Course Update 4/26/21

 Fairway aerification was completed last week and besides a delay due to snow two mornings, the weather was perfect.  We used the same contractor as in previous years and the process went very smoothly since they're familiar with the property.  Because we only closed 9 holes per day the contractor didn't need their entire equipment fleet, but still used three tractors, two large aerifiers, and one recycling machine with a total value of $180,000.  They charge us $290 per acre to core aerify and recycle the plugs which comes out to $11,000 for our 40 acres of fairway.  The aerifiers were setup with 48 hollow tines that removed a 3/4" diameter core 4" deep, which created 24 holes per square foot.  That equates to 41,817,600 holes across all 40 acres of fairways.  That may seem like a lot of holes, but it only affected 5% of the total surface area.  The holes should be healed over in 10-14 days given our current weather conditions.

Aerification is an important and necessary practice in providing great playing conditions.  CLICK HERE to learn more about the process and why we do it.

The contractor uses two large aerifiers that each have a 98" working width for maximum productivity.

Here's a closer look at the fairway surface after the aerifier went thru.

Once the plugs (cores) dry out enough they are broken up with two heavy steel drag mats that go over every fairway several times. The goal is to separate the soil from the organic matter (thatch) so the soil can be worked back into the holes.

Once the fairways are dragged the contractor uses a recycling machine to pulverize the soil and thatch into finer pieces.

Here's the remaining debris after the recycling process.  Thatch is found in every turfgrass area and some thatch is needed to insulate and protect the plant.  Too much thatch is a problem and causes playing surfaces to be soft and spongy.  It also holds onto excess water which leads to more disease.

The final step in the process is for the maintenance staff to blow the thatch and any remaining debris off the fairways and then clean off irrigation heads, yardage markers and drains.  Here the blowers are working together on Lakes #4 fairway.

Here is the end result after aerifying, dragging, pulverizing, and blowing.

Several inches of snow Wednesday morning and again on Thursday morning delayed the process.

Not what we were expecting in late April, but we made the best of it.

Our deep-tine aerifier found this piece of metal about 5" below the surface on Lakes #3 approach. It's been there since the course was built in the late 90's and the aerifier tines grabbed it just right to pull it up.

It wasn't even a small piece of metal. You never know what you'll find in the ground!

Course Update 4/23/21

 If you've played recently you may have seen blue and orange paint marks around the greens.  We use the paint to identify the edges of the greens and collars for the staff when mowing, and to ensure the width of the collars remains consistent.  In order to maintain a crisp edge around the perimeter of the greens, a minuscule amount of turf is removed along the collar edge every time the cleanup pass is mowed.  When you consider that we mow a cleanup pass 3-4 times per week that small amount of turf removed can result in several inches of change by the end of the season.  The painting process is done every spring, and sometimes during the summer when needed, to re-establish the cleanup edge of the green and the paint will fade away in a few weeks once the turf fills in.

The orange dots represent the outside of the collar where it meets the rough. The blue dots represent the edge of the green where it should meet the collar. The white flags are marking the current cleanup edge of the green which is 2"-3"away from the blue dots into the collar. It will take several weeks, but the collar turf mowed down by the greens mower will recover and fill in to provide a consistent width.

Course Update 4/16/21

 The beautiful weather in March jump-started turf growth early this year and we've already begun our routine maintenance tasks.  Greens, tees, fairways, approaches and intermediate rough are being mowed regularly, and we started mowing the primary rough this week.  Bunker maintenance has also begun and consists of moving sand back onto sloped areas that washed down over the winter, adding new sand in areas that don't have enough, and cleaning up the edges to give better definition.  Broadleaf weeds such as Dandelion and White Clover have also appeared early this year and we've started spot-spraying the rough with a selective herbicide that only kills the weeds.  Over the next couple weeks we'll also be applying a fertilizer to the entire property that contains a pre-emergent herbicide for preventing Crabgrass along with an insecticide that prevents the development of White Grubs.

Please note that fairway aerification is scheduled for next week.  Nine holes will be closed each day for the process while keeping 18 holes open for play.  Check with the Golf Shop for more information regarding course rotation.

Keeping up with rough mowing is always the biggest challenge this time of year due to how fast the grass is growing.

Blowing clippings in the rough is a priority for us in the spring for both playability and aesthetics.

This load of organic debris was removed from the edge of two greenside bunkers.

The staff is removing a few sections of guard rail and posts on Lakes 6 that rotted away due to age and weather exposure.

Not much left of this guard rail.

Focusing on detail work such as edging overgrown yardage stones adds a nice touch to the golfing experience.  Here's before...

...and after.  This process is done numerous times throughout the season.

The slit-seeder has been out as much as possible this spring addressing thin areas in the rough.  Here the seeder is working on Lakes 4 near the rain shelter.

We started using a landscape contractor last year that has a specialized spreader to apply fertilizer to green and bunker surrounds.  Their spreader is more consistent than our equipment and they can complete the application in half the time.  Here the contractor is spreading fertilizer plus pre-emergent herbicide and insecticide products around the fairway bunkers on Orchard 5.

Course Update 3/31/21

 We stayed busy these last two weeks of March thanks to the unusually warm and drier weather.  Tee aerification is complete on all three nines, along with approach aerification on Orchard & Grove.  We also continued cleaning up sticks and debris throughout the property, and began prepping bunkers.  Fairways have been mowed several times now and collars/approaches received a first cut of the season.  The turf is quickly greening up and it won't be long until we're back to our regular mowing routines.

Had to remove one more tree on the right side of Lakes 9 that was hanging over the rough too much.

Applying a healthy dose of sand to the tees prior to aerifying.

Aerifying over the sand helps work it into the turf canopy and keeps the holes open longer to incorporate more sand during brushing.

Tee surface after aerifying.

Tee surface after brushing the sand in.

Aerifying the Driving Range tees.

Driving Range tees after brushing.

We started mowing the intermediate (step-cut) rough around greens and fairways.

Topdressing and aerifying approaches.

Here's the larger equipment we use to supply sand to the small topdresser used on greens, tees & approaches.

Course Update 3/12/21

 We started off the week by finishing some tree work down the left side on Lakes 5.  There were a handful of bigger trees overhanging the rough that we couldn't safely remove earlier due to the snow and ice.  The rest of the week we took advantage of the beautiful weather to aerify and topdress greens.  Being able to aerify this early will allow the greens to heal before the season officially starts on April 1.  Let's hope this mild weather continues!!

Looking back towards the tees on Lakes 5 provides a clear visual of how much the trees were overhanging the rough.

Timber!! We prefer not to drop trees onto fairways, but this one had too much lean and couldn't safely be removed any other way.

6 trees were removed in this area on Lakes 5 to improve the sightline down the left side of the hole and provide more sunlight and airflow for the rough.

The yellowish color turf is a result of too much shade and competition from tree roots. Now that the trees are gone the turf can grow to it's full potential.

Putting greens after being aerified and topdressed. We used 5/8" diameter tines this spring combined with a heavier topdressing rate to introduce more sand into the profile. The goal is to have firmer putting surfaces.

Topdressing greens

Dragging/brushing topdressing sand into the holes.

The final step is double-rolling the greens to smooth out tire tracks and other imperfections.

This spring we used a contractor to deep-tine the greens prior to us aerifying. We didn't deep-tine at all last year and felt it was beneficial to start doing this on a regular basis again. The process uses 1/2" diameter solid tines that penetrate 10" deep and fracture any hard, compacted areas. This allows for better water drainage and improved root growth compared to our aerifier that can only go 4" deep.

In addition to aerifying greens this week, we also mowed fairways for the first time this season. The turf has started coming out of dormancy due to the warm weather and we didn't want to get behind on  mowing.

Someone recently used Grove 3 as a chipping green and took a significant amount of divots out of the approach. Fortunately we don't find damage like this too often, but it's very disappointing that someone has to damage the course for their own benefit. This amount of divots is similar to what you'd see on the range tees and will take a long time to fully heal. Please remember that the golf courses are for everyone's enjoyment and this activity should be limited to the practice areas.

Course Update 3/5/21

We received 1.27" of rain last weekend which made the courses extremely wet combined with the melting snow and ice.  Surprisingly, we were able to work outside all week and finished some tree work in previously inaccessible areas now that the snow has melted.

This large Maple tree on Orchard 1 blocked sunlight on the back 1/3 of the green during the fall. This kept the green wetter than normal and led to unhealthy turf heading into winter. This picture was taken in early September and you can see the amount of shade produced by it.

Here's the same Maple tree on Orchard 1 taken prior to removal. It was a big tree but unfortunately in the wrong location.

Once the tree was down we realized it was in decline due to the size of the cavity and amount of decomposed wood in the stump.

Here's a dead Black Cherry tree covered in vines along the right side of Orchard 4. There were several trees like this that appeared alive during the season but the leaves were on the vines, not the trees. The vine-covered trees were also very unsightly and removing them will make a noticeable improvement for the aesthetics of the hole.

Here's a better view of Orchard 5 green from the fairway with the snow melted. We included a picture in the last post of a Maple tree removed between the fairway/approach and the cart path to improve turf quality in this high-traffic area.

This picture of Orchard 4 was taken from the gold tee. The left side of the tees had become unusable recently due to the vegetation growth along the lake edge. In season, you could only see the tops of the Pin Oak trees between holes 4 & 5 due to the density of the brush.

With the snow gone, the staff was able to safely remove the vegetation on Orchard 4 so players can use the left side of the tee boxes again.

The log staging area at the maintenance building is filling up quickly!

Dead trees along Lakes 5 tees were removed for safety reasons. Notice the bark falling off the trunks.

Flush cutting a stump on Lakes 5 near the gold tee. 5 trees were removed left of the tees.

Here's another stump showing signs of wood decay. This was from a Maple tree near Lakes 5 tees.

View of Lakes 5 and you can see 4 stumps left of the cart path from the trees removed.  The 5th stump is further down, also left of the path near the forward white tee.

Randy started painting the tee markers for this season. The process involves applying a coat of primer, lightly sanding, then several coats of paint. He can usually complete one color per day so a full set of markers requires one week to complete.