Reel to Reel

Five inches of fresh snow fell last night.  I found a few snow drifts over a couple feet deep.    As a reminder to the winter walkers, please avoid walking across any greens.  Compacted snow will turn to ice which can result in damage to the greens.  Thank you for your cooperation.    Below are a few photos, I took from my morning inspection.    #2 fairway   #6 green   #7 fairway  

The turf is barely covered with the snow that fell Friday.  Temperatures in the low 30's for the next 7-10 days indicate winter is now here.  As ground conditions firm up on the course, we will be starting our winter tree maintenance. a look down #5 fairway   Our efforts last week were focused on power washing the equipment and organizing the shop in anticipation for our winter maintenance program.   David cleaning a utility vehicle My staff does a phenomenal job of going through each piece of equipment making sure everything is running efficiently.  An aging fleet provides Mike, our equipment manager, several challenges throughout the winter.  He continues to amaze me with his creative solutions to fix our seasoned equipment.   Jose working on a fairway mower Please continue to follow the blog throughout the winter.  I will be providing information on course...

Countless articles have been written by the USGA and universities regarding winter play on greens.  Agronomists across the country agree that cool season grasses need a break during the winter months.  Traffic on dormant turf leads to a host of problems including wear, compaction and the severing of roots.  Problems that occur on green surfaces this time of year can directly impact playing surfaces in the spring and summer months.  Bumpy, inconsistent, and weak greens would be a difficult way to start the new golf season.  Please continue to help protect the golf course throughout the winter and avoid any foot traffic on the greens.  Thank you for your cooperation.

The golf course is closed for the season.   The flags have been removed and the greens have been roped off to eliminate any traffic from winter walkers.  Throughout the winter months and into early spring, the greens will go through freeze/thaw cycles.  These conditions will leave the greens soft and susceptible to foot printing.  Please stay off of the greens to help reduce potential problems from arising next spring. Red stakes have been placed in front of the greens to serve as a target to shoot at when the golf course reopens.  Thank you for your cooperation in these efforts to protect the golf course.

We continued winter preparations on the golf course today.  We started pumping down the pond on #7.  A low pond level is desirable for drainage during the winter months.  Snow accumulation throughout the winter creates a tremendous volume of water as it melts, and having the pond low is a proactive measure for the snow melt.   #7 pond being pumped down to improve fairway drainage We took the covers off of the new forward tees on #12 and #18 to treat them with a preventative fungicide application today.  As you can see from the photos below there is a nice amount of growth.  The covers have helped moderate soil temperatures to improve growth this fall.  They should be in really good shape this spring. New forward tee on #18 New turf growing well under the covers

It has been a busy couple of weeks on the course.  Leaf clean-up, snowmold applications and drainage projects have occupied the majority of our time.  The turf remains healthy and looks great heading into winter.  The plants have responded nicely to the favorable weather this fall.  I'm finding nice deep roots on greens, tees and fairways.  Another interesting observation is the increased population of bentgrass on both greens and fairways.  This is a great sign for next year.    Lana cleaning up the ornamental bed on #14 new drainage being added to  #7 fairway

To minimize the risk of freeze damage to irrigation systems, "winterizing" is necessary.  Every year the ritual of irrigation "blow out" becomes the priority for all irrigation systems that are in regions of the country where the frost level extends below the depth of the installed piping.  The process consists of expelling all the water from the irrigation system and equipment with compressed air. This is necessary because water freezing in the irrigation system will break pipes, fittings, valves, sprinklers, pumps, and other system components. We started winterizing our irrigation system today.  It was a long day - we blew out all 1,514 irrigation heads.  We will go through all the heads one final time tomorrow, as well as the water lines that feed the halfway house and bathrooms on the course.  quick coupler #10 fairway heads in #9 rough

Here are my favorite shots of the month.   

Temperatures in the mid 30's and wind gusts up to 31 mph today were a brisk reminder that winter is fast approaching.  In preparation for the winter months, the greens were aerified 9"deep with the deep-tines.  The newly created holes will provide a means for excess moisture to move off the greens surfaces this fall and throughout the winter.  deep-tine aerification on #11 green  As we move into November the final fungicides will be applied to the greens, tees and fairways to protect the turf against winter diseases. Please be advised that the irrigation system will be blown out on November 5-6.  We will blowing air throughout the irrigation system in order to winterize it.

As I traveled around the course this week several items jumped out at me.  Plant health has been outstanding this fall.  The early aerification on greens combined with a healthy dose of foliar nutrients and soil amendments have put the plants in an extremely healthy state.  The plants continue to store energy and the root systems continue to thrive.   turf plug taken from #16 green    The new forward tees are proceeding nicely.  We peeled back the covers this week to take a peak at the new seedlings. new seedlings on #18 forward white tee   Over the last few days, leaf colors have changed significantly.  We continue to blow and mulch the leaves on a daily basis to keep the course as playable as possible. leaf color change on #1   Deep-tine fairway aerification continues and should be completed early next week.  The aerification holes have helped the fairways drain from the rains this week....

Deep tine aerification of the fairways is underway.  We are planning to aerify about two fairways a day.  Jose aerifying #1 fairway   To achieve the tight spacing we desire, the aerifier is moving at a pace of 1.2 mph at a depth of 9". These deep holes will help move any excess water off of the fairway surface this fall and winter, as well as during the spring thaw. deep tine aerification at 9" depth   The leaves have started to fall at a rapid pace.  We will continue to blow and mulch keeping the golf course as playable as possible.  blowing leaves off of #18 fairway

The work we did this week has really taken shape.  The cart path east of #7 green was removed.  We added over 60 yards of soil to the area and mounded it slightly to blend into the existing area.  It was seeded today; we should see some germination yet this fall.    All of the topsoil used in this project came from the dump.  Over the last three years, we have been piling up old sod and debris from previous projects.  Over this period, the debris has decomposed into some nice topsoil.  What we once considered discards, we were able to utilize and save a significant amount of money.   rough shaping on #7 green bank  finish grade on #7 green bank finished product all seeded We also rerouted the cart path on #6 tee this week.  The cart path previously went right through the middle of a low area.  During periods of heavy rain, the area was too saturated for cart traffic.  We r...

Demolition of the decaying cart path east of #7 green was today's task.  Tree roots have made the cart path extremely uneven over the last year.  Instead of replacing the path, the decision was made to remove it.  This hole will now be much more playable for shots that miss the green right. breaking up the cart path cart path removal   hauling debris away Over the next couple of days we will be adding topsoil and shaping it, to blend it into the existing area. After the shaping is complete, it will be seeded with bluegrass .

Two new white tees were constructed this week on holes #12 and #18.  We finished sodding the tee banks and seeding the tees this afternoon.  A big thanks to my staff for moving more than 80 yards of soil around while shaping the tees.   A cold forecast this weekend prompted us to put covers over the new tees to retain soil temperatures and help germination.  The covers will be on and off depending on weather conditions.  staff prepping area for tee construction on #12   Armondo sodding tee bank on #12   new white tee on #12

Here are my favorite shots of the month.  

  As the weather cools and plant growth slows down, we will be shifting our maintenance efforts towards more projects.    Projects this fall include:  - new white forward tee on #12   - new white forward tee on #18 - cart path renovations on #6 tee and #7 green - root prune selective trees that are competing with turf - improve fairway drainage on #7

The golf course provides a great habitat for many animals.  Several red fox have been seen this year prowling about.  Red fox resemble small slender dogs weighing between 8-12 pounds.  The red fox is primarily nocturnal, meaning they are most active at night.  They are opportunistic and will eat almost anything.  Their typical diet includes fruits, berries, insects, frogs, birds, and rodents. One of our fox had some fun recently, as it did some digging on the east side of #3 green bank.  A mole trail was moving through the destroyed area, so I believe it was in search of a little dinner.  I hope the fox was successful.  Looking at the mess he made, it sure looks like he had to work hard to capture the mole. Tomorrow morning we will clean up and resod the area.  It is marked as ground under repair.

Despite a 2 hour frost delay yesterday morning, the day ended up being extremely productive once we were able to get onto the course.   Monday's Accomplishments: - sliced greens with the PlanetAir - topdressed greens with light amount of sand - sprayed greens with soil amendments - aerified #16 and #18 fairways   Looking Ahead (9/25-9/28): - spray greens with nutrient and fungicide - aerify #9 thru #14 fairways - weekly maintenance (cutting, rolling, line trimming)  

We started aerifying the Par 3 fairways today.  Aerification of the remaining fairways will continue for the next couple of weeks.  Our aerification program this fall will be aggressive, but extremely clean and playable.  We will use solid tines at depths of 3" and 10".  In a difficult year like the one we've experienced, the more holes and slices that can be created, the better off the turf will be.   The first wave of aerification will occur with the ProCore aerifiers at a depth of 3".  The second round of aerification will occur with the Soil Reliever at a depth of 10" in mid-October.     The billions of holes created will: - increase water infiltration - improve firmness and playability - increase air porosity - increase rooting    Ernesto and Carlos aerifying #8 fairway

I'm extremely pleased with the recovery the greens have made from last week's aerification.  As you can see from the picture below, there are hardly any visible holes.  The greens have healed in remarkably fast and are rolling smooth.  #12 green 7 days after aerification This morning, we aerified tees.  Everything went well. #1 tee after aerification this morning Another item on the agenda today was slicing fairways.  This was good to complete since we have had great success with bentgrass creeping into and coming up through the slices.  #1 fairway being sliced with Aerway  A new methodology we tried last week, is proving to be successful in promoting bentgrass germination.  In the picture below you can see all of the new seedlings growing on #11 fairway.  We will be going around this week continuing our overseeding efforts in weak turf areas on fairways. #11 fairway new bentgrass seedlings...

  Here are my favorite shots from the month.     

  Perfect weather helped the aerification process run extremely efficient.  Blue skies, wind and low humidity helped the sand dry quickly and made it much easier to work into the aerification holes.  A big thanks to my staff for their tremendous effort.   50 tons of sand being delivered soil reliever aerifying at 11" depth   pro core aerifying at 4" depth  Aerification Arithmetic 3.68 billion aerification holes created 65 tons of sand used to fill the holes 225+ man hours For futher explanation, here are the numbers from a few greens: #16 Green - 5124 ft2 - 246 million holes created - 5 tons of sand used (10,000 lbs) #11 Green - 5777 ft2 - 277 million holes created - 5 tons of sand used (10,000 lbs) #2 Green - 3255 ft2 - 156 million holes created - 3 tons of sand used (6,000 lbs)

Greens Aerification and Topdressing Scheduled for 8/27 - 8/29  Following upon last year's success, we will be aerifying and topdressing greens Monday thru Wednesday after the Club Championship.    The aerification holes will recover extremely fast and the greens will be in great shape for all of the fall events. 

It was an extremely productive day today.  We crossed many to-do's off the list: tree company removed a few hazardous limbs sprayed greens and tees with nutrients and fungicides cut tees, rough, stepcuts and driving range verticut and cut fairways applied soil amendments to fairways fine tuned aerification and topdressing process on short range greens  hollow chestnut limb behind #16 tee dead wood removal off willows on #11 soil amendment being applied to #7 fairway

The weather is finally cooperating, we have seen some nice recovery in the fairways the last few days.  Cool temperatures at night and adequate rainfall has helped the new seed germinate.  The existing bentgrass is also benefiting from the favorable weather as it continues to aggressively creep into the thinner areas. We continue to be proactive in these areas.  Various combinations of slicing, verticutting and aerifying have proved to be successful in promoting bentgrass growth.  The fairways should be dry enough by the end of the week to verticut which will help initiate some additional recovery.

I thought it would be interesting to show the rooting difference between bentgrass and poa.  I pulled two plugs from #17 fairway, one bentgrass plant and one poa annua plant.  The picture below speaks volumes.  The bentgrass roots extend to 6" vs the poa plants 1.5".  This is one reason the bentgrass is more heat tolerant and requires less water.  The longer root system is able to pull water from deeper in the soil profile creating firmer playing surfaces on top. The extremely short roots of the poa annua does not provide much water retention.  Subtle changes in the weather like increased wind or a drop in humidity can rapidly dry out the plants.  The root system can not retain enough water to make it through a high evapotranspiration day.  This is why we have to syringe or spin the irrigation heads in the afternoon.  As we increase our bentgrass population, the fairways will become stronger and stronger requir...