#3 Leveled Tee

#6 New Path and Ladies Tee being sodded

#11 New Path

One year ago we were bracing for historic early snowfall that crippled the State of CT for well over a week. Fast forward one year and we have a major storm on our doorsteps that is causing mass hysteria. Whether Sandy unleashes her full wrath or a modified version, one thing is for sure, we will be ready at the course to continue a strong jog to the finish line.

Fall Fertilizer

It has been a while since the last update and overall we are surviving the season and moving into fall with a great foundation for success.  Fall is a time for recovery and seeing how we started the season on March 14th with guns a blazing it feels good to make it to the finish line. We have applied the 1st of 2 organic fertilizer applications to our fairways and now really start focusing on putting the course to sleep.  While we experienced some bumps and bruises along the way, especially on 6 and 7 greens we will move on to bigger and better next year.

#12 Green

Currently we are fighting from forces other than Mother Nature.  On #12 Green you will see numerous dead spots.  These are all from our resident Blue Heron deciding to use the green as a personal toilet.  The spots are dead for sure and we will begin plugging them out very soon.  We will be spiking, verticutting and topdressing this week so the spots will not be as visible and then will attempt to start scaring our flying friend to other pastures.  We will not be core aerifying until the last week in October and then we will Deep tine 2 times during the month of November.  These cultural practices will help develop deep roots and encourage proper drainage during the freeze thaw of winter. Below you will see a picture of our flying friend.

Blue Heron

This morning we were awakened to a fierce thunderstorm that wreaked havoc on the course. We received 2.25" of rain in under 30 minutes. Pretty much every bunker, cart path and landscape bed washed out. We will work hard to put all the pieces back together.  One impressive feat of this storm was the pond on #8.  Yesterday it was almost dry and today it was full 100% and running though the discharge pipes.  Below are a few pictures of the aftermath.

That last sentence is so very important.  We have created a culture where brown is bad, when actually it is good.  In the future you will hear more about conservation and sustainability.  My long term goal is a conversion to 100% bent grass, losing some turf along the way (POA) is actually a good thing.  We will manage to keep everything aesthetically pleasing, but if the opportunity presents itself to build our bent populations I am going to pounce.

Root Depth #6

  The season has been a polar opposite of last year and all signs are to finishing strong.  This week I decided to Aerify 6, 7 and 14 greens.  The reason was the constant stress we introduced to the new creeping bentgrass was starting to become more visual and with the focus on long term health we decided to give them a kick start.  You might ask why in the world would we take a perfectly looking green, beat it up and make it look like it went through a 12 round heavyweight fight?  The answer is relatively simple, to make it better in the long term.  Creeping Bentgrass is about to enter its ideal growing season and performing cultural activities now allows for better performance in the future.  




This season has been ideal for golf but the turf is hanging on by a thread.  Poa is one mistake away from death and the bent was getting leggy and puffy.  Performing cultural activities such as verticutting, aerifying and grooming must be performed to allow us to manage for the future. This most recent practice should be healed in a few days, though mother nature plays the biggest role in speeding up the process.  The days are getting shorter and nights at some point in time should get cooler, all awesome ingredients to experience a little breather and set our sights on the finish line.  This season has been far from a sprint and is beginning to look like an ultra triathlon.  We started on March 14th and all signs indicate to a great fall.  Thanks for your patience as we continue trying to keep Richter as your place to call home.

Well we have made it past the 4th of July and Mother Nature is still playing a pretty good game of poker.  This week we went out with 1/4" venting tines on all the greens to help them survive this little hot spell we are experiencing.  Venting will allow for oxygen to incorporate into the root zone and release any gasses trapped beneath the surface. This process will also allow for some potential root growth and better penetration of water  This process will in no way affect the performance of the greens, other than being a little bumpy for a day or so.  You will also be more likely to see us out cooling or syringing the greens during the day.  While we would love to not bother you during your round it is required, especially now that we have had more 90 degree days than all of last year combined.

On a different topic you might notice that #8 pond is extremely low of water.  We are in dire need of rain and the pond next to 8 green will probably run dry in the next few days. There is pretty much nothing we can do to prevent this from happening.  If it goes 100% dry we might attempt to install a pond liner and minimize this from happening again.  We are monitoring the situation daily and trying to remove the dead fish as soon as they surface.  The death of the fish is a combination of oxygen depletion and heat.  I am sure you would all like to join us in a rain dance, not asking for every day, just one nice storm that drops a few inches.

Other than that we are really doing a good job at holding our own.  The roughs are beginning to really brown out, but other than than the playable areas of the golf course are weathering this little hiccup extremely well.  Thanks for continuing to make Richter your place to enjoy a round of golf.  We truly appreciate the business and will continue improving the course to increase your enjoyment.

Now that Mother Nature has decided that Summer is officially here I thought it would be a good time to talk about some changes you might notice while playing a round at Richter.  Our second heat wave of the season is knocking on our doorsteps and with heat and lack of rain comes turf stress.  Currently we are able to irrigate our Greens, Tees and Fairways.  The roughs on the other hand are at the mercy of Mother Nature.  During the next few weeks you will notice that they will start losing color and thinning out.  Aesthetically they will be a sharp contrast from our fairways, but playability will not be affected, in fact with the roughs a little thinner it is easier to hit a shot due to an errant tee ball.

You might have noticed on a recent round at Richter all the construction going on between 17 Green and 18 Fairway.  This is the installation of the new septic system.  We have had ongoing problems with the old system for several seasons now and after meeting with city officials and engineers it was decided upon that a long term repair was required to minimize long term problems down the road.