Course Update 6/28/18

Greens:  Mowed every day (weather dependent), and double-cut on the weekends and for member tournaments.  Greens are sprayed every week with low rates of fungicide, plant growth regulators (pgr's), and fertilizer to maintain healthy turf and keep new growth to a minimum.  We can usually mow 3-4 greens before needing to dump the buckets that collect the clippings.  We recently applied a wetting agent (surfactant) that helps water move into and thru the rootzone.  Wetting agents break the hydrogen bonds in the water molecule and the reduced surface tension allows the water to soak into the rootzone faster.  We wanted to be prepared for spot watering with the return of hot, dry weather.  Golfers won't notice a difference in the turf, in fact the greens tend to roll faster after applications of wetting agents because less moisture is held near the surface.

Tees:  New this year we have one staff member dedicated to tee service.  Their job entails wiping down the divot boxes and keeping them filled with divot mix, keeping the hole monuments clean from bird droppings, refilling/maintaining the 6 divot bottle stations throughout the property, cleaning the 3 course restrooms, collecting trash and other debris, and filling divots.  The tees still have the same amount of divots, but I've noticed the divots are filled more often and filled correctly (see the post about divots from two weeks ago).

Fairways:  They have great color and dense, healthy turf heading into summer and held up well given the amount of rain we've received this year.  More hot weather is coming for at least the next week, so you may encounter the staff spot watering or running irrigation heads during the day.  That is how we cool the turf and keep it from wilting.  We continue to sod the smaller depressions void of turf and the larger areas will be addressed with the drainage project that is starting soon.

Bunkers:  1.33" of heavy rain fell yesterday afternoon and last night that made a mess in the bunkers.  Most of the staff spent the entire day pumping water and repairing washouts.  More time will be spent in them tomorrow to finish everything for the weekend.

Before

Before

After

Irrigation Systems

With the onset of hot, dry weather, we've had to start relying on the irrigation systems.  We have two similar systems, with the main one covering Orchard and Grove.  The Lakes nine has its own separate system including one pumphouse which is located behind #7 green.  The system on Orchard and Grove has a primary pumphouse, located across the lake from the practice green, along with a booster pumphouse left of the gold tee on Grove 8.  The main pumphouse is able to provide 1,100 gallons per minute at 125 psi while the Lakes pumphouse can do 500 gallons per minute.  Running a full cycle of every irrigation head requires 6 hours of run time, which equates to 576,000 gallons of water.  We may run a full cycle with every head a few times per month, but we're typically applying 200,000-275,000 gallons of water per irrigation cycle.  All the water used comes from the lakes/ponds on property, we do not have to purchase water like a lot of clubs do around Pittsburgh.  We also have to record how much water we pump every month and submit a usage report to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

There are approximately 1,300 irrigation heads throughout the property.  Each head measures 12" high and 8" in diameter, and retails for $425 new.  The heads attach to piping that is 18"-24" below ground, and are wired back to irrigation controllers (we call them satellites).  There are 34 satellites throughout the property and retail for $4,000-$6,000 each depending on how many irrigation heads they can control.  The satellites are hardwired and communicate with a central control computer located in the maintenance building.  We also have the ability to connect 1" diameter hoses to the systems when spot-watering is needed.  The hoses thread onto a "key" which is inserted into a snap valve, or quick coupler.  The quick coupler has a spring loaded valve that is opened as the key is turned.  There are 2 quick couplers at every green, and each tee complex also has 2 couplers.  Then there are a handful of couplers in every fairway and near bunkers.  Typically during the summer, one person is able to manage the systems and perform necessary maintenance.  This week has seen an increase in repairs so 2 staff members have been working hard to keep up with everything.

New irrigation head waiting to be installed

After installing the new irrigation head we discovered a leak from the service T that the quick coupler was connected to.  That's a 2" diameter pipe 18" deep that supplies water to the heads and quick couplers.  Your home only has 1/2" up to 3/4" size piping throughout.

Backfilling around the new head and quick coupler

One of the 34 irrigation controllers throughout the property

Our table of old irrigation heads and related parts.  We save and reuse what we can since some of the items aren't manufactured anymore

Divots

Now that the season is well underway, I thought it would be a good time to talk about divots.  When you hit a shot from a tee or fairway and the divot stays intact similar to the first picture below, you want to replace that divot.  If replaced within 24 hours of being removed, it has a very good chance of surviving.  Obviously you want the soil side down, and once in place, you want to step on the divot to smooth it out and make sure the existing roots contact the soil.  Sometimes a little divot sand can be applied if the divot doesn't fill the entire void.  If the divot explodes when striking the ball, there's no reason to try to gather all the little pieces.  They won't survive so the best course of action is to fill the void with divot sand.

Speaking of divot sand, we purchase a special blend of sand that is dyed green and contains a nutrient package designed to help the new turf quickly grow.  The divot sand comes in 2,000 pound (1 ton) super-sacs and we have a "Divot Mixing Area" in the maintenance building where we add bentgrass seed to the sand/nutrient blend using a standard cement mixer purchased from one of the home improvement stores.  During the summer, we go through one super-sac of divot mix per week between the divot bottles on the carts, the six refill stations throughout the course, in the divot boxes on the tees, and what the staff uses when filling divots each day.  By the end of the year, we will have used 25-30 super-sacs, at a cost of $410 each.  Bentgrass seed costs $11 per pound and we use around 200 pounds per year.

**Please use the divot sand only on tees and fairways.  Using the mix in the rough and along cart path edges leads to contamination and undesirable playing conditions.  Rough-height bentgrass is also more susceptible to disease and dies out easily during the summer leaving large areas of dead or thin turf.**

This is a fairway divot and should be replaced since it stayed intact

Void where the divot came from

Divot was replaced and stepped down to smooth out.  No divot sand was needed

Fairway divots weren't reusable so the voids were filled with sand

Tee divots improperly filled with sand.  Notice how the sand is piled up between the divots.  This wastes sand and dulls the mowers

"Divot Mixing Area" at the maintenance building

Course Update 6/7/18

Sod Work
This week we addressed some areas in the rough by installing turf-type tall fescue sod from a nursery near State College.  Turf-type tall fescue has been gaining popularity over the past decade due to it's desirable characteristics and more nurseries are growing it.  As the name implies, it has finer texture leaf blades similar to ryegrass and bluegrass.  Kentucky bluegrass has long been the "standard" when it comes to rough sod, but turf-type tall fescue has a darker green color, is less prone to disease and insects, can hold up better when subjected to increased foot and cart traffic, and does not require as much water during the summer as Kentucky bluegrass.  We brought in seven pallets (4,200 sq.ft.) on Monday to finish up some areas on Orchard 5 & 6, along with between the gold and blue tees on Grove 3.  We still have some leftover and started sodding stump holes around Grove 2 green.

Rough area on Orchard 5 prepped for sod

Orchard 5 after

Rough area before Orchard 6 fairway prepped and starting to install sod

Orchard 6 after