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Course Update -- Bunkers

Quick Course Fact...There are 157 bunkers on property, which equates to 3.5 acres of sand and 3.75 miles of bunker edge.

It takes a considerable amount of time to properly maintain them all, and this year we've devoted many more resources to that effort.  A landscape company has been coming in once per week for the past 15 weeks to edge, pull weeds, and move sand from low areas back up to the slopes and faces.  A member of the grounds staff has assisted them each week, and their combined time totals 560 man hours thus far.  The greenside bunkers on all three nines have been edged, along with all the fairway bunkers on Orchard.  The crew is almost finished with Lakes fairway bunkers and will turn to Grove to finish out the season.  Work in the greenside bunkers went relatively quick as they only required minimal edging.  The fairway bunkers have been a different story.  Some of the fairway bunkers were so overgrown the crew ended up cutting back 12" to find the native soil edge.  Once all the organic material is removed the crew can start moving sand around.  Going forward, the bunkers only require bi-weekly trimming of the grass surround, pulling weeds as they emerge, and regular raking.

Edging a fairway bunker on Lakes #7

Course Update -- Fairways

Despite all the repair work done to the fairways, the areas damaged by Pythium blight earlier this summer are healing slower than anticipated.  The problem comes from the excessive amount of thatch in the fairways, which retains too much moisture and does not provide the ideal conditions for seed germination.  Going forward, the aerification program started this fall will reduce thatch levels over time and the grass will be healthier.  Please refer to an earlier post about aerification and why it is necessary.  Additionally, we're working with our regional support team to implement the best solution to restore the fairways to optimal playing conditions as quickly as possible.

Construction Update

The contractor is currently re-shaping and leveling the blue and white tees on Orchard 9.  He anticipates having them ready for sod this week.  Next on the list is Grove 2 and 3.  With projects like this we need to have a large number of areas prepped so when the sod crew is here they can install everything in two days.

Aerification Update

Regular core aerification is essential in maintaining healthy turf that can withstand the wear and tear of a long golf season and the extreme weather events that go with it.  For our location, that means pulling a core twice per year, typically early spring and sometime in the fall.  This year, we experimented with a newer process called DryJect that uses high pressure water to inject sand directly into the rootzone.   The process was very successful in that it created firmer greens and the healing time was only a few days compared to a couple weeks.  It worked so well the management team decided to have the service done again this fall, but we needed to combine it with core aerification that removes some of the old sand and thatch.  We originally planned to have the contractor here last Tuesday/Wednesday after Labor Day, but the weather did not cooperate and the service was postponed.  Since the weather wasn't conducive to DryJecting, we went ahead and core aerified the greens using 1/4" mini tines and then lightly topdressed.  The plan was always to core aerify immediately after DryJecting, but we didn't want to wait given the uncertainty of the weather this time of year.  Orchard and Grove greens were completed last Thursday and as of this morning the holes were barely visible.  The advantage of using a smaller tine is the healing time is greatly reduced, but we're still removing a good amount of old sand mix and thatch by creating 72 holes per square foot with our current machine setup.  Lakes greens are being aerified and topdressed today, and will heal quickly with a little rain and warm temps.  We still plan to DryJect the greens this fall and we're working with the contractor to identify some dates that are less disruptive to the membership.  More info to come...

As for fairways and tees, they too require core aerification twice per year and we're starting on that cycle this fall.  Orchard fairways have been completed, and a contractor is aerifying Lakes today and Grove fairways tomorrow.  Fairway aerification is a much bigger task since we have 40 acres between the three courses.  Tees encompass 6 acres and the maintenance staff will aerify those during periods of slow play.

Remember to check with the Golf Shop regarding course status and any maintenance activities scheduled for that day.


Click on the link below for more information about aerification and why it is necessary.

http://www.usga.org/videos/2013/03/27/usga-course-care-video--why-aerate--2257797353001.html