Let’s Play 18 Holes Today?…On January 6th…In Chicago!

The first tee on January 6, 2012

No, I haven’t lost my mind…and you’re not seeing things.  Hilldale is open for play and  the temperature is above 50 degrees.  I can’t remember many winters like this one.  Hope you’re all enjoying the golf course during this wonderful winter weather.  And it looks like the nice weather will continue for another 4 or 5 days…albeit not this warm, temps are supposed to be in the low 40′s through next Tuesday(1/10/12).

Fernando cleaning up after the Canadian Geese...10th hole at Hilldale GC

Indian Summer–Light

Thank goodness the weather sounds good for Friday thru Monday (11/4-11/7)…because today (Thursday) can pretty much be labeled miserable…drizzle with 30-40 mph winds.  Well, let’s hope the forecast holds true and good golfing weather arrives just in time for the weekend.

Just a few notes about the goings-on at Hilldale:

*The second half of greens 1-5-6 have been aerified and therefore the cup location/flagstick will now be located on the half that was aerified 2 weeks ago.  If all goes as planned, we will aerify the second half of greens 4 and 8 on Monday 11/7.  That will most likely conclude greens aerification for 2011.  Obviously in a perfect world all greens would be aerified and fully healed at this late date…that’s not the case at Hilldale because we decided several weeks ago to delay aerification this year for business purposes.  In order to minimize the threat of winter damage (dessication), putting surfaces will be covered with a heavy layer of sand prior to the ground freezing…especially those greens where aerification holes haven’t fully healed over.  

*Leaf cleanup work is going well and moving toward the final stages this season.  It’s looking like the next few days will be extremely busy as the oak, maple, and locust trees are currently dropping their leaves…about 7-10 days after ash and cottonwood trees went bare.

*Anyone who’s played at Hilldale recently can speak (curse) to the many Canadian Geese taking refuge on the golf course.  The grounds crew has a daily routine to deal with the droppings (presents) left behind by our fine friends…we use heavy drag ropes followed by large and small blowers to clean up the mess..hopefully to your satisfaction.

*The Hilldale Men’s Club had their dinner banquet last Friday evening and enjoyed a good turnout…thanks to all for the very nice comments and it was fun working with you for another year.

*Bill Salzman (General Manager) retired effective Oct. 31, 2011.  Bill, thanks for giving me the opportunity almost nine years ago (wow, time really does fly!) to manage this fine golf course…it was great working for/with you..here’s to a long, happy retirement.

Thanks for coming out and enjoy the light version of Indian Summer this weekend.

Fabulous Weather..frost delays..aerification update

The 2nd Hole on Sunday morning at Hilldale GC

We’re in the midst of a wonderful five day weather pattern.  It started on Friday-10/21 (albeit a rather windy Friday), and looks like it will continue right through Tuesday-10/25.  Actually, the next ten days look good from a moisture perspective…weather.com and accuweather are only predicting maybe .2″ of rain (30% chance of rain-Tues. evening, and 20% chance-Wed. a.m.) total through next Sunday-10/30. You know, since we’re on the topic of weather I’d like to pass on a little information regarding frost delays…especially considering we had approximately one hour delays on both Friday and Saturday morning. 

Frost blankets the 10th hole on Saturday morning (10/22/11)

Bear with me please as I share some points from Charles White (Regional Director-USGA Green Section)…”Everyone knows frost must clear off the grass before play can begin, but few people know why.  Frost on the grass blades tells us that the water inside the leaves is frozen.  Remember that water is the primary component of plant tissue.  When the water is frozen, traffic on the turf causes the ice crystals in the cells to puncture through the cell walls, killing the plant tissue.  Little damage is done to the crowns (growing points) or roots if only a light frost appears; however, when the frost is heavy, cell disruption may occur at the crown, thus killing the entire plant. Frost damage symptoms include white to light tan leaves where traffic has passed”. Couldn’t have said it better myself (insert a sarcastic cough).  No need to harp any further about frost delays..we appreciate your cooperation on those mornings when play is not allowed until frost has cleared…and obviously that includes the practice tee and practice green areas. 

Aerification to the back half of #1 Green at Hilldale

Greens aerification has been completed on one half of each green (excluding #15 and #16 which will be done early tomorrow morning).  Several members of the men’s club passed along very favorable comments this morning regarding the”half” greens aerification method (I appreciate the comments, it’s something I picked up earlier in my career at another golf course…and was a method of aerification that Hilldale’s General Manager-Bill Salzman was eager to institute here).  We will also be aerifying several tees/fairways at Hilldale this coming week, but as you know…every effort will be made to complete the clean-up work prior to play.  Each day’s agenda will be listed at the proshop first thing in the morning.  Hope everyone enjoys the great weather…thanks for coming out.   

 

 

 

 

State qualifying tournament at Hilldale and aerification update

9th Green-IL Class 3A Golf Sectional

 What a privilege it was to host the Palatine (Fremd) High School Golf Sectional yesterday.  The weather was fantastic (as it has been for nine straight days) and we had the pleasure of preparing the golf course for a lot of excellent young golfers.  Your’s truly played high school golf…way back in the day, but unfortunately I couldn’t hit a golf ball as far and straight as what I witnessed yesterday.  

 

 

 

 

Victor aerifying the 12th fairway

 

Greens aerification (The first half of each green) has been rescheduled for Monday, Oct.17.  As you can see in the picture to the left, fairway/tee aerification has already begun…the proshop will be updated every morning on aerification plans, so please feel free to call ahead (847-310-1100 ex.27) if you’d like to know the agenda prior to coming out.  Thanks for your patronage…see you on the course.     

  

 

9/23/11: #10 lakewall repair and updated aerification plans

                        

 

 

As you can see above…good progress has been made this week in restoring the lakewall on holes 10 and 18.  The first picture was taken on Monday (9/19), followed by the next two pictures which were taken late in the day on Thursday (9/22).   The area of wall closest to #10 fairway was in the worst condition and is now mostly complete; with only light touch-up work (final soil grading and grassing) remaining.  The part of wall on the other side (#18) had far less repair work needed and should be completed in the coming week.

The starting date for greens aerification has been changed to Tuesday (10/11).  Obviously when I say starting date, I’m referring to aerifying the first half of each green (explained in the previous blog post).  Thanks.  

 

Fall happenings at Hilldale

7th hole being prepped on Sunday morning

Autumn is such a magical time to be around a golf course.  Other than a few cottonwoods, most trees have yet to change colors and drop leaves nor has the first frost of the season come our way.  The cruel summer heat is a thing of the past and we’re still several months away (I hope!) from that first snowfall.  It really is a perfect time to play golf and we don’t even have to miss the football game…thanks to mobile TV. 

Ok, here’s what the grounds department is up to in early September and beyond.  Because many of our regular players and guests have been asking about greens aerification; we’re planning to start aerifying the first half of each green on Monday-September 26th. This will be the fourth year in a row we’ve used the “half green” practice, and because so many players have commented favorably..there is no need to discontinue now!  By only aerifying half of each green we’re able to keep the cup location on the good (smooth) half for 2-3 weeks (the approximate time it takes for aerification holes to heal), at which time we’ll turn around and aerify the second half of each green and thus locate the cup/pin position on the healed up half.  Again…because comments have been very favorable and because aerification is such a necessary evil to produce healthy turfgrass..well, you get the point.  Please bear with us through the process and we’ll do everything as quickly and thoroughly as possible with your satisfaction the driving influence.  We will aerify a few tees and fairways on the back nine in the coming days, so please feel free to contact the Pro Shop (847-310-1100 ex. 27) if you’d like to know that day’s agenda. During any tee/fairway aerification it will always be a priority to clean up as much area as possible prior to any golfers playing those holes. 

 

The only other significant work to comment on at this time involves the repair/replacement to several sections of the retaining wall surrounding the lake on holes 10 and 18.  We haven’t received a firm starting date from the contracting company, but will keep you informed when we do.  Thanks for coming out to Hilldale, and enjoy the nice fall weather. 

Shaping Up To Be A Great Weekend

All cart restrictions lifted; 80 degrees and sunny with a light breeze; quick greens and very receptive.  Hope you can all make it out to Hilldale.  Below is the maintenance schedule for Fri.-Sun.:

Greens-Double-cut and double-roll all three days.  Depending on stimpmeter readings, greens could also be mowed on Sat. evening.  Goal is to be at 11.5 ft. in the morning, which normally would indicate about a 10-10.5 ft. speed in early afternoon.  I know many players would like to see speeds in the 12 ft. range, but past experience has shown the amount of time for an 18 hole round increases significantly when greens are rolling that quick.

Tees & Fairways-Mow on Friday and Sunday.  Both areas have firmed up nicely and with no rain in the forecast, should play to your liking throughout the weekend.

Rough-All rough areas will be cut at a 2″ height on Thursday and Friday, with the primary rough (20-30 ft. around greens and fairways) mowed one additional time over the weekend.

Bunkers-Will be raked with a mechanical rake on Friday and Sunday, and hand raked on Saturday.  As I’ve written in earlier posts, the unusual number of heavy rain events over the last 4-6 weeks have caused an excessive amount of washouts in the sandtraps.  Because of this, we’re using the cultivation tool on our mechanical rake to “loosen” the sand and attempt to minimize the number of “hard lies” in Hilldale’s bunkers.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and good luck to all those playing in the Hilldale Men’s Club event on Saturday and Sunday.

 

Monday morning update (8/22/11)

2nd hole at Hilldale-5 p.m.-8/22

Low areas on the front side are still too wet for carts, but the back nine is ok to use ninety-degree rule.  Hopefully, the whole course will be “cart ready” by lunchtime.  Thanks very much.

Sunday morning update

Forgive my poor weather forecasting skills…we did receive another .25″ of rain overnight.  Today will definitely be a soggy day on the golf course, albeit a nice sunny day.  I’m hopeful that by tomorrow (8/22) we’ll be able to lift the cart restrictions and go back to our ninety-degree rule, but until we can reevaluate conditions later…please follow the cartpath only rule with no exceptions today.  Thanks very much.

Just When You Think…..

18th fairway at noon on 08/20/2011

 

It’s safe to go out and play golf….we get another 2″ (just shy) of rain in barely one hour’s time!  Hilldale is open for play, and although there was originally more rain in the forecast for Sat. evening, the updated (5:30 p.m.) future radar looks like Hoffman Estates should be rain free  through the night.  And of course tomorrow looks to be a glorious day (79 deg., sunny, and less humid.  Carts must stay on cartpaths at all times and it’s hard to foresee that changing until Monday (8/22).  We did have a chance to dry out some this week after receiving .5″ of rain last Sat. evening (8/13), so at least the ground wasn’t overly saturated prior to today’s moisture. 

18th fairway at 4:30 p.m.-8/20/2011

Again, the bunkers took a major beating from the heavy rainfall. So for what seems like the upteenth time this summer, the major focus for the grounds department will be dealing with washed out bunkers.  Carlos was a huge help this afternoon as all water has been removed from the front nine bunkers, and  tomorrow we’ll deal with water in the back nine traps.  As many of you know and have graciously commented on, I’ve been extremely pleased with the condition of Hilldale’s greens this summer.  Considering the amount of heat, humidity, and rainfall the past six weeks…it’s hard to imagine the putting surfaces coming through the stress season in any better shape.   With cooler nights and hopefully drier weather ahead, I see no reason why greens conditioning practices can’t be very aggressive well into the fall months.  Stimpmeter readings were consistently above 11 ft. this morning (prior to the rain of course) after double cutting and rolling.  It’s hard to say if the greens will firm up enough overnight to employ the same practices tomorrow, but that is the hope right now.  Thanks for coming out to Hilldale.

Hilldale's 18th hole-5 hours after a 2" downpour