We’re busy, busy as we finish up the year and gear up for 2019.
As many of you know, Brian Scheuble, long time Equipment Manager at IVGC, left his position in September to pursue a new challenge in northern Minnesota. After a couple months of searching, we have a new Equipment manager, Ryan Parris. He has a varied mechanical background, and for the last 10 years has been a Golf Course Mechanic. He started at the beginning of December and has jumped right into the position, catching us up from the prior 2 months without a Mechanic. We are very excited to have Ryan on board at IVGC, and also want to wish Brian the best in his new pursuits.
We ended the season re-grassing collars on many of the greens. 15 were done in all, leaving 3 on the course and the 3 practice greens for spring re-grassing. Just leveling the collars will greatly improve playability, but the real payoff is allowing water to exit the green surface and not build up on the perimeters, which can cause numerous turf issues. This will be most noticeable with snowmelt runoff and limited ice buildup, which are critical issues for golf course greens. The pure stand of bentgrass will also give us a better advantage during the summer-stress months as it is hardier than the mixed bag of turf we had previously. All in al, it’s a great improvement for the golf course.
Trees, trees, and more trees. This past fall, with the help of Kevin Norby (Golf Course Architect), the Greens Committee and Board of Directors identified 25 trees for removal on the property. Most of the trees are located on holes 15/17 & 6/17, but there are also seven trees between holes 2 & 9 which have all ready been removed. This effort creates better-quality turf conditions by allowing more light and air into heavily shaded areas. We are also working with a gentleman who is purchasing the logs from us and producing lumber from them. And, keeping with the tree theme, we have been out trimming and removing hangers, which is a typical fall/winter routine for us.
All in all, it’s been a very busy few months to finish out the 2018 season. And with more tree work to finish, all the course supplies to go through, and most of the equipment fleet to service, it will continue to be busy, busy, busy!
