Course Update 4/26/18

It was another week of wet weather, but at least it didn't snow!  We're up to 4.47" of liquid precipitation this month and still have 4 days to go.  Our average for April is only 3.11".  Anyone who has played recently knows how wet the courses are, and it's been challenging trying to keep everything mowed now that most of the turf has resumed normal growth.  The two biggest issues we're dealing with right now are ruts and shallow roots.  The ruts will be fixed once the courses dry out through rolling/tamping, then leveling with soil and sowing seed.  They should recover quickly with good weather, but we'll have to look at them for a little while longer.  The shallow roots are a bigger concern for turf health this summer.  In a normal spring with average precipitation, plant roots are actively growing longer in search of water and nutrients.  Longer roots allows the turf to prepare for the stressful summer season where root loss is common.  With everything being so wet this year, the roots do not have to search for water and nutrients deeper in the soil.  They will remain fairly shallow until conditions dry out forcing the roots to grow deeper.  The recent aerification of greens helps with root production by relieving compaction and making it easier for water and nutrients to move deeper in the rootzone.  Aerification also increases oxygen levels in the soil for healthy root growth.  New this year, we will be core aerifying tees and fairways both spring and fall to start addressing the issues that arose last season.  The same benefits will be achieved as mentioned for the greens, and expect to see the process started in the next week or two depending on what the weather does.

Speaking of greens aerification, the pictures below were taken on Grove 7 green.  It's only been a week since DryJect occurred, but the holes are almost completely healed.  Orchard greens were completed today and should be completely healed in 7-10 days.

DryJected green on 4/18

Same green on 4/25

Course Update 4/19/18

Well, it's been another week of wild weather.  Last Friday and Saturday it was in the 80's, and today had snow showers (with a little accumulation).  At least yesterday was nice for DryJecting greens.  Grove, Lakes and both practice greens were completed, then the surface was dragged to work any remaining sand into the turf canopy.  We were planning to roll those greens today, but the snow and wet conditions prevented us from doing so.  Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer and drier, so we'll try again.  Orchard greens are scheduled for DryJect on Wednesday, 4/25.

Click here to see how the DryJect process works. 

So far this spring we haven't been able to perform any kind of routine mowing, but as mentioned in an earlier post, we stay busy with other tasks.  This week, those tasks included:

• Pulling weeds, edging and general cleanup of the landscape beds around the clubhouse
• Removing brush that was laying in the water along the edge of the pond on lower Orchard 8 fairway
• Removing piles of aerification plugs dumped along the perimeter of some holes
• Pressurizing and testing the irrigation systems, along with making repairs when necessary
• Helping Doug uncover the pool so he can get it ready for the summer
• Trimming around and clearing blocked drainage lines to handle the excess rainfall
• Cleaning up sticks and debris from recent storms
• Repairing washouts in bunkers

Piles of brush removed from the pond near the lower fairway on Orchard 8

Kevin, David and Justin keeping the DryJect machine filled with sand on Grove 9 green

Putting surface after DryJect. The little bit of sand remaining will be spread across the green and worked into the canopy by the drag brush

Colorful Putting Greens

Anyone who has played recently has probably noticed the color variation in the greens.  All of the putting greens are a mixture of Bentgrass (Agrostis palustris) and Annual Bluegrass (Poa annua).  They typically have a blotchy or patch-like appearance this time of year, but the color variation is not an indication of poor turf health.  Bentgrass is the slowest to come out of dormancy, and tends to take on a darker appearance in the spring and fall.  Poa on the other hand is first to break dormancy, and is further differentiated based on whether it's a perennial or true annual biotype.  Similar to Bentgrass, the perennial biotypes tend to have a darker appearance, while the annual biotypes appear more lime green.  Some of what you're also seeing is old leaf tissue from last season, which makes the putting surface appear white or tan.  That tissue will be removed with each successive mowing as the plants resume their active growth and produce new tissue.  With a few more warm days, the turf will "wake up" and the color variations should be less noticeable.

Bent/Poa green with color variations normally found this time of year

Course Update 4/5/18

It was another week of lousy weather, but we made the best of it.  Greens were mowed for the first time on Saturday and have been water logged or frozen ever since.  Tees and fairways need to be mowed, but are too wet to even think about putting a mower on.  The 10-day forecast doesn't look much better, in fact it's supposed to be another very cold weekend.

Even though we haven't been able to conduct our usual turf maintenance tasks this year, there is plenty to do.  We finished up the tree work on Grove 2 & 3, rejuvenated the landscape bed surrounding the well head on the right of Orchard 5, tried to work in the bunkers but the sand was frozen, cleaned up debris around the Clubhouse several times thanks to the 50mph winds, continued course cleanup where there wasn't standing water, finished powerwashing the equipment, sanded and painted tee markers, and started filling the irrigation system.  There are several other tasks not listed here, but you get the idea.

Woke up to 3" of snow Monday morning

1.25" of rainfall on Tuesday.  Didn't think it was possible for the course to get any wetter

David Novak making sure all the equipment is looking it's best

Landscape bed on Orchard 5 needed a rejuvenation this year

All 232 tee markers are painted every year by our long-time mechanic, Randy Miller

Grove 3 tee...before

Grove 3 tee...after

Multi-stem maple tree near Grove 3 cart path removed for safety reasons.  The dark areas are decaying wood and the light color is healthy wood