End of October Update

Happy Halloween… Almost!

I’m just starting to notice things slowing down out here on the course. Play is still vigorous, but we’re no longer seeing tee times going off every 10 minutes like we have since May. The Turkey Shoot is coming up in a little over a week, and the team is looking forward to “messing with you” one last time in 2026!

I’d like to thank the club for allowing the Golf Course Superintendents of New England to host their October meeting here on the 21st. The original host club had to cancel at the last minute, and we were able to step in and give everyone a great day all the way around, from the pro shop to the food. Thanks, Todd, Peter, Matt, Paul, and the entire staff! It was a proud day for me and my team to be a part of.

Frost Delays Are Here

It’s that time of year when the dreaded frost delay comes into play. Staying off turf covered in frost, especially as it begins to approach dormancy, is very important. The cells within the grass contain liquid, and stepping on frosted turf can cause damage at the cellular level. Rupturing those cells can lead to immediate and/or long-term damage.

Keep in mind that plants don’t eat; they make their own food, and they’re just starting to store energy for a long, cold winter. We realize frost delays are a nuisance, but they’re essential to maintaining a healthy golf course.

We do our best to estimate how long it will take for the frost to clear, but it’s not an exact science. Often, those days when temperatures linger in the upper 30s and low 40s are the most difficult. As the sun comes up, radiational cooling can leave the turf surface cold enough for frost to form or persist, even after sunrise.

Frost doesn’t melt instantly, either. Picture taking an ice cube out of the freezer and putting it on the counter. It takes a while to melt, even if the room is 70 degrees! It’s tough to give you much advance notice when sunrise is at 7:10 and the first tee time is at 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. So, as always, thank you for your patience and understanding.

Sinkholes and Drainage

We’ve had another sinkhole on the course, this time a small one on the 9th green that had been there for a while. Chris Grady did a great job investigating, but we found NOTHING. Chris filled the hole back in, compacting the soil in small lifts, and neatly replaced the sod. We’ll continue to apply heavier layers of topdressing to smooth out the area through next spring. We have a similar situation on the 11th green, where a drain needs to be opened regularly after heavy rainstorms and is kept open throughout the winter.

Fairway Aeration and Approach Work

The team just completed fairway aeration, and it went really well! It took us five days of ideal weather to get all the fairways aerated, dragged, blown off, and mowed for the last time this season.

The equipment worked perfectly, and so did our team of seasoned greenskeepers. It was a well-oiled machine out here, and it was fun to watch everyone work through the process without even having to talk to each other.

We’re starting to sling some sand on the approaches today. This will help with thatch breakdown and firm up the surfaces. We do this periodically throughout the season. Honestly, I wish we could do it more often, but time and resources are limiting factors. We’ll probably do this another time or two, depending on growth and how well the applications work.

Leaves, Mowing, and Fall Cleanup

Leaves continue to fall, but they’ve actually slowed down with the lack of rain over the last few weeks. It’s pretty dry out here, as the majority of October has been dry, but the ground conditions are certainly great for playing golf.

We’re mostly done mowing for the season. We’ll probably cut the greens one or two more times, as growth has slowed considerably and we want to give them a chance to store some carbohydrates for the winter.

Other projects we’ve begun tackling include cleaning leaves out of the streams and drainage ditches, fall pruning, removing annual flowers, planting spring bulbs, and keeping up with regular leaf cleanup.

Divots and Tee Maintenance

Divots are a big focus this time of year, especially with the dry weather. Cooler temperatures reduce the amount of water needed to maintain healthy grass, which means we can cut back on irrigation. Seed, however, still needs water to germinate, making it a little more difficult to establish grass on the small tee boxes, especially the par 3s.

We manage tee surfaces a little differently in the spring and fall with this in mind. You may see more tee markers grouped together or placed in less desirable spots. If we don’t manage the teeing areas this way, our already limited teeing space will be all but gone before winter.

Getting Ready for Winter

We’ve reserved a compressor and will be blowing out the irrigation system and winterizing the on-course restrooms during the second week of November. I’m also working with our contractor to coordinate our deep-tine service work on the greens within that same timeframe.

Winter plant protectant applications will follow in the weeks after that, and, as usual, the covers will start going on the Monday following Thanksgiving.

As we head toward the end of the season, thank you all for your patience and support. There’s still plenty to do out here, but we’re getting everything in place to give the course the best possible chance to come through the winter in great shape. Enjoy the fall weather, and we’ll see you out there.