Reel to Reel

A quick turn in the weather has sped up our winter preparations.  Highlights of this week's accomplishments include: greens aerification with deep tines final fungicide applications on greens, tees, and fairways removed tee markers, bunker rakes and coolers from the course ornamental bed clean-out leaf clean-up On the agenda next week: winterization of irrigation system continued ornamental bed clean out continued leaf clean-up roping off greens

We were able to add 100 feet of new drainage to #5 this week.  The north half of #5 fairway was one of the wettest areas this spring with all of the excess rain.  This new drainage will help move off the surface water and help speed up the drying process in future rainstorms. digging the drainage on #5 In the last week, the leaves have really started to fall.  We will continue to work on some small projects, but most of our efforts will be concentrated on leaf clean-up. mulching leaves on #18

It has been a productive couple of weeks.  We have been able to put a great push on leveling and squaring off the tees that we were hoping to get to this fall.  #5, #11, #12,  #15, #17, and #18 are now complete. #5 black tee #15 blue tee #17 black tee #17 black tee

We were able to demo the Wiedenmann Super 600 yesterday on #6 fairway.  The Super 600 is a heavy duty verticutter and sweeper.  The primary use for this piece of equipment is to verticut fairways and sweep up the debris all at the same time. The Wiedenmann certainly proves to be a more efficient way to verticut fairways because it picks up the thatch as it verticuts. Verticutting is an extremely important cultural practice because it removes thatch.  Thatch is a layer of living and dead organic matter that occurs between the turf and soil surface.  The primary component of thatch is turfgrass stems and roots.  It accumulates as these plant parts buildup faster than they can decompose.  Excessive thatch creates a favorable environment for pests and disease and an unfavorable growing environment for grass roots.  But most importantly, thatch interferes with water infiltration into the soil. Verticutting is an extremely important cultural practice ...

Fairway aerification continues to move smoothly.  #12, #14, and #16 are the only fairways left to complete.  We will be able to finish those early next week. aerifying #7 fairway We were able to install 30 feet of additional drainage on #12, between the green and pond. new drainage being installed We also started leveling and squaring off a few tees this week.  #1, #4 and #16 blue tees were all completed. #1 tee completed #4 black/gold tee #4 tee complex completed

Here are two nice pieces of content the USGA just put out. Video: Five Things You Should Know About Autumn Golf https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/course-care/green-section-record/57/19/five-things-you-should-know-about-autumn-golf.html Article: Light The Way To Healthy Putting Greens https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/course-care/green-section-record/57/19/light-the-way-to-healthy-putting-greens.html#returnable

October is off to a good start, as we were able to add a drainage line to #5 fairway and start aerifying fairways yesterday.  Fairways 1-4, and 6 are complete. aerifying #1 fairway rolling #1 fairway finished product We added over 50 feet of drainage to a wet area on #5 fairway at the 75 yard marker. puddle on #5 fairway Monday morning new drainage line installed on #5 fairway

It was a long two days, but aerification of the greens was successful.  It was a daunting task working that much sand into the aerification holes, but our staff attacked it with great determination. sand covering #18 green aerifying #13 green working sand into the holes on #3 green aerification holes filled to the top with sand # 6 green #6 green Reminder: We will aerify tees on 9/9 and 9/10.  Fairways will follow tees.  We will aerify 2-3 fairways a day as weather and our other maintenance practices allow.

The month is off to a good start.  We finished grading and sodding around the cart paths on #12 and #14.  I'm really pleased with the finished product.  We added quite a bit of soil to both areas to blend the new paths into the existing area. #12 green cart path #14 green cart path We also finished adding soil, grading and seeding the old cart paths that we eliminated on #12 and #14.  The seedlings are coming along nicely. grading area on #12 new seedlings We were also able to finish a couple small drainage projects on #10 in the rough east of fairway. grading area newly sodded drain

The week is off to a good start.  We were able to accomplish a great deal.  On the list of accomplishments: Verticut Greens Mowed Greens Topdressed Greens Brushed in topdressing sand Sliced Greens Sprayed Greens early start verticutting #5 green verticutting #10 green pulled out a good amount of lateral growth topdressing #2 green brushing in sand #6 green slicing #1 green moving some oxygen into the profile close up of slices on #10 green

Heavy rains exceeding 1.5" this morning has left the golf course extremely saturated.  This morning's rainfall brings this month's (June) rainfall total to over 3.75".  As wet as the golf course has been this spring, there is now standing water in spots we have not seen all year. #1 fairway #2 rough #2 fairway #8 blue tee #11 black tee surrounded by water #12 pond well over its banks #15 rough

I wanted to provide a brief update on course happenings this week: More rain earlier in the week delayed the cart path asphalt installation.  Hopefully they can get out at the end of this week to get the project wrapped up. Due to the excessive amount of rain this spring, the greens with poor drainage are showing some signs of thin turf.  We have aerified with needle tines, topdressed, and overseeded greens #5 and #14 .  We have raised the heights slightly on these greens to give the seed a better chance of success; both of these greens will be slower than the others. This time of year Poa annua, which is the primary type of grass on our greens, produces seeds.  The seedheads can disrupt putting which can cause greens to be bumpy and slower.  Poa annua seedhead control has been excellent this year.  A big part of this success can be attributed to changes we made in the timing of our growth regulator applications this year.  The seedhea...

It has been a hectic month to say the least.  Mother Nature's unpredictable behavior has made it difficult to find a rhythm.  We have accumulated 12" of rain since the beginning of the year, and 7" of it has fallen over the last 7 weeks.  We have had to make some adjustments to our normal schedule to account for the excessive rain, but I have been very pleased with what we have been able to accomplish in less than ideal conditions.  #14 fairway Additionally, the asphalt company was able to finish their prep work on the last cart path this week.  If all goes well with the weather, the cart paths are scheduled to be paved Monday and Tuesday.