Getting "Schooled", Again!...Follow KGCtweets

Holy, I am still learning about Twitter.  You may be sick of how daft I am when it comes to this topic but this should be the last change.  A third party pointed out something with respect to Twitter and audiences.  I dare say none of you care about the minutia of growing grass and some other grass geeks most likely aren't interested in frost delays, aerating and top dressing days, or whatever I post as it relates to KGC.  Using the hashtag #KGC to identify posts particular to the golf course works but the tweets seems out of place when I post using my original username so I made a new one: KGCtweets.  Again, if you use Twitter you know what to do.  If you text all you need to do is send a text to 21212 and type Follow KGCtweets in the message body of your text to receive real time updates about the golf course.

Now, what's happening out on the course?  There are18 holes opening on Good Friday.  As usual, we won't be ready but any play in April is all about working out the kinks and renewing friendships.  All greens wintered well with no real problems and all will be in play.  The past couple years we've attempted a pre-opening aeration and top dressing and 2014 will be no different.  The biggest hurdle is completing the task while trying to clean up from winter.  Truthfully, we won't be done and you'll have to deal with the process until we are done.  Sorry.  As predicted, start up of the irrigation is a struggle.  We only just started the back on Tuesday this week and still the hydraulic lines on the driving range, hole 17, hole 15, hole 13, and hole 14 are frozen.  Without the control from the hydraulic lines to keep the sprinklers down we cannot pressure the pipes on these holes so, obviously, we are unable to water.  It may seem early, but with no real moisture this spring the greens have dried out and appear stressed.  It should be easy to get them back but we are at the mercy of our irrigation system.  Tank watering could be an option but without available equipment or staff it won't be happening this year.

This past Monday had the Annual Work Bee and as usual people really chipped in.  I would guess because of the day we picked, numbers were down a bit but those who showed up definitely did their part and I am grateful.  Pictures will be posted on the KGC website under the "Photo Gallery" tab so go check it out.

The only picture I want to show is this one:

Elk Tracks

For some strange reason the elk are still around.  They are a problem in the fall and are usually long gone by now but  #2 took a shellacking the other day.  The real interesting part is how the damage to the surface was the worst at the back left of the green and far less severe on the front right of the green.  Why?  Better root mass at the front is my theory.  That green doesn't have great roots to begin with but the front right of the green sees more sun and has somewhat more substance versus the left side which is weak looking and always shows disease stress first. That big fir and ponderosa are going, it just a case of when.

Annual Spring Photo and Twitter Re-visited (Revised)

(I used the wrong syntax for the directions describing how to use text messaging to access Twitter in the original post.  I've updated it now.)

1 Tee, April 2nd

One of my traditions is posting how things appear around April 1st so people can see how much snow is remaining (Go HERE for last years photo).  It's been a somewhat slow melt and as a result we are a bit behind last year.  Opening is still tentatively planned for April 18th and that may be possible but don't be surprised if winter pays us one more visit.

As usual, I suspect we will start with some version of a "9 hole" layout and open other holes as they are ready.  Right now the good news is we have very limited damage and all but one green (#14) are completely free of snow and some are even greening up.

Truthfully, number 2 green is a bit funky and my initial guess is its health relates more to how it entered the winter.  I became concerned last year with the unusual amount of growth (as measured by collecting clippings) experienced on all the greens last season.  My fear was the energy being directed to all the vertical growth (especially in the fall) was been fueled at the expense of CHO storage.  Compounded by the fact that #2 green (in the fall) becomes mostly shaded starting at noon I was concerned about the development of winter hardiness for this green.  I have it tarped and did some tree pruning (more will occur later in the season, I promise) to give it a bit of help.  As it stands now, if the green doesn't improve it will be a temporary until soil temperatures are adequate and we see some good growth.  It's not real bad but it's got a long season ahead of it so I may baby it for April.

Another developing tradition is the Member Spring Clean.  An e-mail will be sent out letting everyone know when to come and volunteer.  It really does help with preparing the course for opening and limiting early season expenses.  This year there is a few extra branches down due to all the snow so I am hopeful for a big turn out.

Back in December last year (go HERE) I decided to try and see how Twitter could work for me, you, and KGC.  What did I discover?  If you're not disciplined, it is a huge time waster!  However, I have found it useful in certain aspects so I've decided to try and emulate what other golf course geeks are doing.  The hardest thing is wading through all the posts.  Truthfully, that's only a problem if you decide to create or already have a Twitter account.  If you choose to just follow my feed with your cell phone via text message you will only receive "tweets" from me and no other persons feed.  How do you use your cell phone to follow my feed?  Assuming you text, all you need to do is type the number 21212 in the "To:" window and type "follow KGCtweets" in the message body of the text and then press "Send" and you're good.  When I send a tweet that relates to the club I will preface any message with #KGC.  Any time you receive a tweet from me that doesn't start with #KGC you can pretty much ignore it since the lack of the hash tag and the KGC mean I am posting on matters that don't specifically relate to the course.  Like I said before, I plan to use Twitter to inform in "real-time" the happenings at KGC such as when we will definitely open, frost delays, or days when we aren't allowing carts, or stuff like that.....I think.  I promise not post my opinion on topics outside of KGC, no pictures of empty beer bottles, and no photos of other local superintendents in compromising positions.....well I am not so sure about that last one, some of those guys need to be knock of their perch!  Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

Nothing Makes Me Happier Than a Big Dump...

Take that to mean whatever you want but specifically today it's a reference to the snow!  Overnight and for most of the day we've had 30 cm of good, dense snow.  As I've said before, the stretch of cold weather up until now is good news with respect to tarps (not a lot of soil activity with things frozen this deep so not much opportunity for anoxia via CO2 build up) but not the best for greens without tarps since any liquid moisture on the green the surface will become ice.  However, the amount of snow we now have is good and offers some protection if the "Pineapple Express" comes through in January.

With things being obviously slower in the winter I sometimes go to a book where I enter ideas or items I want to investigate further.  Some entries are impractical and mean nothing now but others keep surfacing.  I've never really understood the idea of "Twitter" but I spent sometime looking into how other golf superintendents use it as a tool and I think I get it....sort of.  I created an account and began following a few guys I know as well as some professional associations and the information available definitely runs a broad spectrum.  One good use as it may relate to players at KGC during the regular season would be supplying relevant information about the course in a quick fashion.  Think frost delay, for example.  Instead of having to call the golf shop to see if there is frost you would, if you're following my Twitter feed, receive a text providing information about the delay as soon as I know there is going to be one.

At this point I am going to hover around the perimeter of the "twittersphere" and observe and by the time spring rolls around I hope to have a idea of how to effectively use it.  If you're already subscribed Twitter you can click the "Follow" button just below the archived posts on this page.  If you're not on Twitter and have no interest in Twitter but still want to "Follow" my feed (and assuming you have a cell phone) go HERE and follow the instructions ( basically you type 21212 in the "To:" window and then type "follow KGCtweets" for the message part and press send.  You would then receive a text of anything I post on Twitter).

For me, most of social media tends to come across as a bit narcissistic.  But assuming I keep the tweets relevant to the goings on at KGC, I hope Twitter will really just be another way to keep members/players informed.