TurfNet article on painting greens

I had the pleasure just the other day to speak with Mr. John Reitman of TurfNet.com about the process and advantages of painting greens instead of overseeding them.  Below is a link to his article on TurfNet.com.

Paint Proponents Laud Advantages of Going Green

Using turfgrass colorants instead of overseeding greens is a great way to eliminate the costs associated with seed, fertilizer, fungicides, and daily mowing.  It is what I call "instant green".

I am really lucky to have some great employees on my staff who take a high level of pride in the golf course.  I have to give credit to Willie Hamby who is in charge of painting the greens and does a great job at it.

What can you see on a morning ride

Fall weather is definitely moving into Harrison Bay.  Crisp mornings are now a thing of the norm and the wildlife are more active than they have been in the past few months.  It is real treat to see all the activity on the course early in the morning so I thought I would share what I see on a normal morning ride around the golf course.   Our bald eagles are back and making additions to the nest.  Hopefully we will have some more eaglets arriving this spring as well.

The deer population is growing every year and they are so great to see running around the golf course.  One guest ask an employee the other day if they were trained pets since they did not seem to be nervous when the golfers came near.

Love seems to be in the air all around the golf course as these two bucks were not at all concerned about me but rather fixated on a herd of does.  I guess our population will continue to grow.

I topped the hill on #16 to be greeted by a flock of 27 wild turkey. Our feeding program has really paid off as the turkey have been hanging around the golf course all year.  Give it a few more weeks and the toms will start strutting their stuff trying to impress the ladies.

Although we were extremely busy this summer the golf course has held up very well and we are ready for our normal heavy traffic during the fall golfing season.  Keeping the golf course clear of leaves is an ongoing battle that we will fight for the next couple of months.  I apologize in advance if the noise from the blowers disturb any of your rounds.  Only a few projects planned for this winter including the bunkers on the back nine, some irrigation renovations, and lowering of runoff areas around the greens which restrict the surface water from exiting the greens. 

Bunker Renovation has begun

Bunker renovation on the back nine bunkers began this morning.  We are scheduled to renovate all the greenside bunkers along with several fairway bunkers this year using the same Sand Mat bunker liner product we used last year on the front.  Hopefully all will go as planned and we will complete this project by early February.  Please play any bunker that does not have new PACKED sand in it as Ground Under Repair.

Nationwide Tour Qualifier

Yesterday we hosted an open qualifier round for the 2011 Nationwide Tour Children's Hospital Classic which is being held at Black Creek Golf Club this week.  The weather was perfect with a slight autumn chill in the air in the morning and then turning into a beautiful day in the afternoon.   My staff did a great job in getting the golf course prepared for the outing and we received numerous compliments from the players saying that it was one of the nicer courses they had played on all year.  Two years ago Webb Simpson qualified for the tournament at Harrison Bay so it will be interesting to see where some of these guys wind up in a few years.

Putting green being mowed early in the morning.  Light towers were put up so the players with early tee times could see to warm up on the putting green and driving range.

Misty morning on the Tennessee River looking over #4 green.

Tennessee Golf Association Tournament Director David Olinger enjoying the day and some down time.