Time to lower the ponds!

With close to 100mm (4") of rain forecasted over the next five days, it is time to drop our pond levels!  Doing so will maximize the efficiency of our drainage system by allowing the lines to flush and run at capacity.  This is earlier than we expected to drop the levels; we usually don't need to do so until about the 3rd week of October.  Hopefully this is not a sign that the "rainy season" has arrived ahead of schedule, especially since we have had such a short summer season!

Proper Ball Mark Repair

I must say that our membership does an incredible job filling divots.  I wish I could say the same for repairing ball marks.  Unfortunately, this is something we REALLY need to improve upon.  I can go on any green at any given time and repair about 40-50 ball marks and fix about another 20-30 that were improperly repaired.  A properly repaired ball mark will not affect ball roll and will completely heal over in just a few days.  An unrepaired or improperly repaired ball mark will take weeks to properly heal and will cause bumpiness in the putting surface.  Below is a great illustration that shows exactly how to PROPERLY repair ball marks:

click on image to enlarge

We ask that our members fix their ball mark and one other on every green.  Doing so will help keep our greens rolling smooth and may even help everyone make an extra putt here and there!