4/21/2023
Spring Opening Criteria
Although we have completed our first mowing on all fine turf areas, some areas of the golf course, specifically the rough, has not broken dormancy and begun to recover from the snow mold. The fine turf areas cannot withstand traffic yet because of the low soil temperatures. Due to the small greens, tees and concentrated fairway landing areas at Mad River, we are still looking at divots and ball marks from last season. We plan to open the golf course when the turf can recover from traffic including carts, divots, walking, maintenance, etc. Based on the current forecast, we anticipate opening the golf course on Tuesday May 2, 2023.
The following photo shows the number of divots that remain unrecovered from last season - April 21, 2023
Last week we continued to prepare your golf for opening, this included:
- First mowing on all fine turf surfaces
- Charging the irrigation system
- Preparing the expansion of seven white tee and surrounds for sodding
- Preparing six white tee for sodding and expansion
- Continuing with golf course clean-up
- Clean up from winter tree management program
- Filling fairway divots from last season which have yet to recover
- Preparing the left hand side of 15 teeing grounds for hydroseeding
This week we will continue with the following:
- Continue with spring golf course clean-up
- Begin to prepare the bunkers for opening
- Hydroseed select fescue areas on the property
- Onboarding and training of new staff
- Repairs to the irrigation system from start up and auditing the entire system
- Greens aerification
- Fairway and tee topdressing if conditions permit
- Continue to fill remaining fairway and tee divots from last season
- Mowing all fine turf areas as needed and as growth dictates
- Our contractor will begin working on the rehabilitation of the old eighteen tees
Green Speeds & Opening
When the golf course opens early next week it is important to note a few key things;
- The greens will have just been aerified, they will be softer, and it is important to repair ball marks. An unrepaired ball mark can lead to poa invasion and can take over three weeks to recover, especially in the spring of the year.
- We are fortunate to have a large bentgrass population on the greens at Mad River, but it is important that we don’t rush too early in the golf season for green speeds as we want to ensure that we can have a healthy turfgrass for the duration of the golf season. In the springtime, roots are growing and we want to promote plant health as much as possible through cultural practices. This includes aeration, topdressing and brushing. The golf season is a marathon, not a sprint, as in years past we plan to gradually increase speeds into the early part of June.
We look forward to seeing everyone on the golf course in the coming weeks and preparing your golf course daily.
Respectfully Submitted,
Sean May, AAGS
Assistant Superintendent
Mad River Golf Club