One of the main focuses in the winter months is tree removal. Our first priority is always to remove any dead or drying trees that will be dangerous to anyone on the course. The last few winters have been dedicated to this type of removal after the Emerald Ash Borer killed most of our ash trees. This winter we still have a decent amount of dead trees to take out, but we are also starting to eliminate more trees that are causing shade issues and limited air flow on the course. By increasing sun light, especially morning sun, and air flow, we will improve growing conditions for the grass in that area. Spots where we have issues like this result in weaker turf and increased disease pressure. Also, when we have shade issues it increases the time that grass is covered by snow or ice in the spring, resulting in delayed emergence from winter. All of these factors are taken into consideration before removing trees. Now, if it a tree is important to how a hole plays, we are going to leave it alone. However, if there are out of the way trees that can be eliminated without negatively affecting play, we will do that in order to improve the growing climate.
This is an example of what we want to reduce. We don't need to eliminate all the trees, just enough to increase sunlight. In the winter the sun is so low in the sky that this green is rarely in full light.
This picture is taken from the center of #2 green. As you can see the sun light isn't getting through.
Below are a few links for more information about winter sun and tree management from the USGA green section.
Winter Sun
Tree Management
This is likely my last post of 2016. I think it was a pretty good year for us. We had our challenges but overall I think the course improved and will continue to next year. I hope everyone has a happy, safe holiday season and a happy New Year. Oh yea and Go Bucks!
Ian
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