Jim Nantz, The Driving Range Tee and 7:46 PM!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"!  Today is Thursday, April 5, 2012 and a tradition unlike any other is underway in nearby Augusta, Georgia!  Thanks to my grandfather and his love for the game of golf, this is my most favorite tournament in the world.  Funny thing is I spend most of this day each year humming the old holiday classic, "It's the most wonderful time of the year!"  (I guess it's only fitting to think of Christmas so close to Easter!)  Anyway, The Masters is like the unofficial start of the golf season as everyone gets the fever to play and activity at the club increases daily.  Although this past winter wasn't that cold it is still nice to see green grass and more friendly faces each day at Carolina!

I figured today was a great day to open the driving range tee for use!  As you head out to the club you will see we are once again on the turf at Carolina.  You may also notice we recently installed new flags on the target greens (same color scheme but these flags are slightly oversized for greater visibility).  Also, we added reflectors to the top of each flagstick (same as on the course) for those of you wishing to measure your own distances with laser devices.  Tomorrow we will adorn the course with new cups, flags and flagsticks as we do every spring.

Last time, I addressed the issue we were experiencing with the collars and promised an update along with some photos.  We began removing the affected areas this past Monday (while simultaneously prepping the event lawn area for new sod to tie back into the new patio and sidewalk).  Sod arrived first thing Tuesday morning and with two crews we were able to repair the event lawn and resod the collars of the first seven holes (we stopped here because we were not able to have any more sod delivered until Wednesday morning).  The sod truck scheduled for 7:00 am Wednesday morning arrived shortly after 9:30 am (don't you love it when a plan comes together) and we worked diligently to complete the job before the day was done!  At 7:46 pm I took this picture of some of my crew members topdressing the sod we had just installed around our last putting surface.

End of a long day!

With the sun beginning to set the guys were happy to be completed with the task!  Evan Long (former Carolina Invitational champion) and his young son Ben were enjoying a twilight nine together (the Dogfight had already come and gone by this time).  When we started we were targeting affected areas such as this:

Before...

During...

After...

Once complete all the new turf was rolled, topdressed and hand watered.  Next week we will feed the turf with liquid fertilizer and continue to roll and topdress to ensure a smooth surface.  We will also mow the new collars as soon as the turf tacks down new roots.  In the interim, please treat the areas as ground under repair and take free relief.  Where applicable, please step across the sod and when necessary please be mindful and tread lightly.  Thank you in advance for your cooperation! 

Come Solomon!  The Masters first round will be replayed this evening on ESPN!

See you on the course,

Matthew Wharton

Golf Course Superintendent