Chef Rob

I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to thank Chef Rob on his last day of work for his 13 years of service to our great club and the last four years to widening my food appetite and the expansion of my waistline.  We hate to see you go Chef but are happy for the new adventure and opportunity you have been given.

Chef Terry will be taking over the reins of the kitchen and I believe she will do a great job.   She has worked with Chef Rob for over 9 years and has learned from the best.  She's one of the hardest working members of our staff and  I look forward to eating a lot of great meals prepared by Chef Terry and her staff!

Needle Tine Venting Greens

We are needle tine venting our greens for the ladt time this season until our fall solid tine deep aeration in late October. This will help our greens exchage gases, oxygen entering and carbon dioxide exiting. It will alao allow them to accept water in drier areas which routinely show up in the low humidity air of late summer and early fall as well as allowing wetter areas to lose or evaporate excess water.
Joe Wachter
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Fairway Aeration

We were not able to complete our normal fairway aeration after the member guest due to the extreme heat and drought conditions. With the change in temperature ans some added rainfall, we are beginning our aeration today. We are using our rough aerator which has only about half the spacing as our fairway aerator. Due to the dry conditions, large number of fairy rings, and heavy reliance on city water that is of pour quality for turf, we have a number of areas that have localized dry spots. The soil has become hydrophobic and repels water. For the future health of our fairways, I did not want to go into fall and early winter with warm season turf not accepting water. This could lead to permanent damage
I will post additional pictures during the day as the operation proceeds.

Joe Wachter
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Countdown to Bunker Renovation added to Blog Home Page

I've added a countdown clock to the home page of the blog which identifies the beginning of the project on September 17th.  Kye Goalby and I will be going over some details with the Green Committee this Thursday as we move toward the beginning of this great project.  Thanks to all of our membership who participated in funding this project.

Donations are still being accepted for the project.  Please contact Club Controller Mary Martin if you are interested in donating.

Long Range Grass Tee Schedule Change

Due to the summers heat, the long range grass has never looked better since I arrived here at Glen Echo in August of 2008. Because of the great conditions, there will be no restrictions on the grass tee availability. It will be open 6 days a week except in cases of heavy rainfall. Once we get into fall and growth has slowed, we will make changes accordingly. Enjoy some cooler weather to practice and unlimited hitting from the grass tees of the Long Range.!

Joe Wachter
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Fall Has Arrived

Not really but the red maple near 18 green is reacting to the drought and hot weather as if the first frost covered the course a few days ago. As many of you are seeing from your own neighborhoods, trees are taking a pounding this year. If a tree goes from green to completely brown and drops it's leaves in just a few days, I would think it is done but if it changes to fall color, there might be some hope. Going into dormamcy is a good thing which is a survival mechanism for plants compared to permanent dormancy which is death.

For any severely stressed trees, you can allow a slow running hose sit underneath the canopy for a few hours a couple of days each week until the drought breaks. This will give it enough water to keep it alive. One way to check the viability of a tree is the snap off the end of a branch or two on opposite sides of the tree to see if it is still green and pliable. If the branches are stiff and brittle, its probably at the end.

Joe Wachter
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Redtail Posing

I was painting hazard lines on the tee side of 9 this morning when I ran across our juvenile redtail. Concerns me a bit that it allows us so close. Members have mentioned getting very close as well. It has been mentioned that the bunker rakes on 17 has caught its attention. Little difficult to fly away with it but I'm it has tried. Maybe it's trying out for the caddy pro. I could sure a hawkeye like that locating my errant tee shots in the trees.

Joe Wachter
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