Hello everyone, just to gives an update on all things Bentwater Turf.

Miller update:  As of this writing, we are going to finish all sodding of tees by the end of today or perhaps tomorrow (July 22).  We have started mowing the new sod down, but because we are using Zeon Zoysia we will need to work the heights down slowly.  The bunkers are still a work in progress, majority of the front 9 have been completed, but the push this week is to finish all sod and next week we will be all hands on deck to complete the bunkers over the coming weeks.  #2 Miller is a completed look of how our bunkers will be going forward.  After the heavy rains we receieved last week, these bunkers had minimum to no washouts and the sand was dry as soon as the rain ended.  This is very encouraging for the future ahead.  All bunkers will ultimately be renovated to this type of liner which actually holds sand on the steep faces and the white bunker sand will remain uncontaminated.  I hope you all feel the same excitement I do, when I see a heavy downpour and the bunkers are left untouched.  This will save us significant time and labor repair bunkers after each rain.  And for you the members, you will a more consistent more playable surface day in and day out.  I can't help you hit the long bunker shot, but at least we can provide a consistent surface to try and pull off that impossible shot.  Greens are growing in nicely.  We have lowered the mowing heights and have started to see significant filling in.  Over the next weeks, we will topdress weekly to further promote a smooth putting surface prior to opening.  We hope that you will take a tour around and get a glimpse of how good the Miller course will play when we open.  Of course, I ask that you keep your carts on the path as there are newly sodded areas that are wet and we don't want to have to fix any unnecessary ruts. 

Weiskopf:  We will continue our sodding around collars and greens.  This process started and I have heard nice compliments about our work, but now we must push to wrap this up over the next two weeks.  I understand that closing the hole is a disruption to your golf round, but it is important to protect the men working on this hole and to keep our production levels up versus waiting for every player to play the hole.  I hope you all will understand.  The TifEagle greens have started to firm up and are rolling nicely.  I believe we are now keeping our green speeds to an overall satisfactory level.  We will topdress these greens next Monday and keep this practice up throughout the remainder of the hot growing season.

Grand Pines:  The recent rains and fertilizer have really greened this course up.  We are now growing grass like crazy and doing our best with keeping up with the mowing and blowing off clippings.  It is nice to see this course responding so well.  We will work next week to finish plugging small areas left on the greens so that we have 100% grass coverage and all the bare spots are a thing of the past.  Thank you for all your support and words of encouragement during this process.  Look forward to seeing you all soon out on the golf courses.

Donny Latham