July 2019 — Course Conditions Update
July 16, 2019 —
It’s been over three months since our last course conditions update.
Back in March, there was snow throughout the property, the grass was brown, and there wasn’t a golfer in view. Things change fast on the Nebraska prairie.
As most of you who have visited could see, all three golf courses are really in fantastic playing condition.
As of June 1, we started mowing greens and fairways at the heights they will play throughout the entire summer. We’re one month in and the turf is holding up phenomenally well. Greens roll daily between 10.5 and 11 on the stimp. And there is a lot of grass.
Over the week of the 4th, we had a bit of a rain event. There was a 4-day stretch where we had 4.5 inches of rain. We were grateful the rains came overnight (didn’t interrupt play), but when this much rain hits the property, we go into “fix it day” mode.
Every morning for 4 days, we were repairing cart paths, bunkers, and pumping water away from the fairways. Rain is really good for us, but when it comes hard, it really can do damage.
Speaking of damage…
No, that is not a closest to the pin competition. That is hail. In the words of our Director of Agronomy Brandon Arens, “it looked like 1,000 people played 20 holes on our property and didn’t miss a green.”
The weekend before the 4th of July, we received the largest hail storm in the history of the property.
Before play, 10 members of our team combed over every green fixing ball marks. The mowers followed. And we were still ready for 8 am play that day. It was an incredibly dedicated effort by our team.
During the storm, holes 5, 6, and 15 on the Pines really took the brunt of the hail.
One final project for the year we’d like to announce. We’re starting with the project of adding tee boxes on the right side of 18 Dunes. We’re currently in the process of mapping out how we’ll source water and starting to get dirt moved.
The new tees on 18 will be the same distance as the current whites and greens, but the hole will play from a completely different angle. Though it will not be in play in 2019, we will be posting updates throughout the summer on the progress of construction.
That is all for now. If you haven’t been out here yet, get your butt out here.
