Controlled Burn Fall of 2023

The fall of 2023 was ideal for a controlled burn of the woodland areas at Bittersweet. The wetland areas were too green to get a good controlled burn, but we will attempt to burn these areas again in the spring of 2024. The controlled burn is helpful for control of invasive vegetation. We appreciate the cooperation of home owners when we generate the smoke from the burn. 

The area below was cleared of buck-thorn by hand in 2012. It has subsequently been burned every three years or so. 

The photos which follow this photo were taken in this woodland area last spring, showing that it is now filled with native 

wild flowers and ground cover. 

Native Geraniums are in bloom throughout the month of June. 

All this clearing and burning work in our native woodland areas is making Bittersweet golf course an abundant source of nectar for the bees and native pollinators.

Buttercups

Dog-tooth Lilies

May-apples on hole number 1.

Red Trillium

Solomon's Seal on hole 11.

Winter Forestry 2023/24

This winter is beginning with perfect weather for forestry work in-house. Here you can see that Bernardo, Caesar and Noe have cleared all of the invasive brush in the natural area behind 4 green. The clearing of the invasive brush will allow the grasses to grow in these areas. The grasses will allow for us to get a better controlled burn cycle of these areas for the control of invasive plants that compromise water quality and wildlife habitat. 

We are going hole by hole and trimming up low hanging branches 

that interfere with a full back-swing.

We are removing the brush that is growing in our naturalized pond embankments and perimeters. This allows for a clearer shot to the greens. It is also an important environmental practice that mitigates silt deposits.  When brush is allowed to overgrow water edges, the shade that is cast from the brush reduces the grasses that are integral in holding the soils in place from erosion.

This is the natural area left of 1 green. By removing the invasive brush we will allow more sunlight to reach the forest floor so that grasses and wildflowers can grow. This will will provide a more beautiful and natural habitat for wild life. It also allows golfers to find 

their ball with greater ease. And the denser ground cover 

growth will help with controlling silt. 

Here you can see we have cut down a dead Austrian Pine tree behind 1 green. The pines that were planted at Bittersweet are not native and therefore we will be reallocating the resources that were consumed by the non-native pines for improving the dozens of native plant and wildlife habitat areas which are spread throughout the entire property. 

Here we have removed a grove of invasive buck-thorn and honeysuckle brush that will gradually restore itself to its original native prairie grass design. 

Another dead pine tree has been removed here.

A lot of wood is on the ground and ready to be run through 

the chipper as soon as we get some frozen ground to 

run the truck and chipper over.

Cypress Point

A couple years ago I fulfilled a lifetime dream by 

visiting Cypress Point Golf Club.

The Bittersweet logo ball was rolled on the 17th green 

overlooking the ocean. How about them apples!

 

Bunker and Tee Construction

We are very fortunate to have the help of Tom Robinson, retired superintendent from Ravinia Green CC, to come and shape for us whenever we need to build a tee or a bunker in-house. 

Here we can see Tom building a small practice bunker adjacent to our practice tee. 

This bunker was designed for hitting long shots from fairway bunkers.

The crew comes in and adds drain tile. The final grade is hand raked with a landscape rake. 

Sod is then laid from our bluegrass borrow area at the end of the range.

Everything that we are doing here could be completed on a larger scale if needed. There will come a time in the future when we will need to renovate our bunkers and we have the ability to do it all in-house.

Here you can see Tom shaping a new tee for us on 5. 

Tom borrowing soil from a nearby mound as his material for the tee.

This is a picture of the crew bringing a water line to the tee before Tom shaped it.

Here you can see that we have used a box made out of 6 "x 6" lumber for floating the surface of the tee level. This is a very effective and simple tool for providing a perfectly level surface.

The sod was taken from an unused championship tee that we reseeded.