Turf Talk by Geoff Sheffield

The course is in great shape and looking good for the winter ahead. We have benefited from favourable temperatures and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that this situation will continue for the next while. 

We are in the process of setting up the course for winter play. This will involve tee markers being moved forward on many of the holes and limiting carts to the path during inclement weather. Also, we have roped off several tee boxes that are not in play for the winter, as well as a number of high traffic areas used to walk on and off tees and greens. Please assist us in allowing the course to recover from a busy summer season by avoiding any roped off areas and using the designated winter tees.

Cultural practices will continue as long as weather and temperatures allow. Once again, we will be aggressively vertically cutting collars to help with water pooling and thinning out. This is a slow process but one that we remain committed to in our ongoing effort to keep our greens in the best possible shape. We have tried removing sod and the underlying soil on the collars of some holes but this is a painstaking process that has not produced favourable results. We may have to lower some collars in this manner (for example, the front edge of the green on Pacific No. 2) but this work will be completed in the early Spring when we can expect the optimum recovery. Also, trees will be removed along Pacific No. 2 to allow more sun and air flow around the green.

Other ongoing work is the addition of curbing in areas around a number of tees and greens that have consistently been driven on or that have been difficult to maintain. This work was completed on Pacific No. 2 in the last year with great success.

Have a great early winter season at Highland Pacific!