April 2020 — Course Conditions Update

April 8, 2020 —

We’re supposed to be tuning our televisions to the bright green fairways of Augusta National. While this is a bummer, we can at least rejoice that winter’s hold has loosened its grip here in the Midwest.

Sometimes it’s the small things.

In fact, we’ve been experiencing spring — verging on summer — temperatures for the better part of a month here in Valentine, Nebraska. Temps ranged from 20 to 80 over the past 30 days, but despite the weather’s fluctuation, our team is thrilled with the turf conditions coming into the season.

The warm waves allowed us to charge our irrigation systems early (March 4-5), meaning we were able to get water on the course before the warm temps hit really set in. This helped green the property up really nicely.

See these photos of 11 Pines from earlier last week.

The green conditions are strong, as well. The almost 350 bales of mulch we covered them with over the winter served us well. By April 1, we had the greens sprayed off and mowed for the first time.

The aerification process will run through the duration of April.

Another one of our winter initiatives is an annual goal. The goal is simple: don’t let the bunkers blow away.

The 1,200 bales of hay we spread throughout the property did their job again this winter. That’s a big win for our team.

In terms of other updates, we’ve left the design of the courses to themselves. One of our main objectives was thinning out tree lines on the Pines Course, focusing mostly on 16, 17, & 18, and Pines 5. This helps increase some of the playability in popular places.

To sum it up, we’re blessed with how the courses fared over the winter.  They look great. We’re hoping and praying that your home, along with this nation, stays healthy so we can enjoy it sooner, rather than later.

See you in the spring.