Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"! Today is Tuesday, November 8th and with the exception of the annual Pig Roast Shotgun a week from Saturday we have closed the books on another thrilling golf season at Carolina Golf Club! This past weekend saw two of our own win the Carolina Invitational in exciting fashion, birdieing the 18th to force a playoff and then birdieing the 18th again to win the playoff. Congratulations to Brett Boner and Stephen Woodard on capturing their second Invitational championship (2013 winners). RESULTS
It's the final #major of 2016! Day 1 of the #CarolinaInvitational @CGC1929! Best of luck to all teams! #FourBall pic.twitter.com/aW4oYZEU3p— Matthew Wharton (@CGCGreenkeeper) November 5, 2016
With the Invitational in the rear-view mirror and clocks returned to standard time, the club has returned to off-season hours of operation. And that means our off-season range use policies are in effect. You may recall I touched on this LAST TIME, but I will repeat here for everyone's benefit. Starting today the range will be open on the artificial mats only Tuesday through Thursday. We will use the overseeded portion of the range tee Friday through Sunday (weather permitting). It's also important to note we only overseeded the lower tier this year, thus the larger upper level along with the back range tee will remain closed all off-season to preserve and protect them through the winter, so please manage your divots on the lower level judiciously. CLICK HERE to view a brief video courtesy of the United States Golf Association perfectly describing the linear divot pattern and why it's important compared to other methods.Been following the last group @CGC1929 on this beautiful day! ☀️ #CarolinaInvitational #birdies pic.twitter.com/73Lnl8ptG4— Matthew Wharton (@CGCGreenkeeper) November 6, 2016
The off-season also means the inevitable frost delay is just around the corner. I've talked a lot about the importance of frost delays through the years, both in this forum and others. This year I thought I would let the USGA again do the work with this wonderful public service announcement detailing why it is important to delay play until the putting greens are free of frost. So pour a cup of coffee and check it out! FROST DELAYS
The off-season also means it's time for professional development and continuing education. Conference season kicks off next week with the annual Carolinas GCSA Conference and Show in Myrtle Beach. Assistant Superintendent Ben Albrecht and I will be in attendance to brush up on our agronomy, earn some pesticide license credits, and view new industry innovations. As a member of the Carolinas GCSA Board of Directors I'm proud to say our regional show is widely viewed as the number one regional event in the country and I am excited to see my peers and reflect back on a challenging growing season.
In other conference season news I will be speaking at the Tennessee Turfgrass Association's Conference and Tradeshow in early January and later that month Mrs. Greenkeeper will accompany me overseas as I receive my Master Greenkeeper award at the BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition in Harrogate. And of course the annual Golf Industry Show in early February rounds out what is definitely an exciting slate of conference activities this off-season. TTA BTME GIS
Today also marks something else of utmost importance, Golf Course Services is back on site breaking ground on some course improvements. The first thing they will be accomplishing is widening the teeing surfaces on the Green, White, and Blue tees of hole No. 9. This decision was made to align the forward most tees with the back tee, but more importantly provide more usable teeing space on a par 3 and create the same angle available to those playing from farther back. When work on No. 9 is complete GCS will then relocate to hole No. 7 where we will be adding two new fairway bunkers and two mounds to strengthen the inside of the dogleg.
In other conference season news I will be speaking at the Tennessee Turfgrass Association's Conference and Tradeshow in early January and later that month Mrs. Greenkeeper will accompany me overseas as I receive my Master Greenkeeper award at the BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition in Harrogate. And of course the annual Golf Industry Show in early February rounds out what is definitely an exciting slate of conference activities this off-season. TTA BTME GIS
Today also marks something else of utmost importance, Golf Course Services is back on site breaking ground on some course improvements. The first thing they will be accomplishing is widening the teeing surfaces on the Green, White, and Blue tees of hole No. 9. This decision was made to align the forward most tees with the back tee, but more importantly provide more usable teeing space on a par 3 and create the same angle available to those playing from farther back. When work on No. 9 is complete GCS will then relocate to hole No. 7 where we will be adding two new fairway bunkers and two mounds to strengthen the inside of the dogleg.
You may have noticed the blue markings just in the left rough on hole No. 7 this season as I have worked hard to preserve our architect's field drawings. Hard to believe it's been eight months since Kris Spence was here to put those in, but better late than never I suppose. I will be updating the blog more frequently in the coming weeks to highlight the work completed by GCS, so please check back.Big thank you to @kspdesign for time today! Looked at tees, lawn project, trees, new bunkers & new mounds @CGC1929! pic.twitter.com/jP2gN2IjqV— Matthew Wharton (@CGCGreenkeeper) March 11, 2016
See you on the course,
Matthew Wharton, CGCS, MG
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