The 2007 golf season is here with everything lush and green. A few rough areas from last years heat and this winters conditions. Nothing we can't handle with a little time and labor.

Our greens are in great shape this year. I believe that is due to our use of our new  planetair system. The planetair has a shatter knife technology; which means the knife penetrates the soil in a spoon like fashion and shatters with a kick-back action. In other words, it goes in and creates a space for oxygen and nutrients with virtually no surface disruption. This process promotes good root growth.

The process of pulling cores and filling with sand disrupts the surface and is time and labor consuming. The planetair done every two weeks, eliminates the need for core pulling.

We also verticut every two weeks. Which is the thinning of turf grass by blades or wire tines that cut perpendicular to the soil. This stimulates growth and helps the turf withstand the threat of disease and harsh weather. Verticutting also removes thatch; which is a breeding ground for turf disease.

After each of these processes we do a thin top dressing of sand. We do this every Tuesday morning.

The fairways, tee decks, surrounds and bunkers will be treated with special care as I will talk about later. Our flower garden is taken care of by our gardener, Nancy Yorke, who also helps my hard working greens keepers do there job in the morning, which gives her only half a day to keep the weeds at bay.  My name is Rick Hoole; please feel free to ask me any questions or offer suggestions. Have a birdie good day.

Rick Hoole,
Superintendent, Point Roberts G&CC