Course Update 7/4/22

 This morning we discovered some vandalism on Orchard 7.  We believe a golf club was used to remove chunks of turf out of the putting surface, and inappropriate words and pictures were drawn in the bunkers.  The maintenance staff raked the bunkers and repaired the damaged turf prior to play.  We will monitor the areas to see if additional repairs are necessary.  Please call the golf shop if you have any information about this incident or call the police if you notice any unauthorized activity on the courses after hours.  Thanks for your help to protect our beautiful courses!

Orchard & Lakes - Adams Township Police

Grove - Northern Regional Police

Course Update 6/30/22

 Total rainfall in June is 4.76", which is .61" above the monthly average of 4.15" and we're 4.98" above our average annual rainfall since January 1.  May and June were wetter than average months, but you wouldn't know it with how the courses look.  Warmer than normal temps and very low humidity has dried out the soil and the turf is showing signs of dehydration.  The color change is a natural response to the lack of soil moisture and turf plants will go into a semi-dormant state to protect the crown and roots, while sacrificing the leaf tissue.  Once ample soil moisture returns the plants will resume normal growth and produce new leaf tissue.

Our irrigation systems have adequate coverage and can provide enough water to keep the turf actively growing, but even the best systems can't replace natural rainfall.  Irrigation systems are meant to supplement rainfall, not replace it, and our philosophy is to water for playability, not aesthetics.  One practice we use during dry weather is handwatering, which allows us to direct water to areas that need it, while not over watering other areas.  This practice also uses much less water and electricity compared to running irrigation heads.

Course Update 5/14/22

Last week was a challenge for the maintenance team after receiving 3.77" of rain over 4 days, but we made up for it this week thanks to the 5-day stretch of dry weather.  We've received 4.53" of rain over the past 14 days but our average rainfall is only 4.43" for the entire month.  Let's hope the dry weather continues!

The rough is experiencing the spring flush of growth and we're throwing every mower and blower we have to keep it under control.  It will probably be another couple of weeks until it transitions from the seeding stage and begins to thin out.  Broadleaf weeds continue to be a nuisance and we'll continue with herbicide applications as the weather permits.  Rain, excessive wind, and heat prevent us from applying herbicides and we don't want to risk damaging non-target plants.

Course signs were recently updated with new logos and a fresh coat of paint.

Rough mowers had their hands full this week with how fast the grass is growing.

Divot Repair

Now that the season is underway I thought it would be a good time to discuss divot repair.  When you hit a shot 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.  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 on tees and fairways only.

Speaking of divot sand, we purchase a special blend of sand that is dyed green and contains a nutrient package designed to help the grass seedlings 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 a home improvement store.  During the summer, we go through two super-sacs of divot mix per week between the divot bottles on the carts, six refill stations throughout the course, 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 35-40 super-sacs at a cost of $450 each.

**PLEASE USE DIVOT SAND ONLY ON TEES & FAIRWAYS**

Using the mix in the rough and along cart path edges leads to contamination and undesirable playing conditions.  Rough-height bentgrass is more susceptible to disease and dies out easily during the summer leaving large areas of dead or thin turf.

This divot 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.

Frost Delays

 Even though it's almost May, frost delays are still common this time of year.  Looking at our weather records from 2021, the last frost delay occurred on May 15 so there's a good chance of frost for several more weeks.

Frost will usually be evident at sunrise, as the air at ground level is warmed it becomes lighter and rises.  Colder, denser air will take the place of the warm air and can be 5-10 degrees cooler, thus creating frozen turf.  Frost usually "burns off" quickly in direct sunlight but certain areas of the course are heavily shaded and take longer to thaw, such Orchard 1, Lakes 2, and Grove 2 & 3.  Our winter tree removal program has focused on these holes to allow for increased sunlight penetration, but we still have more work to do and some trees are not on golf course property.  The maintenance staff monitors these specific holes on cold mornings to determine whether frost is present, and the decision to allow play is based on when the areas will be frost-free and the courses can be prepared for play.  The maintenance staff requires a 45-60 minute head start to stay ahead of play depending on the activities that day.

Click Here To Watch A Short Video From The USGA On Frost Delays

Frost delays are a great time to mow outer rough that's not affected by frozen tissue

Mulching landscape beds around the clubhouse on frosty mornings greatly improves aesthetics

Course Update 4/23/22

Realized it's been a while since the last post so here's a summary of activities.

• Greens were core aerified & topdressed in March but are taking longer to heal due to the cool, wet weather over the past month.  The 80 degree temps over the next few days will increase turf growth and aid the healing process.  We plan to lower the mowing height once the greens are fully healed.
• Tees were recently aerified & topdressed and are also healing slower than expected due to the erratic weather.  Most of the topdressing sand has been worked into the canopy from brushing and rain, and we plan to resume mowing this coming week.
• Fairways were scheduled to be core aerified this past week but were deep-tined instead due to the wet conditions.  Deep-tining employs a 3/4" diameter solid tine that penetrates 7-8" deep to fracture compacted soil layers to encourage better drainage and root growth.  A handful of fairways have been topdressed and we plan to finish that process once they dry out enough to minimize damaging the turf with the large equipment.
• Bunker maintenance is a high priority this year and the staff has been spending considerably more time moving & adding sand, along with edging.  New rakes with larger heads are being used in all bunkers and we are waiting to receive another shipment to replace the smaller rakes remaining around some of the fairway bunkers.
• The first cut of rough around fairways and greens has been re-established after finally receiving parts this winter to repair the mower.  The wet conditions have prevented regular mowing which resulted in longer turf in areas, but that will be remedied once drier conditions return and more frequent mowing occurs.
• Several drainage/sod projects have been addressed to replace broken and/or sunken basins, along with replacing worn or damaged turf around them.  We have a few more on the list to complete this spring.
• Stumps ground over the winter have been cleaned up, filled with topsoil, and seeded.  There are a few more areas that require additional soil and seed, and a contractor will be grinding stumps throughout the property in the coming weeks.

Greens are regularly mowed and we will lower cutting heights once aerification holes are fully healed.

Aerification holes are healing slower than expected due to erratic weather this spring.  Warm, sunny days have been limited and greatly help the healing process.

Tees were recently topdressed & aerified.

Fairways were deep-tined this week instead of pulling cores due to wet conditions.  Core aerification is still planned in problem areas once drier conditions return.

Close up of a deep-tined fairway.  The holes on the surface should heal in a couple weeks but the real benefit is the fractured soil layers that allow increased water movement and root growth for months.

Freshly edged bunker on Grove #9.

Adding sand to the range tee practice bunker.

Bunker on Grove #4 edged and raked.

Drain basin & sod replacement on Grove #9.  The old square catch basin was broken and replaced with a 12" round basin that was taller and surrounded by gravel for increased drainage.  The white lines outline the sod being replaced.

Grove #9 with the new drain basin, lid & sod.

New drain basin on Grove #5.

Stump hole on Orchard #5 filled with topsoil and ready for seed.

Course Update 2/28/22

 We had another productive month of winter projects and we're trying to finish up in the next two weeks.  It feels like the weather is starting to improve, so that means course maintenance activities aren't too far off.

This view is from Lakes #8 white tee and you can see where trees were removed near the front of the tee and right of the cart path.  The trees had become too large and were limiting the amount of usable hitting area.

Another group of trees on Lakes #8 just past the ones near the white tee were in decline and removed for safety reasons.  They were along the right side of the cart path short of the dogleg and had no impact on playability.

Here's the damaged base of one tree removed on Lakes #8.  Anytime an old wound is visible with bark missing is a sign that the tree is dying and should be removed ASAP.

Pruning on Lakes #5 on the hill along the right side of the fairway.  Several smaller trees were removed in this area to let the larger trees flourish while still protecting the right side of the hole.

Further down the right side on Lakes #5 near the last house, several trees were removed for safety reasons.  This double-trunk Maple was separating at the base and the left trunk with the orange dot would have fallen across the cart path.

The staff spent a full week on Lakes #2 removing vegetation along the right side of the tees to allow for more sunlight and air circulation.  Turf health and quality were diminished compared to other tees throughout the course, but we expect to see a noticeable improvement with a more favorable growing environment.

Here's a closeup view on Lakes #2 right of the tees with the snow gone.

Staying on Lakes #2, we removed the Oak tree on the hill left of the green for safety reasons.  Last season we noticed a significant number of dead branches in the upper portion of the canopy that signaled the tree was dying.

The White Pine trees behind Grove #5 green were damaged during the recent ice storms but we were able to prune back the broken branches and save all the trees except one.

The staff is cleaning up a large tree near the mirror as you come up the path to Grove #4 tees.

In December we started investigating the sunken area in the middle of Orchard #9 green.  The depression had become so bad the mowers were scalping the turf and we couldn't set a cup there anymore.  We dug down over 2' but didn't find anything unusual.

We proceeded to fill in the hole and added sand to level the area.

The 2"x4" seen here and in the previous photo were used as a screed to evenly spread the sand while filling in the low areas.  The pencil was used as a reference to illustrate the 1" gap in the center of the depression where we added sand.

Unfortunately, the weather changed quickly at the end of December and didn't allow us to finish the project.  Just last week we were able to resume work once the snow melted and the ground thawed.  We finished spreading the sand and leveling the area, then began laying sod.

Working with greens sod is always a delicate process. We needed to work off plywood to prevent leaving footprints in the sand or depressions in the sod from our knees.

All the sod has been laid and we're tamping or hand rolling the pieces to eliminate uneven areas.

A light topdressing of green sand was applied using a drop spreader to help fill in the seams and hide any imperfections.  The sod should heal quickly once the weather improves and the turf starts growing, but we'll also give the area some extra attention with frequent, light topdressings.

Course Update 1/31/22

 Happy New Year!!

January has been a busy month for us even with all the snow.  Tree pruning and stump grinding were the primary focus early on, then we began tree removal in areas that could be accessed in the snow.

Tree pruning behind Orchard #3 green.  Late fall and winter is the ideal time to prune Oak trees to minimize the spread of Oak Wilt fungal disease.

Grinding a large stump behind Lakes #9 gold tee.

Stump grinding behind Lakes #8 green.  Our goal was to have all the stumps ground before the snow fell, but a couple had to be completed in the snow.

The creek behind Orchard #3 green is notorious for backing up and flooding the low area in front of Orchard #2 fairway after heavy rains. The excess water first had to be pumped down to expose the drainage pipes that run under the cart path. Then several cart-loads of debris including a few logs were removed from the pipes and the remaining water drained away.

Removing dead trees on the right side of Lakes #5 near the beginning of the fairway.

A hollow Oak tree removed for safety reasons near Lakes #8 white tee. We knew this tree was in poor health, but we didn't realize how much decay had occurred until it was cut down.

Tree removal on Lakes #8 near the white tee.