Reel to Reel

Last week our staff removed the existing fence between the tee on #17 and the driving range.  It was quite tedious as we had to pull it down, disassemble it, and cut it up for removal. The new net was installed by a company last Friday.  It looks great, and blends into the natural surroundings extremely well.

The weather this week was not conducive to leaf clean-up, so we got an early start on tree pruning.

Cold, wet weather has created challenging working conditions as we conduct our winter preparations on the golf course.  Despite the poor weather, we have been able to make our final fungicide applications of the season on greens, tees, and fairways.  Tee markers, bunker rakes, and coolers have been removed from the course.  We have winterized the bathrooms and irrigation system. winterizing the irrigation system We were also able to mulch a significant amount of leaves this past week. mulching leaves on #14 This morning, we woke up to a couple of inches of snow on the ground.  It looks like this week's tasks will have their own set of new challenges. much mulching remains to be completed

It was another productive week; we improved a few of our existing cart paths.  The paths on #3 green/#4 tee, #6 green/#7 tee, and #17 green/#18 tee were all resurfaced with cart path material.  The paths were shortened to better suit the flow of traffic.  In addition, unnecessary sections of the paths were eliminated. #3 green / #4 tee #6 green / #7 tee Additionally, a company was in this week preparing specific paths for new asphalt.  Weather permitting, #12 green, #14 tee and #14 green will be getting fresh asphalt over the next 7-10 days.

Because the leaves fell at a slower rate this week, we focused much of our attention on a few drainage projects. On #4, we added additional drainage to the approach and south rough. On #6, we added additional drainage just west of the right green side bunker. On #7, we added additional drainage south of the creek between #7 and #10. #4 before drainage #4 after drainage 

Over the last couple of weeks, we have been working on fairway aerification.  It is a slow process as we are aerifying at 1 mph to achieve the proper hole spacing and 10" depth.  We completed the last of the fairways this week.

It is not uncommon for soils to drain slower in the fall.  A half inch of rain in the fall acts and feels like much more than it does in season.  There are several factors that play a role in this phenomenon: shorter days lower sun angle less evapotranspiration declining soil temperatures The excessive amount of rain that we have received over the last 11 days has certainly provided some challenges. Below are the rain fall amounts over the last 11 days, which has brought our total to over 4": 9/20 - 1.6" of rain 9/25 - .6" of rain 9/30 - .3" of rain 10/1 - 1.75" of rain The following pictures are from this morning. #1 fairway and rough #14 green #18 green #9 green If conditions allow, we are going to slice and/or needle tine the greens tomorrow to help facilitate some drying and water movement through the soil profile. It is unlikely that carts will be available tomorrow.

Rain throughout the morning has made it too wet to aerify tees.  We will reschedule for tomorrow and Wednesday.

Despite a couple of hot and humid days, greens aerification went well.  We were able to successfully alleviate some compaction and add a significant amount of sand to the soil profile.  As in the spring, we focused our attention on adding sand to the top two inches of the profile.  We were extremely pleased with the results of this practice throughout the year.  The greens were firmer and more consistent. The greens are healing well.  We continue to roll for smoothness.  I would anticipate them to be healed by the end of next week. #16 green topdressed #10 green being aerified #1 green being blown #2 green finished  Reminder, we will be aerifying tees 9/10-9/11.

Weather permitting, the fall aerification dates are detailed below. Aerification of the greens will occur 9/4/18 through 9/5/18. Aerification of the tees will occur 9/10/18 through 9/11/18. Aerification of the fairways will occur 9/10/18 through 9/28/18.

We continue to see recovery around green banks that suffered from the heat this summer.  New plants are germinating in the aerification holes we created a couple of weeks ago.  We aerified and seeded them again today.  I would expect to see a pretty quick recovery as the extended forecast looks to be much more favorable. close-up of new plants growing on #2 aerification of #9 green bank

Over an 1.5" of rain and cooler night time temperatures this week revitalized the rough.  We sent out our full fleet of rough mowers plus a new mower we are testing to cut this extra growth.  We were able to get around and mow the rough and banks an extra time this week. we opted to mow as one unit covering 36' a pass mowing #3 It looks like there will be more hot and humid weather this weekend.  As always, we will try to get green speeds as fast as we can, but it is often difficult on humid days because the turf leaf blades absorb moisture and expand causing more resistance on ball roll.

Here are a few of my favorite photos this month.

The week is off to a great start.  Favorable weather gave us the opportunity to aerify greens with the needle tines and solid tine aerify around green banks.  Many of the green banks that we sodded last fall are showing signs of stress from the extreme heat and lack of rain last month.  Following aerification, we overseeded and applied a fertilizer to aid in recovery. needle tine aerification on #3 green close up of needle tine holes aerifying #9 green bank

Thus far, it has been a hot and dry July.  We have not seen any precipitation over the last 14 days, and 12 of those days have had temperatures between 84°- 93°. During this stretch, we have tried to be proactive with our maintenance practices.  Hand watering, needle tine aerification, and preventative fungicide applications have all helped the turf through this tough weather stretch.

We have spent a great deal of time and energy building a staff and a fleet that is flexible enough to adapt to whatever Mother Nature throws at us.  That means some days the plans change and our tasks are delayed.  However, on other days, it means we take advantage of ideal conditions and complete tasks that the weather hasn't permitted. We took full advantage of today's favorable weather by verticutting, cutting, rolling, topdressing, and spraying greens this morning. verticutting #16 green removed organic matter topdressing #1 green

We had to have the tree company come out yesterday to remove a Norway Spruce on #11. The tree had developed a large crack extending down to the base of the tree.

You can't manage what you don't measure is an old business adage that is certainly applicable to turfgrass management.  Unless you measure something, you truly don't know if it is improving or declining.  We use this approach in many areas on the golf course.  We measure everything from green speed to soil moisture to soil firmness.  Utilizing various meters, we gather data that is unbiased and free of emotion.  We can then adjust our maintenance practices accordingly based on the data. We have added a new tool to our arsenal this year, a TruFirm firmness meter.  Based on technology developed by the USGA, the TruFirm meter offers a quick way to measure turf firmness.  The meter utilizes a hemisphere-shaped impact hammer that mimics the shape of a golf ball and simulates golf ball impacts.  The mass is dropped from a consistent height and the maximum turf penetration value is recorded and correlated to turf firmness.  The lower the penetrat...

As summer draws near, the golf course is in great shape.  Our staff is starting to find a real rhythm as the weather has been much more cooperative. #12 #1 #3 We have made a few significant changes to our maintenance schedule this year which are paying great dividends.  We have added mowing fairways and rough to our Saturday evening maintenance schedule.  These changes have certainly improved playability.  We are getting a nice dry cut which is keeping the fairways and rough nice and tight. mowing rough on #5 Saturday evening mowing #17 fairway Saturday evening

More rain last night and today totaling 2.5" has left the course extremely wet.  There will be no carts tomorrow, as we will need a couple days to dry out.  We are only twelve days into the month and rainfall totals have already exceeded 4". #17 green #14 green #5 fairway #8 rough #11 fairway