Tree Plantings

- An on going winter project is the installation of new trees on both the Highlands and Riverside Course. The tree planting is a part of a long range design formed by Rees Jones Inc.

- Some trees are placed in specific spots to help outline holes and others are planted to replace where previous trees were removed due to mother nature.

- The process can take roughly half a day by the time the spade truck removes the plug, retrieves the tree, and places it in its new location.

- Some trees are simply moved from one side of the course to another, while others come from areas outside of the club.

Bench Refinishing

In our winter months, we take the time to refinish some on course accessories. Due to being exposed to the elements our benches were worn with moss covering them.

First we sanded the moss and the previous layers of penetrants applied to the wood.

Then we rubbed on a Teak Oil Finish to help seal the wood from moisture and to darken the color.

The end product is a nice rich color with a smooth surface, making the bench look like new.

SNOW DAY!

Needle Tine

- This morning we needle tine the Highlands' greens to help relieve weak areas and allow them to  breath after a busy summer.

- To prevent from causing any disruption to the putting surface, we used 1/8" tines.

- The greens were rolled following the needle tining to give a smooth putting surface.

Bunker Maintenance

 - With the turfgrass growth slowing down, we are able to focus more on bunker maintenance. This time of year the Highlands agronomy staff goes through the bunkers once a week and smooth out the faces.

- Also, we take the time check the depth of the bunker sand and make sure there is at least 2" of sand on the faces and 4" on the floor.

-  With certain pin locations the ball tends to funnel into the same area of certain bunkers. This leads to the sand in these areas to get shifted and can cause damage to the liner if the depth is not checked regularly.

1898 House

-The newest addition to the club is the 1898 house, the new venue allows for members to have a shaded open air dinning experience and have a beautiful view of the two golf courses. The landscape staff were given the task of installing the landscape and sod around 1898.  Before any sod is laid a pre plant fertilizer with a balanced analysis of Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorus is applied to help the sod root down and get a kick start  to growing.

- Finished Product

Overseeding Range Tees

We recently overseeded our range tees with annual ryegrass for the winter. This gives the members the option to practice and hit shots from actual turf, giving an authentic reaction with their swing, as opposed to hitting off of a mat. We verticut the range tees with a 5 reel unit at -0.250" below the bed-knife. This helped to open the existing turf canopy, so the ryegrass seed could germinate and reach the soil surface. The tee was then mowed clean. The seed was then spread over the top of the existing turf with a Gandy Drop Spreader, set to the widest setting.

The seed was spread at a rate of 12 lbs. of ryegrass seed/1000 sq. ft. We used a heavy rate to ensure a healthy, thick stand that would withstand the traffic and hitting patterns on the tees.

The seed was watered for 5 min every hour to promote germination. It will take approximately a month for the seed stand to grow in fully and be useable for golfers.