Greetings valued Golf Members and guests!
With our continued quest to provide you great service and communication, we would like to inform you about some upcoming maintenance that Scott and his team will be performing on the golf course. On Monday, August 15 (Back 9) and Tuesday, August 16 (Front 9) we will be applying a light layer of top dressing (fine sand) to all 18 green surfaces, including the putting green. All play will start on #10 on Monday, August 16! While this will be a minor interruption to your play for just a couple of days, here is why we do it!
Why do we apply top dressing sand? There are several benefits to top dressing, including (from the USGA):
- Improved Smoothness – Voids exist within the turf canopy between turfgrass leaves and stems, causing inconsistent ball roll. Sand topdressing helps fill these voids to provide smoother and truer putts.
- Thatch Dilution – The layer of organic debris, stems, crowns and roots in the upper rootzone – i.e., thatch – can become concentrated and encourage mower scalping and localized dry spots. Thatch should be diluted with sand through practices like verticutting and sand topdressing to maintain good turf quality.
- Improved Turf Recovery – Occasional turf thinning can occur on putting greens. Sand helps cushion leaf tips and crowns and reduces algae.
- Increased Firmness – Turf produces organic matter in the upper rootzone that creates soft, spongy playing conditions. Regular sand topdressing, along with core aeration, improves surface firmness and resiliency.
- Improved Rootzone – Sand drains well and resists soil compaction. The accumulation of sand from multiple topdressings over many years can improve soil physical properties.
We appreciate your understanding as we continue to strive to provide you great and consistent playing conditions through the season!
Thank you!
The Golf Staff
