Reel to Reel

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the month.

Heavy rains last night pounded the course.  Precipitation amounts totaled 1.75".  The course absorbed it pretty well and carts will be available today.  Please use caution and avoid driving through low and staked off areas. This morning, we will concentrate on removing surface water and repairing bunker washouts. #3 fairway #5 fairway #17 bunker washed out   *Reminder:  Tee Aerification will occur this Tuesday. *    

Another successful greens aerification is behind us.  Sunny skies and wind provided great conditions for the sand to dry and to be worked into the aerification holes. Aerification holes were created at depths of 4" as well as 12" deep.  The holes were filled with sand by brooming and blowing the sand into the holes. Aerification benefits include: - compaction relief - increased water infiltration - firmer and faster greens - deeper roots and healthier plants Aerification Stats: - on average, over 164 million holes per green were created - over 2.7 tons of sand per green (5,400 lbs.) were used     Mike aerifying #6 green with the Soil Reliever at a 12" depth   

It is often said that turfgrass management is a balance between science and art.  I think there is a lot of truth in that statement. Below are a few photos of various mowing patterns we have cut on fairways this year. #5 "Standard Stripe"   #12 "Center Stripe"   #7 "Diagonal Stripe"   #2  "Chunk Stripe" Practice Fairway "Figure Eight"   #3 "Checkered Stripe"   #11 "The Target"   #13 "Plaid Stripe"  

Members of the Greens Department do a significant amount of walking on a daily basis to maintain the golf course.  Over the last week, I have had various staff members wear a pedometer to measure how much walking we do during various tasks.  Our findings were pretty interesting. Mowing Greens => 18 miles   (18 miles * 6 times a week = 108 miles a week) Mowing Tees => 12 miles (12 miles * 3 times a week = 36 miles a week) Mowing Collars and Approaches => 3 miles (3 miles * 3 times a week = 9 miles a week) Therefore, over 153 miles are walked every week to mow greens, tees, collars and approaches.   In a normal week, all this mowing is done by 9 different people, which equates to 17 miles per staff member . (153 total miles / 9 staff members = 17 miles walked a week per staff member) In a normal golf season, we walk mow 30 weeks a year and that equals 510 miles per staff member . (30 week...

Despite some unfavorable weather today, we were able to verticut greens and spray them with a soil application.  It was too wet to topdress greens, so that will be rescheduled for tomorrow along with verticutting fairways. David verticutting #8 green Myles spraying #5 green  

I'm happy to report that all is good on the golf course.  The turf is healthy, looks great and is playing nicely.  It was another productive week.  Below are a few photos from the week.

-GREENS AERIFICATION- Weather permitting, greens aerification is scheduled for August 26-27.  This will be the Monday and Tuesday after the Club Championship.  We've used this timing the last few years with great success.  The greens healed in quickly and were extremely playable after the process.