October Update

 October 10, 2023

2023 has been a BUSY season at Bass Rocks. A new 2nd hole grown in from seed and plugs, a new irrigation system, newly constructed mounds on holes 2,3,5,7,11,12,13,14,17 and 18, new tees on holes 12 and 17, some stone walls and paving all over the place are just the tip of the iceberg. Don't forget the deck and patio areas and some solar panels that were installed on the maintenance building. The schedule has been packed, the course is getting utilized to the max and the MGA was just here a couple times in the last month to re-rate the golf course. The greens committee is already talking to a few architects about the direction the course will be headed in the future to address course and member needs.

Where does the time go? Each year the season just flies by and this one was no different but WHAT A DIFFERENCE a year makes. Last year it didn't rain at all, this year it rarely stopped, and as we get into the last bit of good golf weather, Mother Nature keeps giving us rainy weekends. Let's make some lemons into lemonade. We didn't get missed by all of the regular rain events; in reality we were spared from them this year. It seemed to work out: when we got 1 inch, other towns received 3 or sometimes even 5; when they received 1 inch, we got 0.25. It's not every day the rain gods are looking down at us but thus far 2023 has been pretty good to us!

The rain was very helpful for getting many of the irrigation system trenches back up to snuff. Tanto Irrigation did an incredible job with the new system installation and we were prepared with compost, sprayable fertilizers and wetting agents along with handwatering, but nothing did more than the regular rain events we received. The seeded edges of the newly paved cart paths are already starting to germinate and stabilize the asphalt. The second green was regularly watered with clean fresh rain water and much of last year's drought damage has returned with seeding, fertilizer and regular cultural practices. The new irrigation system is performing well; we haven't used it too much but when we have it has been extremely efficient and versatile. The extra time we've had to familiarize ourselves with it will pay dividends in the future. The maintenance team is still working on cleaning up and organizing some areas from the irrigation project, mostly in the dump area. Some materials still need to be trucked out and the last remnants of trash and debris discarded.

The DEP files we had for the irrigation system and the 2nd hole have been recorded at the Registry of Deeds in Salem and closed. The new file we opened for treatment of cattails in our 3 ponds has been recorded and our initial application has been made. We will work to physically cut down the plants this winter, after the product has had an opportunity to mobilize within the plant and do its job. This will be a multi-year process but will pay off over time. 

We are one third of the way through October with just a few events left on the schedule. The Cape Ann Cup, a few more outings, the rescheduled Lundberg Play Day and of course the Turkey Shoot are still to come. We will be aerating fairways on October 23 with a familiar outside contractor, Sportscapes Unlimited. We only have one day this year due to some scheduling conflicts so we will have to pick away at some of the other fairways ourselves. Please take free relief if you find your ball in an aeration hole. We also have a number of other items to tend to over the next 6 weeks as we begin preparation for the winter. The irrigation system will be winterized either the last week of October or the first week of November depending on the availability of Tanto and their compressor. Greens mowing heights will be slightly raised to increase carbohydrate storage for winter, light sand topdressing applications will be made to greens and some approaches, along with all important fall fertilizer and plant protectant applications. As always we will look at the weather as we make our way into November and start to think about greens covers.