Winter Rules Now In Effect

The last 6 weeks have been a whirlwind!   Not only figuratively but literally.  The winds in the Rockville area have been steady and strong for most of November.  The leaves are down and almost cleared, but it's been a struggle to keep up on some days.  Hopefully by this weekend we will have them all blown to the appropriate areas and out of play.  With the undulation at Redgate, there are holes that need to be completely dry to be blown off so we don't do damage to the turf.

At the end of October, we took advantage of the change in relationship between Horizon Distributors and Jacobsen Turf.  Horizon was kind enough to unload some of the equipment they had in their inventory at a very affordable price!   We were able to acquire a new GP-400 Greens mower, Ar-522 Rough mower, a Lely, Renovaire turf aerifier, Turfco top dresser, 2 utility carts, a tournament express roller, and most importantly, a new bunker rake.  These additional pieces of equipment will make it much easier to provide the conditions desired by the golfers that call Redgate home.

Horizon unloading new equipment

Unfortunately, it was late in the season when we got the equipment and can't "break it in" until spring.  We had already started prepping the course for winter and those tasks are now complete.  The water coolers were removed from the course after our Turkey Shoot-Out.  We will be inspecting them and making sure they are still suitable for use in 2015.  The same process is done for the ball washers.  In the winter months when work on the course is hard to complete, the staff will clean and repaint the tee markers, ball washers and trash cans.  There are no tees on the course but the yardage plaques are clean and visible to give golfers a reference point when teeing off.  We bring in half of the trash cans and paint them, put them out when dry, and repeat the process for the remaining cans.

We also have gone to the 2 cups in the green system to protect the turf from wear.  When the ground freezes, it becomes near impossible to change to pin location.  The idea is for the golfer to play to the pin location indicated by the flagstick as usual.  The golfer places the pin in the alternate location before exiting the green.  This minimizes the wear and tear for clubs and courses that do not cover the greens in the winter. 

We plan to do some work in the worst bunkers and also have some drainage projects planned.  Hopefully the winter will not be as harsh as last year and we can have the course in great shape come April 1st.