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.
Pete Stephens, CGCS
