Chemical Treatment and Removal of Poa annua on Greens

We have been seeing a good amount of Poa annua sprouting on our greens this spring. The cooler temperatures have been the primary cause of the surge in Poa annua growth. The plant does better in cooler temperatures than our A-1/A-4 creeping bentgrass greens which have been engineered to thrive in the warmer summer months. The Poa annua out competes the bentgrass for a few weeks and is able to take hold in areas that it would not be able to otherwise.

 Poa annua can be very aggressive in the way that it colonizes new areas so every spring we take steps to combat it's advance. We treat the spots that show up on the greens early in the spring with a chemical that will kill the Poa annua but leave the bentgrass untouched. As the spring goes on we begin picking the Poa annua from the greens and filling it in with a mix of sand and seed. 

New bentgrass seedlings growing from the spot that the Poa annua was picked from. Both images were taken this morning on #13 green.

Late Spring Frosts

The start of the 2016 season has been a cold one. Ipswich has been well below average temperature for the better part of a month. We have even experienced a few frosts. 

These frosts can delay morning golf and be an annoyance to everyone. However, at the same time they can remarkably beautiful. 

This was taken next to the blue tee on hole #3 during a heavy frost.

Tee Markers: Construction and Repainting

We have begun repairing last season's tee markers. Every winter we gather last season's tee markers and repaint them. We first clean off and dirt and grime that had accumulated on the tee markers. We then lightly sand them and give them a nice, fresh coat of paint.  

Some of the tee markers suffer damage over the years and need to be replaced. We take long oak posts and cut them down into blocks. The blocks are then sanded, primed and then painted.
Keep an eye out for brand new tee markers this spring.

We give last season's tee markers a quick sand before we paint them.

Audubon Certification!

The Ipswich Country Club has been working closely with Audubon International in order to conserve the environment with which we share our golf course. Audubon International has a set of guidelines and goals that they use to instruct individuals and organizations on ways to conserve the environment and educate the public on their efforts.
We have just completed all of these goals and have obtained our certification. We are extremely proud to be one of twelve golf course in Massachusetts that have earned this certification. We intend to continue working with Audubon International in order to maintain our certification and to make sure that we have as little impact on the surrounding environment as possible.

For more information on Audubon International and to learn how you can help the environment near you please visit: www.auduboninternational.org/ 

Wind Damage: Pine Tree on #12 Fairway

The large pine tree on the right side of #12 fairway has been damaged by the high speed winds of a recent storm. The tree snapped about a third of the way up the trunk. The rest of the tree will have to be taken down as a result. 

When the piece of the tree fell, it struck and damaged the tree next to it. The tree that was struck lost a substantial amount of it's canopy. We plan on climbing and cleaning up the tree in order to give it the best chance of surviving while at the same time keeping the golf course as safe as we can. 

You can see from this photo the extent of the damage to the tree on the right. Nearly the entire left half of the canopy was knocked off from the falling tree.

Winter Maintenance

We have begun annual maintenance on all of our equipment. Each winter we bring each of our various machines into the shop and go over them with a fine toothed comb. Maintaining our fleet combined with the winter tree work keeps us us very busy until the snow melts in the spring. 

Think warm thoughts!

Tree Work: Fall 2015

We have begun tree work on hole #9. We has been clearing out large pines and oaks to the left the tees. We are felling these trees in order to allow more sunlight and airflow to reach the tee. This will ensure that the tee will be more dense and healthy for the 2016 season.