Spring is in the Air

I spent most of last week in Orlando, Florida attending the 2011 Golf Industry Show.  The Golf Industry Show is the annual conference and trade show for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of American and other industry entities.  I spent time attending educational seminars, visiting with vendors on the trade show floor, reconnecting with old friends and meeting some new ones, and attended some very nice receptions sponsored by Audubon International, the Environmental Institute for Golf, and Toro.  Although it was nice to get away for a few days it was great to return to Harrison Bay and see golfers on the golf course.  Hopefully winter is behind us and we can look forward to a dry spring. 

The bluebirds have begun staking claim to their nesting boxes.  Mrs. Diane Johnstone will be leading our volunteers again this year to monitor our blue bird houses.  Thanks so much to her and the other volunteers for their time, dedication, and passion for our environment.



We have also started mowing our greens with our new walk mowers.  I am excited about how the greens look and the improved quality of putting surface we will be able to provide for our guests.  It will be a learning experience for everyone to become comfortable with walk mowing for my staff and for the differing heights of cut for myself.  The striping effect on the greens is magnified by the new brushes that we purchased from Mr. Rodney Lingle of Memphis Country Club.  Rodney has been working for the past several years to produce a new and better brush unit for his walking greens mowers and has recently started selling them to fellow superintendents.  The brushes are placed just in front of the mowers cutting reel and are used to lift the leaf blade up just before the reel reaches it to cut it off.  This process gives the green a much better cut and appearance.  I am very excited about what the future holds for our greens and our golf course.

Putting green prior to being mowed.

Putting green after being mowed

I am amazed at the striping effect that we are getting this time of year considering the greens are dormant and painted.