Cart rules

Please remember hpw important it is to know what the cart rule is for the day to avoid this mistake from happening.

Thanks

Happy Halloween

Frosty morning

ICYCC frosty morning

Native Plant Initiative

Working in collaboration with the Northern Neck Native Plant Society, we've come up with a list of plants that we would like to place on the wetlands on #12 (This is the hole along Bluff Point Road).

We are asking for either monetary donations or plant donations to help with this beautification project.

Here is a list of plants we are hoping to plant:  NATIVE PLANT LIST

Monetary donations can be sent into the Club Office (list Native Plant Donation on the memo line) and if you are interested in donating a specific plant, please contact me at 804.436.4059 or pscott@vabb.com.

Thank you!

USGA Report

Want to hear what the USGA said about your course?  Click to get the full report from Darin Bevard, Director of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the USGA.

2014 USGA Report

Early morning sunrise from #1 green

We are lucky to be on the bay!

Greens aerification

Greens aerification went very well this year and all the greens have healed with in 10 days of aerification. 

Summer news letter

If you look back in history at the member communication letters you will notice that Mother Nature controls the game and our job is to respect it, work with it and work towards the unexpected in an environmentally responsible manor every day.

This year, thus far, the weather has been phenomenal for both the warm and cool season grasses and for the golfers alike.  We have had several successful tournaments and many great comments from players and spectators.  The ICYCC members and staff have a lot to be proud of regarding the course and grounds.

The course and grounds maintenance staff have been working in several areas throughout the property to include replacing broken down boards at the marina dock, installing a new waterline underground going from the main dock to the floating dock for better organization and appearance, irrigation repairs and installation of an isolation valve at the outdoor tennis courts along with making a subsurface repair to a section of court #1.  As a means to saving money, ICYCC has also made some landscape changes by going native in a few areas, transplanting and thinning (splitting) perennials and moving them to other areas of the golf course and property where we would normally have planted annuals for beautification.   The staff has also hard wired the greens fans on #15 and #16 and installed permanent post stands. 

The greens are showing very little summer stress in part due to the weather and the staff’s summer stress programs where a few changes have been made and a few practices and techniques have been updated from previous year’s programs after reviewing them during the winter season.  These changes have been very positive and beneficial to the plants health and vigor. 

The bermudagrass is doing very well.  Aerification was successful and most of the holes are covered over.  This is the time of the year when the bermudagrass is growing faster than we can cut it; however, at this time we have been able to stay ahead of the messy clippings piles in the roughs. 

All-in-all it has been a great year so far and always remember to rake your foot prints in the bunkers (Please place the rakes with the handle out of the bunker the head inside the bunker and parallel to the ball line of flight to the green), fill your divots in the tees and fairways and repair your ball marks in the greens. 

Please let us know your thoughts and feedback, as we are always striving for improvement.

 Best

Pete Stephens, CGCS

New fan posts

We have hard wired and installed new permanent fan  posts to the green on 16

July 22nd

As you can see from the pictures, it is a beautiful day here today.  The course is empty and quiet, this is a perfect time come out and play.
We look forward to seeing you out here!!

Bermudagrass aerification

Here are some pictures of our tees and fairway aerification and clean up process.
The orange flags mark the irrigation heads.

Organic fertilizer application

Today we are applying organic fertilizer and soil conditioners that will stimulate and feed soil microbes and aid in micronutrient uptake. 
We also use soil surfactants to help reduce surface tension which is allows liquids and water to penetrate into the soil.

Smoke Signals

MONTHLY UPDATE

Turf Talk, by Pete Stephens, CGCS, CNMP
The warmer temperatures have arrived and the golf course is in great shape.  Most of the winter damage to the bermudagrass has filled in and the staff has finished planting annual flowers and native plants around the clubhouse.  

For those folks who haven’t played or haven’t noticed, we have new white
tapered prism flag sticks.  The embedded prisms acts as a reflector to the
yardage range finders, which gives a faster and more accurate yardage reading, as opposed to standard flag sticks.  Thank you to the member whose donation made this enhancement possible.

As everyone is interested in the bay act and saving the Chesapeake Bay, I am proud to say that the Golf Maintenance program and staff does its part in making sure that we help preserve the bay.  Here are just a few things we do:

¨ Have an in-house developed certified nutrient management program

¨ Use organic fertilizers as a part of our fertilizer program

¨ Water conservation (a top priority) / Schedule fertilizer applications and chemical applications as best as we can around rain events 

¨ Schedule our irrigation programs to protect our natural resources and
conserve water with a proper irrigation schedule and during low demand times for power  consumption, reducing the chance of evaporation loss

¨ Return clippings to the turf which reduces our fertilizer input.  (Dried grass clippings contain 2-5% nitrogen equaling up to 2# Nitrogen per year as they decompose)

¨ Test our ponds for nutrients

¨ Have constructed wetlands which slows surface water runoff.  As the run off is slowed, groundwater is recharged and potential for downstream flooding is reduced

¨ Installation of native plants for landscaping

¨ Have reduced reliance on pesticides with sound turf management

¨ Maintain and calibrate all spray equipment and fertilizer spreaders

¨ Use less toxic, less mobile and less persistent chemicals compared to the past 40 years

¨ Have a comprehensive integrated pest management program in place

 

As always we look forward to seeing you out at the Club and I encourage you to check my turf blog to find the latest happenings on the course and grounds.

ON THE COURSE DAILY POSTS AND PICTURES TO COME!

Perennials on the course

In an effort to conserve resources the golf maintenance staff is in the process of planting more perennials and native plants throughout the property.
Here are a few pictures of some new plantings.

greens Maintenance

Today we are verticutting and topdressing the greens.  Verticutting will remove excess thatch,  promote healthy turf and reduce  the possibilty of disease.

This is just one of the many maintenance practices we are doing to keep your greens healthy prior to the stressful summer months.

Herbicide burn

This picture shows herbicide tip burn from tire traffic.  As unsightly  as this is, it will not kill the turf.   It is tip burn and the bermudagrass will grow out of it.

Bermuda grass soding

This week we will be soding weak berudagrass areas around the greens  like the ones pictured

#11 understory

Here are some before and after pictures of clean up of the understory  on the left side of hole number 11

Bluebird trail

We have added 5 new blue bird houses to the bluebird trail this year!
Here's some pictures of the new bluebird houses with blue birds taking residence on number 7

Muskrats

We have muskrats eroding our pond banks on holes number 12 and 14.
These are some pictures of Abby sniffing out the muskrats  in helping us locate the dens.

Spring Aerification 2014

Because of frost and frozen greens, Monday aerification got off to a late start and the temperature did not get above 34 degrees while we were aerifying.  The good news is that 12 of the20 greens have been aerified, topdressed and fertilized. 
After another late start, we are working on the greens today( Tuesday).  Because of the rainy weather today, we were unable to finish.  

I would like to thank everyone in advance for your patience as we complete the aerification process. 

St. Patricks day Ice and Snow

Happy St. Patricks day!!
Ice and snow has once again hits us with a winter storm blow out.  Maybe this is o'l man winter saying farewell as spring begins this week!
This weekend looks great!! Come out and play before we aerify the greens and prepare them for the upcoming golf season.
Remember the course will be closed March 24th and 25th for greens aerification.
Stay safe and be careful!

ICYCC Golf Maintenance staff working hard removing the snow and ice. Remember to always use caution during periods of ice and snow when coming to the club. Stay Safe!!