Weibring Golf Club at Illinois State University

As we begin the golf season, I want to ask for everyone's help.  We try and provide golfers the best possible experience each time they play at Weibring GC.  As a user of the golf course, you can help us further that experience by "leaving it better than you found it".  Below are a few things each golfer can do during there round to keep the course at its best. Audubon International's Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses We have added a sign at the first tee signifying our designation as a Certified Audubon Sanctuary Property.  Below are a few ways we achieved this prestigious designation. Over the summer, I will continue to highlight ways we further our Environmental Stewardship insuring sustainable use of the golf course property while providing quality playing conditions.  Thanks for reading     Travis Williams, CGCS

Spring is creeping upon us like a sloth and our soil temps are finally climbing enough that we see some "green up". With the spring green up, comes a few necessary tasks to help us stay ahead of future pest problems.  Our spring applications of Pre-emergent and plant growth regulators were completed just ahead of the rain on Thursday.  I often joke that we are "racing the rain", but often it is true.  Many of our practices are heavily influenced by rain events (better to use natural rain than to use the irrigation, which overuses electricity and the water from the Mahomet Aquifer) .  This week we used the rain to activate our Pre-emergent product.  The product is carried on a fertilizer granular that either needs to be irrigated or have rainfall to make it active.  Once active, it forms a barrier at the soil surface that inhibits summer annual seeds from germinating.  Examples of the weeds we are inhibiting from germinating are crabgrass and goosegrass. These summer

Fall 2018 Oct.  12th, 2018. Snow caused Round 1 of IHSA Finals to be cancelled   A quick recap of the Fall- we skipped it! We had summer-like temps in early October and snow by mid-October.  November was cold (6-7 degrees below normal) and 7.7 inches of snow (we average 0.3 inches). Temps rebounded to above average for most of December and early January, but have been below average since Jan 10th, with record cold January 29-31.  Certainly a roller coaster over the last 4 months. Mid-November snow.  Note the leaves still in the trees in the background. Fall fertilizer applications were scheduled 3-4 weeks earlier than years past, with a few applications not completed due to cold temps through November.   The challenge with fertilizing fine turf, such as greens, is that you need to be careful not to impact the plants' natural process of "hardening off".  Meaning the plant goes through the physiological process of releasing proteins and other enzymes to pr