Thursday, May 30, 2019

Aeration Week and New Faces!

Hello and welcome to The Greenkeeper!  Today is Thursday, May 30th and I wanted to briefly touch base with you on what is going to take place on the golf course next week.  By now you should have received an official Club email with lots of information which also contained a message from Greens Chairman Ed Oden.  Hopefully his message answered any questions some of you may still have about the recent tree removal, if not I will be happy to speak with you the next time we cross paths.

 Ed also took the time to explain the thought process behind Aeration Week.  In the past we always aerated greens in the spring (March) and fall (September), with a third, small-tine aeration in early June to bridge the gap between the two major operations.  Last year with the U.S. Mid-Am taking place the third week of September we were not able to aerate that time of year resulting in us moving the September aeration into the early June calendar slot.  Subsequently we did not aerate greens again until March of this year (9 months).  

 The feedback last fall was overwhelmingly positive and thus the decision was made to continue with that model going forward.  What is different this year is the fairway aeration that normally takes place after Father's Day is being moved up to coincide with the greens aeration.  The thought behind overlapping the cultural practices is to minimize the course disruption to the membership.  In other words everything heals at the same time versus one area recovers before another is disrupted.  We'll give it a go next week and we welcome your feedback.  

 So exactly what can you expect when the course reopens for play on Saturday, June 8th?  All greens will have been solid tine aerated and topdressed, tees will have been core aerated and topdressed, approaches and fairways will have been vertical mowed, solid tine aerated and topdressed.  We will also be aerating and topdressing the Range Tees, Short Game Area and Target Greens.  With the practice areas scheduled to reopen mid-week we will be targeting those areas Monday and Tuesday along with the putting greens.

 This also means if you like videos of topdressers slinging sand or slow motion videos of aerators in action then you're in luck.  We will also get all our fans reinstalled and ready the golf course for the upcoming summer activity.  I know, it already feels like summer and with two tournaments (Member-Guest and Member-Member) now in the books, the golf course is ready for a trip to the spa. ;)
In other news, Mr. Oden's email also addressed how we've been operating below full staff.  Only three of our normal six seasonal interns have arrived and with some attrition we experienced this winter it's been challenging the past two months locating and recruiting new staff.  I am happy to report we've had some recent success and you have probably noticed a few unfamiliar faces on the team.
L-R Anthony, Trent, Colton and Jacob
Please welcome Anthony Baxter, Trent Martinez, Colton Long, and Jacob Walker to Team Carolina!  Anthony is 22 years old and from Mount Holly.  Colton is 21 years old and from Denver, NC while Jacob is 25 and hails from Lincolnton.  Anthony, Colton and Jacob are full-time members of the team.  Trent is a Civil Engineering major at the University of Colorado in Boulder and here as a summer intern.  These lads are giving it their all and we appreciate their efforts, especially in this heat.  Let them know you appreciate them when you see them.

 And I want to express my heartfelt thanks to member Graham Stevens.  It's small acts such as below and kind words of encouragement that make our efforts each day worthwhile.  Please know we're working hard each and every day to make the course better than the day before.

See you on the course,

 Matthew Wharton, CGCS, MG
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