End of Summer Update

 The Fall Equinox is only two weeks away, marking the astrological end of summer and where nighttime and daytime hours are equal in length. Granite Bay Golf Course Maintenance will look at this date a little less passionately this year as our new Santa Anna Hybrid Bermuda fairways will miss the warmth of summer, but our primarily cool season blend of turf in the rough and around the bunkers will indeed welcome the change.

Currently we are in the tail end of an historic heatwave and we are not experiencing  the devastating turf losses this property has endured over past summers. It is a nice position to be in.   The rough has taken a hit and some spots in step collars will need some re-sodding when things cool off, but all in all we have a  golf course that is alive and very playable. 

Rough Recovery

Fall is a great time to year to recover and grow cool season turf and to germinate seed. Therefore beginning next week on Tuesday 9/13/22, we will start to aggressively aerify the rough on the golf course in preparation for aggressive interseeding with Tall Fescue. 

Last fall we were opening the golf course after our 2021 renovation and were embroiled in a myriad of tasks left behind in the wake of the renovation and recovering the rough was just one of those tasks. This year, for maybe the first time ever, we will be able to focus much of our fall renovation efforts on the rough aeration and seeding since our cultivation on the new fairways is done until next year. We plan to get aggressive with the rough aeration to facilitate some much needed recovery.

Rough Aeration Schedule For Next Week

Tuesday 9/13/22 - Holes 1-2     Back 9 Start

Wednesday 9/14/22 - Holes 4-5     Back 9 Start

Thursday 9/15/22 - Holes 8-9     Back 9 Start

Friday 9/16/22 - Holes 6-7     Back 9 Start

During the rough aeration process we will close the holes to cart traffic we are working on. We will communicate our progress through the Golf Shop daily e-mail and post adequate signs along cart path's regarding the cart restrictions. I will post another Course Update next week with an updated rough aeration schedule for the back nine based on progress at that time, as well as our plan for seeding the newly aerated rough,  which will require some nuanced cart restrictions to keep seed in the rough and out of the new Santa Anna Fairways.

Thank you in advance for understanding the necessity of this work and co-existing  around these messy and loud non-routine maintenance practices. The only other option would be to close the golf course, and we dont want to do that. 

Aerifying rough. We are starting this process next week and plan to get aggressive. 

Wildlife

Michele McCormick is a Granite Bay Member and professional photographer who really enjoys capturing wildlife images of GBGC, particularly birds. On a recent Monday walk about, Michele had 21 bird species sightings and captured these spectacular shots, one of a White Tailed Kite and another of a Red Shouldered Hawk. Michele had never seen a White Tailed Kite here which makes that image something special.

Not to be out done, Felipe Reyes, a long time GCM staff member captured this image on his cell camera of a White Winged Dove that from I can find out,  is rare in our area. The cactus are out on the Barton Road lot, planted by GCM staff years ago and used in certain Hispanic cuisine. The cactus is used in the cuisine, not the dove.

Fall is a great time of year, and substantially less stressful this year as we have much less recovery then what we have had to endure in seasons past. It will still be busy, as cooler weather and ending vacations will bring members back to the club. We in golf course maintenance are looking forward to getting the rough back to good and starting further irrigation improvements at the end of the year to help us hold onto more of this cool season rough before next summer. Much still to do, but .........

The Best Is Yet To Come