent and monolithic.

#8 on June 12

After slow growing spring conditions caused by unusual and sustained cold nighttime temperatures, the five transitional greens (“the five”, as they’ve come to be known as) are displaying huge leaps in uniformity, coverage, texture, and color.  Currently, the only limitations on these greens are the pin positions, as we need to make sure to thwart high volumes of traffic on the “newly seeded areas” and utilize more of the established areas of the greens.  Because of this, you may notice pin placements in similar areas on consecutive days, as well as in strange and rarely used locations.  This aspect of course setup will evolve over the summer, as we become more confident in the new areas to accommodate higher amounts of traffic, ball marks, and also their ability to offer a more consistent and true playing surface.

#13 on June 12

#17 on June 12

We’re currently in the process of mowing down many of our natural areas across the course, as well as following up the mowing with a weed spray.  These management techniques should offer a more “presentable” aesthetic to the course, as well as aid in speeding up the pace of play should a ball find its way to these areas.

Our crew has been working very diligently in getting the course to its current condition.  Due to the cool/ cold early season conditions, they had to take extra care and effort in every job in order to arrive to the desired outcome.  We appreciate all of their hard work, and hope that you are pleased with the course as it currently looks/ plays.  We’ve still got a long golfing season ahead, and hope to continually improve the land to better suit and respect the game of golf.  Thank you for your patience as we maintain this incredibly beautiful piece of land.

Looking back down #9

Take care, and see you on the course.

The Keepers

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Growing Grass

Each of the 5 greens are showing signs of positive improvement. After a few weeks of warmer and drier weather, we’re now seeing more Spring-like temperatures and precipitation. Although it’s a bit cooler, its nice to let Mother Nature keep things moist, rather than having to constantly worry that the seeded areas are drying out. Regardless, we’re actively monitoring and evaluating the progress, and hope to have a timetable for the opening of these greens soon.

Here’s some recent pictures of the progress (after & before):

#3

#7

#8

We’re working hard to get these greens opened as quickly as possible. We have be mindful of the future in terms of turf health, while at the same time trying to get these back in play as soon as we can. Patience is the most important virtue here, as we all want to have a healthy playing surface on each of these holes for months and years to come.

All questions are welcome.

See you on the course,

The Keepers

Greening Up

As the days go by and the temperatures are consistently in the “warmer” range, we’re seeing conditions improve across the golf course. Slowly and steadily we’re able to clean up more areas and even mow some spots too. Greens, tees, and fairways are improving and starting to grow in- we’re mowing more and more regularly and still hope to get more mowing accomplished as the days go by

As for the damaged greens, we’re happy with the progress they are making. The covers we have been using are doing an adequate job of keeping the soil temperatures a few degrees warmer throughout the nights as well as aiding in keeping frosts from settling on the playing surfaces. All of our initial verticutting, seeding, and fertilization is completed, so we are now just watching and waiting for the seed to germinate. In fact, it seems as if some of the seed has begun to germinate. It will take some time for us to see what our success rate is with the seed, and the conditions and weather will continue to play a large role in determining the fate of the grow-in.

All in all, the five greens of concern are responding well to our aggressive approach. We’ll continue to keep a vigilant eye on them as we move into May, and hope to see further improvements as weather and conditions improve.

Thank you for your patience up to now, we too are excited to see these greens eventually open back up.

Here’s some comparison pictures so that you can see the progress:

The above picture shows the 3rd green soon after the damage occurred.

This picture shows the progress we’ve made over a few weeks on the 3rd green.

Here’s #8 after a few weeks of attention.

And finally, you can begin to see some germination. Slow, but there nonetheless.

As you can begin to see, things are slowly improving. It’s optimistic, but we’ve still got a long way to go. We’ll do our best to keep the blog updated as much as can so you can see and hear about the progress.

Take care,

The Keepers

Course Open

As of Friday morning (April 11) the golf course is open for play!  We’re starting the season out with 5 temporary greens- all of which received extensive winter damage.  The specific greens are #3, #7, #8, #13 and #17.  We’re working very hard at getting those greens back in playing condition as soon as possible, and will update that progress here as much as we can.  These greens are currently covered so that we can keep them warmer, which will expedite the growing process.  We’re in the process of verticutting, seeding, fertilizing, and topdressing them as well. Here are a few pictures of the damage as well as the work we are doing.

 

Here’s #7 soon after we discovered the damage. This green has the most damage of all of them.

 

 

Here’s #13- showing some of the work we’re doing to facilitate growth.  Thirteen has the least amount of damage.

 

We’ll add more pictures as time passes.  Please ask any questions you may have, we’ll gladly answer and explain our methodology and process.

Take care,

The Keepers