Course Update 6/30/20

We recently applied a wetting agent to greens, tees, and fairways in preparation for the hot and dry weather this week.  Wetting agents, also known as surfactants, are a chemical compound that reduce the surface tension of water, allowing it to spread out and penetrate the turf and soil easier.  Wetting agents can be something as simple as dish soap, and are very safe for both people and the environment.  In fact, using wetting agents can reduce the amount of water needed during irrigation cycles because most of the water applied will be able to infiltrate the soil instead of puddling and becoming runoff.

In this type of weather you will also see the staff hand watering throughout the day, including running some irrigation heads if large areas need water, typically fairways and rough.  Hand watering is a slower process than running irrigation heads, but it allows us to better manage the water given to a specific area.  We are fully aware that watering during the day may be disruptive to your round, but please understand that we need to keep the turf alive for your future rounds.

Irrigation heads running on Grove 6

Hand watering Grove 7 green

Course Update 6/27/20

We've been sodding worn areas in the rough over the past couple of weeks to improve the aesthetics and playability of the courses.  The excessive rainfall the past two years has led to ruts and low spots from carts and mowing equipment, which only get worse unless repaired.  We're using leftover rough sod from the driving range tee project that is 100% Kentucky Bluegrass.  This turf is a better choice for the rough because of it's deep rooting, reduced water requirement, consistent texture, and great color.  It's a noticeable contrast to our existing rough which is a hodgepodge of Perennial Ryegrass, Creeping Bentgrass and Annual Bluegrass.

Worn areas in the intermediate rough marked for repair.

Worn areas repaired with Kentucky Bluegrass sod.

Area below Grove 8 fairway bunker continued to erode with every thunderstorm.  In bad storms the bunker sand would wash onto the fairway and was reducing turf quality.

The bunker edge was re-established with thin, flexible wood panels that would provide a smooth curve.  The next step was to build up the eroded area with screened topsoil to provide a stable base for the new sod.

Here's a better look at the re-established edge.  The new piece of sod was used as a guide to determine how much topsoil to add to achieve the final grade.

The finished product is a huge improvement!

Course Update 6/11/20

As was done in previous years, weekly topdressing of the greens has resumed.  Now that we're in season and mowing greens daily only a small amount of sand is applied weekly.  We refer to this as a sugar coating and it has minimal effect on the mowers.  If a heavier amount of sand is applied it would dull the mowers after the first green and take longer for the sand to be incorporated into the turf canopy.  We normally apply heavy amounts of sand in the spring and fall in conjunction with aerification.  Frequent topdressing of greens in season has become more common as the benefits of applying sand are better understood.  Firmer, smoother, and drier putting surfaces can be expected by golfers, while Superintendents are seeing healthier turf that requires less water and can withstand increased foot traffic and extreme weather events.

Lakes 8 green after a weekly topdressing.

A small area of sand was brushed in by hand to give a better idea of the "sugar coating" reference.

This is a 7" deep rootzone profile from a green.  Our greens are sand based (USGA spec) and the lighter colored column of sand is from a DryJect injection in a previous year.

Here you can see some roots from the turf hanging out the bottom of the profile.  That's pretty good for Poa greens in June!

Course Update 4/30/20

The maintenance staff have been very busy completing the necessary cultural practices the past several weeks to have the courses ready for our eventual opening.  I mentioned in an earlier post about greens aerification being complete, which we followed up with core aerification of tees and fairways.  These are important practices that must be performed every year to ensure the long term health of the playing surfaces.  In addition to aerification, routine mowing of all areas are underway along with preliminary bunker maintenance.

Core aerifying tees.

Driving range tees were also aerified and a heavy layer of topdressing sand was applied to help divot recovery and level the hitting surface.

Greens were verticut 1/8" deep to remove excess leaf tissue and equally distribute topdressing sand across the putting surface.  Verticutting also helps stand the grass blades up for a cleaner cut which results in faster and smoother ball roll.

Here's what the putting surface looks like immediately after verticutting.  You can see all the individual rows of verticut blades.

Here's a putting surface after blowing the debris and brushing the sand in.

The staff is prepping bunkers by removing rocks and vegetation from the sand, then pushing sand back up the slopes that washed down during the winter.  We will also be adding sand as needed over the next few weeks.

Many thanks to the staff for their hard work and dedication during these uncertain times.  The golf courses are in great condition and we're excited for the players to return!

Course Update 4/11/20

The golf courses may be closed, but the maintenance staff has been busy with a long list of items that can't be postponed.  Greens, tees, fairways have all been mowed several times and the rough is being mowed daily.  Greens have been core aerified and topdressed, and are healing nicely given our erratic weather.  Tee and fairway aerification are also planned for this time while the courses are closed to minimize disruption once everything re-opens.

Irrigation systems have been started for the year and we've had to replace a few older heads that couldn't be fixed.  Also had to troubleshoot electrical wiring issues.

All 29 putting greens have been core aerified and topdressed.  We used a .25" diameter tine on a 1.5"x1.5" spacing resulting in 72 holes per square foot.  We typically use a smaller tine in the spring for faster healing of the putting surface given our erratic weather.

Here's a closeup of a green just after being aerified.

We've had to get creative in cleaning up the putting surfaces with a smaller staff and fortunately an older piece of equipment came through for us.

Here's a recent shot of a green several days after topdressing, brushing, and rolling.  A few more warm days and all the holes should be closed.

The maintenance staff aren't the only ones taking care of the golf courses during this time.  Joe Boros and Jimmy Brahm have been out filling tee divots to ensure the courses are in the best possible condition once we re-open.  Thank you Joe and Jimmy!!

Course Update 3/19/20

Due to the unprecedented situation and concerns involving COVID-19, the Golf Operations Team has worked to find a solution to accommodate your desire to golf during this concerning time.  The health and safety of our Treesdale Community, both membership and staff, is of great importance and we hope you understand that the precautions listed below have the best interest of everyone in mind.  Thank you for your patience during this challenging period.

• All benches, rakes, divot mix bottles, and water coolers have been removed from the golf courses to minimize touching shared items.  We have also taken measures to prevent you from having to reach into the cup to retrieve your ball and ask that the flagstick not be touched or removed.  We will continue changing cups as needed based on weather and the amount of play.

• Due to the time of season, as well as concerns for your personal health and safety, the on-course restrooms will remain closed until further notice.

Several ideas were discussed, but we felt using 6" long sections of foam pool noodles slid over the flagstick were the best solution to prevent balls from rolling into the cups.

Course Update 3/9/20

Tree work continued last week and we addressed some areas that were postponed in previous years on Orchard 2, 4, 6, the Chipping Green, Driving Range Tees, and Grove 2.  In addition to tree work, we also corrected a drainage issue within the yellow hazard on Grove 2.

Clearing vegetation behind the gold and blue tees on Orchard 2 to allow for more sunlight.

The overgrown vegetation on Orchard 2 was choking out the turf on the back of the tees and surrounding rough.

This shot was taken last summer on Orchard 6.  A portion of the fairway was still obstructed by the trees on the right.

Here's the most recent view of Orchard 6 after removing 4 trees.

We removed these two Poplar trees that were growing too close to the Chipping Green.

Thin, weak turf along one of the bunkers at the Chipping Green caused by the Poplar trees.

Mature trees near Grove 2 green and bunkers creating less than ideal turf conditions.

Here's a better view of the lack of turf coverage around one the bunkers on Grove 2 caused by overgrown vegetation.

One of the trees on Grove 2 had a significant amount of rotted wood and was removed for safety reasons.

Easy to see how much decay there is once the tree was on the ground.

Water was draining onto the golf course from the yellow hazard (marsh area) below the tees on Grove 2 from years of sediment building up and diverting the water from the active drain.

We excavated the sediment on Grove 2 and re-established a channel for the water to reach the drain and not run onto the golf course.

Course Update 2/28/20

This week was a combination of edging bunkers and tree work.  The staff spent three more days to complete Orchard fairway bunkers and I'm happy to announce that all the bunkers on the three courses have been edged.  Depending on the weather, we'll resume checking sand depths and moving/adding sand around the middle of March in preparation for April 1st.  The two bunkers at the chipping green and the bunker on the Lakes side driving range tee still require edging and will most likely be completed next week.

As for tree work, we spent two more days on Grove 8 removing vegetation in the left wood line along the tees.  Similar to other areas, the trees and brush were encroaching into the line of play and prevented us from using several teeing locations.  Ultimately it caused excessive wear in the areas that were being used due to the lack of recovery time we'd normally have by moving the tee markers around the entire tee.

These two Silver Maples near the lower blue tee on Grove 8 were removed due to their proximity to the tee.  Every time the tee was aerified we would find pieces of wood in the aerification plugs from the tree roots that were growing into the tee.

Here's a view from the gold tee.  Only the right half of the tee could be used because of the trees blocking the left side.

Same view from the gold tee on Grove 8 with the trees and brush removed.

Grove 8 from the blue tee.

Most of the forward white tee on Grove 8 was unusable due to a large Poplar that was growing in the left hazard.  That tree has been removed so more of the tee can now be used.

Course Update 2/24/20

We had a full week of tree work last week and made good progress in two key areas on Grove 8 and 9.  On Grove 8 we removed a large Elm and a handful of Black Cherries and Locust left of the cart path near the landing zone.  The trees, especially the Elm, had grown out over the edge of the fairway and were limiting play down the left side.  The trees were also obstructing full view of the fairway and left rough from most of the tees, along with heavily shading those parts of the rough and fairway.

On Grove 9 we cleared a significant amount of trees and brush on both sides of the red hazard on the left near the old drop area.  The vegetation had become so overgrown it was nearly impossible to see if a ball hit into this area stayed in bounds, thus slowing down play.

We first had to clear brush and small trees to gain access to the large Elm on Grove 8.

The Elm tree split while cutting due to old age and decaying wood, but luckily no one was hurt.

Here's a view from the blue tee on Grove 8.  A portion of the Elm tree had to fall across the cart path due to the amount of wood in the canopy and the way it was leaning.

Here's our work area down in the left hazard on Grove 8.

Grove 9 viewed from the blue tee.  You really can't see much of the old drop area left of the blue tractor with the red trailer due to dense vegetation.

Bryan Morgan, Assistant Superintendent, leading the charge to clear the unwanted vegetation.

Here you can see a lot more of the old drop area on Grove 9 after we finished clearing the far side of the red hazard.  The trees on the left side of the picture are also being removed to further improve the view from the tees.

Here's the finished product on Grove 9 after the dead trees and brush were removed on the tee side of the hazard.