Wet again!

As the record rains of April continue, the course is swamped yet again.  Out of the entire week, this is by far the wettest we have started the day.  Standing water wall-to-wall has made travel of any kind impossible.  The crew was sent home until 11 AM to let the greens drain so they can be mowed.  We are trying as hard as possible to keep up with mowing, so don't be suprise if you see us this weekend taking advantage of any good weather we may get.  Below are a few shots from the course this morning.

15 tee as of about 8 am.

4 tee.

3 fairway

8 fairway.

As we continue with cold and wet, the disease is beginning to flourish.   We need some dry weather to apply fungicides to put the disease in check.

Creek back under control, but course still VERY wet.

Thankfully, much of the severe weather in our region yesterday afternoon and evening missed us.  Ten-Mile Creek has returned to her banks, and the golf course can open again.  Unfortunately, the course itself is extremely wet, and there appears to be more rain on the way.   

While we did do some mowing and cleaning this morning to keep up with our chores as best as possible, the course is simply too wet for us to get anything done without doing more harm than good.  Also, this means there will be no carts allowed on the course for the second straight day.  If we can get a break from any more heavy rain, we would hope to have carts back out by tomorrow afternoon.  If the rain doesn't stop, the best hope might be for friday considering the current forecast. 

Notes from my course tour. Ultimately, a great day at Highland Meadows......if you're a duck or disease!

With the golf course temporarily a flooded mess, I took a thorough walking tour this morning with my camera.  The golf course and surrounding areas took over 1" of rain in yesterdays storm.  Fortunately, the nighttime rain was minimal, but the creek continues to rise.  We were forced to close the course today.  Way too wet for carts across the entire course, and there was sufficient high water to make the bridges inaccessible by foot.  As of 11 am, the water continues to rise, and I expect the creek won't crest for a few hours yet.  Below are a few shots from this morning, and a few more shots about what we your maintenance staff is up to to keep the course as prepared as possible.  Unfortunately, we have way too much practice at this, but hopefully we can keep the damage to a minimum.  I will update with more pictures as the flooding and storms progress. 




As of 7 am, water already backing up around #9 bridge.

#17 cart path going under water

 In an effort to be as proactive as possible, the crew has squished their way out on the course and is placing a few sandbags to prevent traditional breach points from damage.  #11 bunker has had its sand removed by flooding several times over the years, and we are doing what we can to prevent that. 

Despite being closed, there are still some 'sandbaggers' on the course today.  Bob and Aaron are using sand from the trap to fill the bags.

Filled bags are placed along the leading edge.  Floods from years past have completely removed all the sand from this trap and damaged the contours.  It will take quite a bit of water to get over the extra foot plus from the sandbags.

Many have already asked me today what the crew is up to.  We have a few guys here today doing whatever they can given the situation.  Guys are out mowing rough with push mowers where it is growing out of control, scooping piles of clippings from the fairways where puddles deposited them, pulling hazard stakes and tee markers to avoid getting washed down the creek, and just making as much progress as possible.

Yesterday's rains picked up clippings and leave them where in drains and low areas.

This pile is about an inch or more tall and quite large.

Tough to keep smiling when scooping clippings.  Note the standing water in the background if you wonder why we didn't let carts out today.

When spring weather is this cold and wet, one of the things you may see on the course now is our old friend snow mold.  The same pathogen that makes disease under snow cover can rear its ugly head in a cold, wet spring.  Hopefully we can get some decent weather soon so we can make our usual spring fungicide applications, which will clean it up nicely. 

A spot of Microdochium patch.  Note the 'frog's eye' of green grass in the center, a ring of white, diseased turf around it, and the active brownish ring of the patch on the outside.

Another thing popping up with the wet weather is an abundance of worm 'castings'on the fairways and tees.  Castings are a combination of soil, manure, and digested organic material that is left behind by active worms.  They have been abundant this spring, with the wet weather, and can be messy.  The upside is they are a great organic source of nutrients.  Some people harvest, compost and sell them as high-end organic fertilizer.

Rain and Trees.

Another rain-out today.   After an Easter week that began with a half inch of snow and ended with over an inch of rain, the course dried out just enough to get another inch or more today and tomorrow.  We were able to get out and do some mowing until the rain washed us out.  As much as members must be anxious to play golf, we are anxious to get to work on the golf course.  I'm told that we could be in line to have the wettest April on record.  Please bear with us as we battle the weather to get the course as playable as possible.  There may be some very tall rough areas to contend with as well as some messy areas that we have been unable to mow for some time.  While it is wet, we are also entering a normal period of heavy spring growth which combined will leave our golf course a little on the messy side.

A shot of 8 green on Monday the 18th. 

  While it was difficult to get anything done over the last little while, we did manage to get the tree company out to treat our ash trees on #8.  They will be out again when the weather is a little warmer to treat the blue spruce behind #9 green and the spruce trees left on #8.

We have been using a drench to keep insecticide in our ash trees.  It is mixed with a load of fertilizers and stimulants to give the trees the best chance to battle the ash borer.

Divot repair video as explained by the USGA

Below is a link to a USGA video explaining proper divot filling/replacement.  It's a fairly cheesy video, but explains the principles perfectly.  Check it out.

http://www.usga.org/turf/articles/video/divot_etiquette.html

New Fairway Mowers are Awesome

With careful consideration, we purchased two new fairway mowers this year to replace machines past their useful life.  Fortunately, when looking at machines that were 10 years newer, we were able to take advantage of some really cool upgrades in technology.  Despite the great deal we got on the two used units, whenever someone cheap like me spends $90K, the buyers remorse sets in pretty quickly.  However, now that the grass is growing a little and I have been able to see these things perform, I couldn't be happier.  There is no question that these machines will help us do our job better, more efficiently, and with tangible benefits that the members can see for themselves.

First of all, the new machines use electricity to power the cutting heads instead of hydraulic oil, eliminating many of the dreaded hoses that can leak and kill grass.  Also, improved precision and ease of adjustment make for a better quality of cut and saves time.  New diesel engines, in conjunction with the electric hybrid technology have proven to merely sip fuel relative to our old units.

Along with the quality of cut, the other obvious benefit of the new units are the rear roller brushes.  As many of you have seen, we normally mow the fairways and leave behind clippings that must be swept up with a drag rope or a blower.  The rear roller brushes serve to break these clippings up before they have a chance to form a clump or pile, saving us a step in our morning routine.  Also, without using the drag rope as often, replaced divots have less of a chance of getting stirred up and increase the chance that they will heal.

Below are a few pics of the results I am seeing.

Here's what a fairway normally looks like after being mowed with our old machines.

Here is the new cutting unit.  The black 'roller' with 'X' brushes between the tire and the cutting head is the brush that breaks up the clippings.

Here's what a fairway looks like after being mowed with the new machines.  No clumps no clippings!  The above pictures were all taken in the same morning under the same conditions.

These new machines will save lots of time cleaning up, like Sam is doing here.

Aerification is done....Finally!

With the rain on Monday morning, we were only able to get about 6 holes completed.  Thanks to some good weather and my hard working crew, we were able to finish on Tuesday.  We never want to have to close the golf course, but getting everything done and over with early will let the greens be in great shape sooner in the season.  Thank you all for your patience.

We used the same process to aerate as last fall.  We did not pull a 'core', but used solid tines to pound the sand into the greens profile.  Ultimately, we were able to introduce more fresh sand into the root zone with this practice with the real benefit being less disruption of the putting surface. The only change from last fall is the addition of 'deep-tine' aerification to punch deep holes into the greens. Below are some step-wise photographs of the process.

First, we applied a heavy sand topdressing of sand that meets the USGA specification for greens.

This is a heavy layer of sand.  We were able to incorporate over 30 tons of sand, which is more than we usually use with traditional coring.

We have to wait for the sand to dry completely before we punch it in.  Morning shade and cool temperatures forced us to wait about 3 hours after the sand was applied to punch it in.

This spring, we added deep-tine punching to the process.  This machine, on loan from Auglaize Golf Club, allows us to punch almost 10 inches into the greens.

This machine has a 'heaving' action that really loosens up the soil profile beneath the surface, which opens up the soil to allow for better rooting and drainage.

After the deep tine, we go over it again with a standard aerifier with solid tines, that pokes shallow holes to let the sand in.  Notice we are not removing a core.

A heavier tow-behind brush begins moving the sand into the holes.

A finer-bristled lightweight brush does a little nicer job smoothing the sand.

Crew members with brooms make sure all the holes are filled and put the finishing touches on the sand.

The greens are then rolled to smooth the surface.

Finally, soil amendments and fertilizer is applied to give the greens a nice kick to help them heal.  A final watering with the sprinklers activates the fertilizer and washes the sand into the holes.

Rain Rain Go Away

It rained on and off today all morning.  We did manage to get out and aerify all the greens on the north side of the course with the afternoon clearing.  Unfortunately, we will need most if not all of Tuesday to get it done.  Unfortunately, this means we will be closed all day Tuesday so we can get it done and over with.

I will take some pictures tomorrow and post later in the week so you can see what we did this year.  Thank you for your patience!

Aerification Time!

Sure enough, as the weather is just getting warm enough to play golf (and actually enjoy it) the superintendent is headed out to "screw up the greens" (I overheard a member say that once, and it has stuck with me ever since). We will attempt aerification on Monday, April 11th with the course opening Tuesday at noon.  Unfortunately, rain is in the forecast for Monday, which can make it impossible to aerify.  Dry weather is essential in keeping the sand dry such that it will incorporate into the holes properly.  If we get rained out, we will close the course all day Tuesday and try to get it done in time for play Wednesday morning.  Hopefully, Mother Nature will be kind and we can get this done and over with.

Every year, I write a newsletter article or two about the benefits of aeration.  For a little change, I thought I would link to this little video put together by the USGA.  Click below to have a look.  As always, feel free to comment or ask questions via my email, the blog, or by phone.

Video - Why we aerate greens - Click Here

Snow and some bridge related improvements.

Just when you think it's time to play golf, it starts snowing!  There have been some snow flurries today, but alas there are a handful of folks out braving the cold.  The unseasonable cold weather we have had over the last couple of weeks has severely delayed 'spring green-up' here at the golf course.  Soil temperatures are low, and the grass is just struggling to wake up.  Based on temperature models from last year, we are about 2+ weeks behind where we were last year.  Even though the grass isn't growing, there is still plenty to do.

One of the items we wanted to address this year were the bridge approaches on #6 and #10.  On #10, the north side of the bridge was washed out a few years ago from severe flooding, and the concrete 'approach' to the bridge was damaged, leaving us with an ugly hole that we have patched together with gravel every year.  #6 bridge approach was fully intact, but had also been undermined by flooding to the point where it sunk towards the creek.   Entering the south end of the bridge became very abrupt and would cause quite a jarring when you drove over it.  We've been wanting to address these for the last couple of years, and we finally managed to get them squeezed into the capital improvement budget for 2011.  I haven't seen the final bill yet, but it should be a nice improvement for not too much money.  Especially with new carts in the barn, it is a perfect time to do some needed cart path improvements.

Here are some photos from the project:

To keep costs down, we handled the demolition with in-house labor.  Here are Dave Alexander and Dan Myers taking their turn on the pnuematic 65 lb breakers.

Our guys pulled many of the larger chunks out by hand.



Some pieces were more stubborn than others.  There are two old 'I-beams' left from the old days when the approaches were timber.  The concrete was poured directly on them, making it a little harder to break.



Once the old approaches were broken, the pro's came in to re-grade and form.  Notice the deep trenches on the outer edges.  These 'rat walls' will help protect the slab from being undermined again.  Also notice the steel reinforcements.  Most of our approaches did not have sufficient steel, which is why many are crumbling.  These new approaches should outlive us all.

Same forms used on #10 bridge.  Again, notice the protective concrete 'rat walls' that will be installed on each side.

To save wear and tear on the golf course, we used our own people and turf-friendly vehicles to transport the concrete onto the golf course.

The pro's, however did all the finish work.

Even more steel reinforcement was dropped into the slab after it was poured to support the edges.

The finished product.  The pro's will come back tomorrow to pull the forms, finish the sides, and put a 'saw cut' into the slab to help prevent cracking.

No more gravel bump in the cart path.