Goose Control

coyote cutouts and goose light around 9 green

One of our big problems in the winter is controlling our Canada geese population.  With 11 lakes on the property geese can and do become a large problem for us every winter.  Cleaning up after the geese is a daily operation for me and my staff.  After the frost is gone in the morning we head out the door to scoop droppings off of the greens.  Some mornings it can take us two to three hours to just clear all the greens.  Then one of us usually gets on the tractor with a large turbine blower mounted to the back and spends the rest of the day blowing the droppings off of the fairways and tees.
We have been trying new techniques to help reduce the population of geese on the golf course.  A few of the best ways to help control the geese  is to spook them with Benni and Morrison, our golf course dogs, we chase them with our golf carts, use laser pointers, cutouts of coyotes, and goose deterrent lights.  None of these techniques work alone but a combination of them seem to help reduce the total number of geese.
I am excited about the prospect of the goose lights over the long run.  The theory behind the light is that the blinking light will disturb the sleep pattern of the geese, thus causing them to look for another location to spend the night.  While this is not an immediate fix, over the course of a few winters we should see our Canada goose population diminish.

Winter Watering

watering 18 green in December

While the unseasonably warm weather is great for golf, it makes most Superintendents worry about the health of the grass coming out of winter. With less than 1/2 of an inch of rainfall since the middle of October we have been watering different areas of the golf course on a daily bases to help replenish the moisture levels in the soil.  The turf does not need as much water as when it is actively growing, but it does need a 'drink' every couple of weeks to stay alive during the winter months.

 Excessive cart traffic on dormant grass is another concern Superintendents have during the winter.  Golf carts can cause serious injury if there are no traffic control measures put in place.  So as you are out on the course, please watch for new rope patterns and signage so we can keep the course as healthy as possible.