Course Update 5/30/19

Another .85" of rain fell last night bringing our two day total to 4.25".  Fortunately, no additional washouts occurred and there wasn't any hail.  I mentioned in yesterday's post that our progress of repairing Grove greens was halted due to afternoon storms, so we finished those greens first thing this morning then turned to Lakes.  The overall process went much smoother today with everyone knowing their role, even with a few rain delays.  We ended up finishing Lakes greens in a rain storm and I am pleased to report that all the greens completed today achieved the same great results as yesterday.  Orchard greens are scheduled for tomorrow and I don't anticipate any issues as long as the weather cooperates.

In addition to repairing the greens, six staff members spent all day repairing the greenside bunkers on Grove and Lakes.  Pushing the wet, heavy sand up is a tedious job and the staff did a great job given the current conditions.  We will repair the fairway bunkers on Grove and Lakes tomorrow ahead of the tournament, along with touching up some of the greenside bunkers that need additional work.

Here's a closeup of our greens aerifier.  The machine has a 48" working width with six independent coring heads and four different forward spacing options.  This current setup uses sixty .25" solid pencil tines that will penetrate 3-4" into the rootzone.  These smaller tines will only last nine holes before wearing out enough that they cannot reach our desired depth so we usually install new ones after each nine is completed.  A complete set of new tines averages $500 after freight and tax.

Grove 8 fairway bunker washed out again after being cleaned up yesterday.

Every time our bunkers washout the sand becomes more contaminated with rocks and sediment from the surrounding native soil.

Hail damage on Grove 4 green Wednesday morning.

Grove 4 green this morning after completing all cultural practices.  The cup is in the same spot as yesterday.

Course Update 5/29/19

Last night's storms delivered 3.4" of heavy rain and nearly golf ball sized hail, washing out bunkers and leaving plenty of debris to cleanup today.  It was some of the hardest rain I have seen in years, and the sound of the hail was like standing next to a passing train.  We found ourselves saying "It could have been a lot worse" many times today as we assessed the property.  Yes, we are dealing with hail damaged greens, all the bunkers need to be repaired, and there is enough debris throughout the courses to keep us busy for days, but we didn't lose any trees and there weren't any landslides.

Repairing the hail damaged greens is our primary focus and we determined that combining numerous cultural practices delivered the best results.  All 29 greens received some sort of damage from the hail, but Grove got it the worst and that's where we started after completing the practice green.  The first step in the process is to verticut (or vertical mow) which removes leaf tissue, thatch, and Poa seedheads, leaving 1/16" wide grooves for sand to settle into.  Next, we mow the greens at their normal height perpendicular to the verticut direction to clean up any stray leaf tissue.  After mowing, we sand topdress the greens then aerify using .25" solid tines on a 1.5"x1.5" spacing.  This type of aerification, also called pencil tining, helps to work the sand into the turf and the movement of the tines being pulled out of the ground will pull up the depression left by the hail.  The final steps in the process are to drag the greens with a semi-coarse brush to evenly spread the sand across the putting surface and fill in any remaining hail damaged spots, followed by rolling to smooth any bumps and tire tracks.  More storms this afternoon interrupted our progress on Grove, but we'll finish tomorrow morning then turn to Lakes followed by Orchard.  We are very pleased with the final results on the greens thus far and plan to have the process completed by Friday morning as long as the weather cooperates.

Large piece of hail from yesterday's storms.

Hail damage on Grove 4 green.

This was typical of the debris encountered this morning.

All the bunkers washed out and will be repaired once the sand dries out and can be pushed back into place.

Lakes 7 pond near the drop area.

There was enough water flowing in this creek to push a large rock into the drain pipe and collapse part of the wing wall. 

Lakes #5 by the tees.

Lakes #5 by the green.  You can see how high the water got from where the log and debris line is above the pipe.  The log is close to 18" in diameter.

This is the putting green surface after verticutting.

Sand topdressing then aerifying gave the best results.

Here's a closeup of the putting surface right after aerifying.

This is the putting surface after brushing and rolling.  The aerifier holes aren't visible anymore.

The end result repairs the hail damage and makes for a great putting surface.

Course Update 5/23/19

Fairway aerification took place this week after postponing for over a month due to weather delays.  The same contractor was used during previous aerifications and all 27 holes were completed over four days (the fourth day was required due to rain on Thursday).  Because we only closed 9 holes per day the contractor didn't need as much equipment, but still used three tractors, two large aerifiers, and one recycling machine with a total value of $180,000.  They charge us $270 per acre to core aerify and recycle the plugs which comes out to $10,800 for our 40 acres of fairway.  The aerifiers were setup with hollow tines that removed a 3/4" diameter core 4" deep, which created 20 holes per square foot.  That equates to 34,848,000 holes across all the fairways.  That may seem like a lot of holes, but it only affected 5% of the total surface area.

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 is coring Grove 1 fairway with the large aerifiers that have a 98" working width.

The maintenance staff uses a small, 30" wide aerifier around irrigation heads, yardage markers and drains to prevent damage by the larger aerifiers.

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.

The debris on the surface of this fairway is thatch that was left after the recycling process.

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.

This is an aerification plug from one of the fairways and gives you an idea of how much thatch we have.  The total length of the plug was close to 4", but some of the soil fell off prior to taking the picture.  There's approximately 1.75" of thatch which is considered excessive, and why our fairways feel spongy and tend to stay wet longer.

Course Update 5/16/19

This week we started a drainage project to the right of Lakes #6 green along the woods.  This has always been a wet area, but this spring it has gotten worse.  We originally thought it was an irrigation leak, but that was ruled out by confirming the pipe was down by the cart path and turning the water off for over a week didn't make a difference.  We then inquired with the township about a possible leak in their water line along the road behind the green, but that was also ruled out.  We ultimately concluded the problem was caused by natural springs and water runoff onto the golf course due to the record rainfall last year and continuation this spring.  Once digging began we discovered an old drain line running along the woods that obviously hasn't worked in years due to the amount of mud and tree roots packed in it.  Our plan is to continue digging to remove the old drain line and soil back towards the bronze tee and fill the trench with a new double-wall pipe and clean gravel.  Any surface or ground water will be intercepted by the drain, which will keep the bottom of the approach and surrounding rough dry and playable.

View from behind Lakes #6 green.  The excess water has been accumulating under the new rough sod and bottom of the approach, making them unplayable.

Using plywood under the excavator to keep it from getting stuck in the saturated conditions.

Here's the old drainage pipe we found while digging.  The pipe is full of mud and tree roots, and unable to flow water.

There was a little gravel on top of the old drain line, but the surface water couldn't get through the 6" layer of muck that had developed over the years.

The open trench is already collecting water and the grass to the left of the trench is starting to dry out.

Course Update 5/9/19

We received measurable rainfall the first five days this month amounting to 0.85", but fortunately the past four days have been warm and dry.  I can't remember the last time we had four days in a row without rain and we took advantage of the weather this week to get caught up on numerous maintenance tasks.  This most important one this time of year is mowing and blowing rough, and we'll have the mowers going again this weekend as long as the weather allows.  We also made our scheduled fungicide and nutrient applications to greens and fairways, along with fertilizing tees.  These types of applications are planned over the winter to maximize the health of the turf and reduce the potential for disease outbreaks.  A delayed, or missed application can have negative results that may last all summer.

In addition to our regular maintenance activities we spent some time fixing the drain line on Orchard #8 upper fairway that continued to wash out.  The drainage contractor was here for two afternoons digging out the edges of the trench that had collapsed and removing the leaves and soil that had accumulated on top of the pipe.  They then backfilled with several inches of clean gravel, followed by a sand/soil blend up to the fairway surface that was approximately six inches deep and compacted everything.  To avoid future erosion issues, we decided to sod over the drain lines in the fairway to minimize the large volumes of surface water that would run into the trench and wash the gravel and sand out.  Now during heavy rains, the surface water will stay on top of the turf and run down the hill at the end of the fairway and into the pond.  There is still a little more work to do on the lateral drain line, and we anticipate having it finished in a day or two.

The contractor started the repair process by digging out the collapsed sides to expose the drain line and gravel.

Fresh gravel was installed over the pipe then a blend of sand/soil was used to backfill up the fairway surface and compacted.

We then ran our sod cutter over the compacted sand to remove the old turf and square up the edges, thereby making it easier to install new sod.

The lower portion of the drain line from the wye down to the end of the fairway is complete in this pic, and we had time to finish the left side of the "V".  The right side, or lateral line, will be finished in the next day or two.

Here's a shot from the end of Orchard #8 upper fairway looking up towards the fairway bunker.  We had enough material and were able to re-sod small worn areas in the cleanup pass.

Course Update 5/2/19

We closed out the month of April with 3.84" of rain, or .83" above the monthly average.  Over the first four months this year we've received 12.16" of liquid precipitation, or 1.22" above our year to date average.  We were hoping for a drier spring, but seem to be caught in a similar wet-weather pattern from last year.  Our chronic wet spots have returned and we've adjusted our maintenance schedule accordingly.  That includes more walk-mowing of tees and approaches, and using smaller (lighter) rough and fairway mowers.  The smaller equipment is gentler on the wet turf, but we lose productivity since the smaller mowers don't cover as much ground as the larger equipment.  To compensate for the lower productivity we're working more hours when the weather allows.

Push mowing new sod around Lakes greens and conducting springtime bunker maintenance (edging, weeding, moving sand).

Last of the fairway topdressing sand being loaded.  All fairways were topdressed this week with some problem areas receiving a double application.

Located and dug up the drain line for the bunkers on Grove 8 green that holds water after a heavy rain.  It was a lot deeper than we thought (about 2.5'), partially crushed and filled with tree roots.  Normally we would dig up the old line and install a new one, but it runs under the cart path.

Here's the section of drain line we cut out from the above picture.  Notice the root mass that is blocking most of the pipe.  We're going to use a special drain cleaning machine that will cut up the roots and allow us to flush them out with water so we don't have to dig through the cart path.

Course Update 4/25/19

We resumed mowing greens on Lakes and Orchard less than a week after DryJecting and the injection holes are barely visible.  Another few days (hopefully we see the sun again) and the greens should be fully healed.  Grove greens were DryJected on Monday and our plan is to mow them this weekend.  We'll also start lowering the height of cut which will speed up the greens and improve ball roll.

Fairway core aerification was postponed once again due to the weather, and next week's forecast doesn't look good with a chance of rain every day.  In preparation for aerifying fairways, we began topdressing this week using the large pile of sand in the back parking lot.  We purchased 480 tons last fall and our goal was to topdress all the fairways prior to winter.  That didn't happen with the record setting rainfall, so we're spreading it now.  We maintain 40 acres of fairway so the 480 tons works out to 12 tons of sand per acre, per application.  Our goal of topdressing twice per year will result in 24 tons of sand per acre, and when combined with core aerification the two processes will dilute and reduce the thatch that causes the fairways to be soft and spongy.

We began overseeding thin turf areas in the rough on Lakes this week.  We're using Turf-Type Tall Fescue seed that is less susceptible to the Gray Leaf Spot fungus.

The overseeder cuts a thin groove in the soil then drops seed into the groove.  It will take 7-10 days for the seed to germinate.

Topdressing sand on Orchard #1 fairway.

Fairway topdressing in action.

Course Update 4/18/19

Aerification season is underway and we started DryJecting greens this week.  Both practice greens and Lakes greens were completed Wednesday and we were able to finish Orchard today after a brief rain shower went through.  Grove greens were scheduled for Friday, but have been postponed until Monday due to the likelihood of more rain.  To obtain maximum benefits, the DryJect process requires us to use kiln-dried sand and the weather has to be dry.  You may be wondering why we don't DryJect more often and stop pulling cores.  The answer is that DryJect is just another "tool" we use to help manage the organic matter (thatch) in the greens.  The process injects sand to dilute the thatch, but does not actually remove anything like traditional core aerification does.  We've found that DryJecting in the spring heals faster with our uncertain weather patterns compared to core aerification, while still accomplishing our goal of diluting the thatch.  In the fall we still pull cores to physically remove the thatch and topdress to fill the holes.  The healing process in late fall is relatively slow, but open holes during the winter helps water drain from the putting surface, limiting the amount of ice buildup and potential for winter injury.

Click Here To Learn More About DryJect And How It Works

Core aerification of fairways was also scheduled this week, but was postponed due to heavy rain last weekend and the threat of rain at the end of this week.  We are closely monitoring the weather forecasts for next week and will make a decision over the weekend if we're able to aerify fairways.

DryJecting the practice green.  The staff uses the yellow buckets to scoop dry sand from our large utility vehicles then dumps it into the hopper on the DryJect machine.  The machine connects to our irrigation system through a 1" diameter hose to receive 120 psi necessary for the injection process.

This is what the putting surface looks like immediately after DryJecting.  The holes with sand around them are from the DryJect, while the other small holes are from our aerifier.  We needle tine the greens prior to DryJecting to de-compact the root zone which allows for better penetration by the sand during the injection process.

We drag the greens once they dry out to work any remaining sand into the turf which further dilutes the thatch.  After dragging, the greens are rolled twice to smooth out any tire tracks and helps firm up the putting surface.

Here is the finished product after needle tining, DryJecting, dragging and double rolling.  We will continue rolling the greens for several days until most of the sand is off the surface.  Mowing too soon after aerification only results in dull mowers and picks up perfectly good sand that could help in diluting thatch.

A day after DryJecting the putting green we experienced our first irrigation leak of the year.  It's pretty common to have leaks in the spring but this one was so close to the green it bubbled some of the turf along the edge.  We were able to quickly isolate the line to prevent further damage and will repair the turf once it dries out.

This corroded fitting is responsible for the irrigation leak and has been in the ground for a very long time.  We use PVC pipe and fittings these days which are much more reliable.

Course Update 4/11/19

The main focus this week was the Lakes course green surround re-sodding project that addressed the areas affected by Gray Leaf Spot last fall.  As mentioned in previous posts, the damaged Ryegrass turf is being replaced with Kentucky Bluegrass that is more resistant to the Gray Leaf Spot fungus.  The company doing the work is East Coast Sod & Seed out of Pilesgrove, New Jersey.  They are the same group that was here in 2017 assisting us with the fairway re-grassing and tee renovations.  When the project is complete, 57,600 square feet of sod will be installed at a cost of $53,400.

The sod crew normally works a 12 hour day, so that means the maintenance staff is working at least that long.  Anything of importance (irrigation heads, valves, drains, etc.) have to be located and marked by one of my staff, then the work area is painted and reviewed with their foreman.  Measurements are also taken to ensure we're not removing more turf than is being delivered.  The sod crew will then start cutting inside the painted boundary lines, pick up and discard the old turf using our utility vehicles and a tractor with a dump trailer.  The entire area is then raked to clean up all the small debris and a starter fertilizer is applied to provide the sod with essential nutrients once the roots begin to grow.  Once the new sod is installed it is then our responsibility to keep it alive.  The past several days have been warm and breezy with very low humidity, which equates to numerous man-hours watering the sod to keep it from drying out and dying.  Kentucky Bluegrass sod will normally start producing new roots in 3-5 days after being installed if enough water is provided, and should have a significant root mass after 10 days.

Please note that the newly sodded areas will be mandatory Ground Under Repair until they have matured enough to handle foot and mower traffic.

#2 green - The collar and rough have been removed along the rock wall and the maintenance staff is removing the crowned area that developed after the wall repairs in 2017.

#2 green - A sand/soil blend was used to level the collar and rough area and provide a better growing medium for the new turf.  The white flags mark the edge of where the collar and rough meet.

#3 green - The crew from East Coast Sod & Seed is installing new Kentucky Bluegrass sod around the green and bunker.  Two truckloads of new sod are staged behind the green on the cart path.

#4 green - Cutting and removing the old turf around the green and bunkers .

#5 green - Maintenance staff watering the recently installed sod.

#6 green - Ready to start installing new sod.

#7 green - New sod installed around the green and bunker.

#8 green - New sod installed around the green and bunkers.  We had enough new sod to remove the turf below the bunkers that was contaminated from sand washing out during heavy rains.