Course Update 6/12/21

 Since Monday afternoon we've had 4 weather events resulting in 2.64" of rain.  Thursday evening we received 1.11" of very heavy rain in about 30 minutes that washed out all 157 bunkers and left a significant amount of debris to cleanup.  Fortunately, our sand based greens drain very well and that allowed us to mow greens and change cups Friday morning, along with mowing rough in drier areas of the property.  The rest of the staff spent all day repairing the bunkers, cleaning up debris, and uncovering drain caps that were grown over.  A little breeze and a lot of sun would really help dry out the courses and we just may get that next week according to the forecast.

Greens have been very lush this week from all the rain, which translates to slow and soft putting surfaces.  They will naturally firm up and become faster as they dry out.

There was so much water moving thru the property from Thursday's rain it carried a 15 foot log and wedged it in the 30 inch drain pipe that goes under Lakes #5 approach. We have to use an excavator to remove the log and other debris from the inlet of the pipe.

This is typical for our bunkers during very heavy rain.

Lakes #9 fairway bunker with a 6-8 inch deep sand swell that washed down on Thursday.

Earlier in the week we re-sodded some rough areas with Kentucky Bluegrass from a local sod farm.

May Precipitation

 We received 4.97" of rain this month from 10 rain events, but only had 8 days of Cart Path Only restrictions.  2.99" of rain fell in the first 10 days of the month with an additional 1.98" coming in the last 6 days.  There was a 15 day stretch of hot, dry weather in the middle of the month that was rare for us this time of year.

Our historical average rainfall for May is 4.43" and we are currently .13" above our year-to-date average precipitation since January 1st.

Course Update 5/26/21

 All 29 greens were verticut, mowed, and topdressed today prior to the heavy rain forecasted for tonight.  Verticutting is a common practice in the spring to remove excess leaf tissue and Poa seedheads.  It also helps stand the grass blades up for a cleaner cut, which results in faster and smoother ball roll.  After the greens are verticut and the debris is blown off, the putting surfaces are mowed to cleanup the longer grass blades, then a light sand topdressing is applied.  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 to be incorporated into the turf canopy.  We normally apply heavy amounts of sand in the spring and fall in conjunction with aerification.  Frequently topdressing greens in season has become more common as the benefits of light applications of 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.

One of our older, riding greens mowers is fitted with special verticutting heads so any of our equipment operators can perform this important task. Most of the leaf tissue and seedheads removed during the process are collected by the grass baskets mounted in front of the verticut heads, but some debris is left on the putting surface and needs to be blown off before topdressing occurs.

Here's the putting surface immediately after verticutting where the individual rows created by the verticut blades are visible.

Lakes #8 green after lightly topdressing.

Here's a closeup of a topdressed green with a golf ball in the center of a small area brushed in by hand to give a better idea of the "Sugar Coating" reference.

Frost Delays 5/15/21

Frosted turf around Lakes 1 tees

 We've had frost delays the past 4 mornings due to nighttime temperatures in the low to mid 30's.  Frost delays are still common this time of year and can even occur when the air temperature is above freezing, as was the case the past 4 nights.  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 as Orchard 1, Lakes 2, and Grove 2 & 3.  Our winter tree removal program has focused on these specific holes to allow for increased sunlight penetration, but we still have more work to do.  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 those 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.  Looking at weather records from last year, our last frost delay occurred on 6/1.

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

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

Trimming back overgrown brush and low hanging trees along cart paths are a regular frost delay task

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

Course Update 4/30/21

 We've received 1.45" of rain since Wednesday evening and 1.30" of that fell yesterday.  We could only mow greens and tees today.  Fairways and approaches were too wet.  We also had our usual tasks of clearing plugged drain lids, repairing bunkers, and cleaning up other debris.  These are normal tasks anytime we get rainfall in excess of .75" from a single event.

So far this month we've received 2.91" of rain from 11 different storms, but only had 4 days of Cart Path Only restrictions.  Our historical average rainfall for April is 3.01" and we are currently .47" below our year-to-date average precipitation since January 1st.

This is typical of the bunkers after a large rain event.

Every time the rain causes wash outs it brings up soil and rocks that contaminate the sand.

Our bunker maintenance equipment have hydraulically operated blades specifically made for pushing sand.

Here's a bunker after fixing the washouts and raking.

Debris cleanup is another task we're always doing after large rain events. This is the creek on Orchard #2 that typically backs up before it goes under the cart path. You can tell how high the water got by where the debris is deposited.

The pond on Orchard #2 is the last body of water on property and collects all the runoff/drainage from the surrounding areas all the way back to Grove #8 tees, up to Orchard #8 tees, including the neighborhoods. It's not unusual for the low-lying areas around the pond to flood given the volume of water flowing into it, and we are able to open a flood valve built into the concrete dam to release more water and help the surrounding areas drain quicker.

On a positive note, the rain washed any remaining aerification debris off the fairways and watered in the granular fertilizer we applied to the greens on Wednesday.

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.