Winter Activities at Minikahda

There is no doubt that the members here at The Minikahda Club take their winter activities seriously. Any outdoor enthusiast would consider belonging to Minikahda worth the investment. and we give them their money's worth by offering paddle tennis, ice skating, cross-country ski trails, snow shoe trails and skeet shooting.

The number one question golf course Superintendents' get asked by far over any other question (at least the guys in the northern climate) is this, "what do you do all winter?" Here at Minikahda the answer is a long but simple one. We maintain paddle tennis courts, an ice skating rink, cross-country ski trails, manage the skeet shooting as well as plow and shovel snow. All of the equipment is throughouly gone through and preventative maintainence practices are implemented. Over 23 peices of mowing equipment are maintained, 3 spray rigs, 3 sand pro's, 3 tractors, 2 pick-up trucks, 16 utility carts and numerous pieces of hand-held power equipment.
We also take great pride in maintaining the entire maintenance facility. In February the floors are striped and waxed and walls are repainted. There are also over 300 bunker rakes that are sanded and restained and all of the ballwashers and trash recepticals are sandblasted and repainted.

There is no shortage of work, that's for sure. We can be as busy as we want to be and I would say we are pretty busy. Winter is also the time when the majority of our continuing education takes place via trade shows at the state and national level. There are also many smaller get-togethers by local Superintendents which are more like round table discussions. And of course this is the time of year when we are able to take some much needed time off. For me that means projects around the house when the kids are away and my wife is at work.

Downtown Minneapolis

Skating Rink

The skating rink is now open for use. The rink was erected last week and it has taken until today to get the ice where we feel it is good enough to skate on. The location of the rink makes it very accessible from the club house and from the bathhouse parking lot. And the best thing of all, might be the view of downtown Minneapolis and of Lake Calhoun. We still have a little work to do. We plan on installing 9 foot netting around the ends of the rink so the puck stay on the ice. We hope to have this process completed by the end of the week. So tell your friends and come on over and enjoy the private ice.

Not a 10 pointer, but an 11 pointer

It looks like the deer we thought was a 10 pointer is really an 11 pointer. Our Assistant Nick took this photo the other night as the buck was raiding the bird feeder located outside his house, which in on the property. There was also an 8 point buck at the feeder. And if that is not enough, we have a herd of 3 doe and 3 fawns that love staying on the course. This is really quite something considering we are only about 2 miles from Downtown Minneapolis.

Bentgrass Management Program

I wanted to show this video of the 17th green, taken this past July. Through the video you get a good perspective of the amount of bentgrass that is emerging on the playing surface. The color and health of the creeping bentgrass is excellent. The color of the poa annua is off color and not the emerald green that most people see or can relate to with poa. The poa is being regulated (suppressed) with a chemical called Paclobutrazol. Along with the treatments of ferrous sulfate we are getting excellent suppression of the poa and at the same time we have created a favorable environment for the bentgrass to thrive in through a combination of cultural and nutritional practices.

I have a few more videos to follow and there is definitely more to add regarding the process, but this is a good start for now.

Decayed Red Oak in the right rough #9.

Fall Tree Trimming

When your golf course is a course that is dominated by large decidious trees, tree maintenance becomes a vital aspect of our maintenance operation. Most people might assume that the majority of our job surrounds the maintanence of the turf and while that may be true in the spring, summer and fall, in order for us to have healthy trees, the trees require a great deal of attention.

Fall or winter is the ideal time to trim trees. By this time the tree has lost it's leaves, is going dormant and is less susptible to disease. Trimming allows us to remove the deadwood, find branches that may be broken and inspect the tree for any large cracks or find a tree that may have excessive decay. As you can see in the photo, this Red Oak that was removed, was showing signs of Oak wilt, on further inspection it was found to have a large amount of decay. The tree was deemed hazardous and needed to be removed. As you can see the decay was excessive and the decision to remove it was justified.

For the past 30 plus years all of our tree trimming and removal has been with one company, Tim's Tree Service. Eight years ago when I took over as Superintendent it was our goal to trim all of the trees on the property in a seven year span. Last year we completed that process, on schedule, so this year we will begin the process all over again. Trees that were trimmed this year were on holes 1, 2, 14 and 18. In all, over a 10 day period, over 125 trees have been professionally trimmed. In the past we were scheduled for trimming in the months of December or January, when it is colder and when we have snow. We have moved up on the schedule to November. With warmer temperatures and no snow, we are definitely getting more bang for our buck. Additionally now that we are beginning the second go round on the course the trees are less messy now then they were the first time so the trimmers are having an easier time getting through each tree.

Covering Greens

Finally the day has arrived. We will begin covering greens this morning, but first we will have to wait for the heavy frost to burn off before we can begin the process. It is a perfect day for covering. Not a cloud in the sky, day time temperatures close to 50 degrees and currently it is completely calm. Between today and tomorrow we should be able to have 19 of the 21 greens fully covered. We also have 13 staff members to help with the process so it should go quite smoothly.

Waiting to cover the greens

Typical Minnesota weather. We have an unseasonalbly cold and wet October and now the month of November arrives and we are above normal. Either way we are in November and we need to cover the greens. Unfortunately due to the breezy weather today we were unable to begin the process. For the next few days the forcast is for 10-20 mph winds and so we will have to wait until a calm morning before we can begin the process.

The good new is we are able to keep the seasonal staff on a few more days to get the course clean from fenceline to fenceline, leaving less work for us in the spring. Tim's Tree Service will also be on the course for the next 2 weeks, trimming trees on the north end of the course.

The Greenkeeper

From 1897 a poem titled The Greenkeeper

The Greenkeeper

He is coming, the lovely man.
The keeper of the links.
His cheeks are colored a sun-painted tan,
Tis whispered that he drinks.
O, pink as a rose
Is the blossom of his nose-
Six foot is his length
From his eyes to his toes.
What a pity it is that he drinks!

Kind of a humorous poem, but unfortunately probably quite true for many a greenkeeper back in the day.

We are nearing the end of the season with only 4 days of golf left to play. Our finally fungicide applications are being applied today and tomorrow. Sunday will be the last day of golf. We will be blowing out the irrigation system on Monday and then, if the weather allows we will begin covering the greens.

We have had an outstanding season, now we can move on to skeet shooting, cross country ski trails, ice skating, paddle tennis and a little more time with the family.

10 Point Buck

I am often asked if we have any deer on the golf course and my answer is "plenty". Just this morning there were 3 doe that crossed the 9th fairway with 2 fawns. This past weekend, Assistant Superintendent Nick Folk, captured a photo of the 10 point buck that has been wondering the property. What a specimen! Nick only wishes he will see that nice of a buck 180 miles north of here when he is deer hunting.