Stuck carts and bunker rakes

  We were greeted by a stuck cart to start the week.  Haven't had one in awhile, but with the soggy spring, it was only a matter of time.  It is a great reminder of the hazards that exist on the course and how important it is to be aware when driving a cart.  This cart traveled through about 20 yards of standing water before it went to its final resting place.  Now we didn't have this area roped off, but it was on the far right of #6 down by the creek, and there was standing water everywhere.  When water is visible, we generally assume that the members know not to drive through it, but alas, I stand corrected.

Difficult to see in this picture, but there was visible standing water through the entire area before it got stuck.  Had they realized they were in a tight spot and just backed out, they would have been fine.

Good and stuck.

Need I say anything?

Bunker Rakes - As I mentioned in the Highlander this month, I thought I would post a couple of pictures of what proper bunker rake placement looks like.  The fundamentals are simple.  Replace them in the flat areas of the trap along the edge in a fashion that will minimize the chance that a ball may come to rest against it.

Here's #16 green.  The rake is on the edge opposite the green.

Rakes evenly spread on the edge away from #7 green.

As a nice touch, you can leave the handle just on the grass edge to make it easier to pick up.

Hope this clears some things up.  I will repost these photos at different times and with some improper member placements as the season continues. 

Tis the season for Poa seedheads....ughh.

Every spring, the mixed stand of bentgrass and Poa annua (annual bluegrass) that covers our greens, tees, and fairways gets a 'white hue' in the form of seedheads.  While aesthetically unappealing, these seedheads also can make the greens a little bumpy and 'wiggly'.

In order to reduce the effect of seedheads, superintendents spray a cocktail of growth regulators at calculated times during the spring.  Unfortunately, the temperature models and observational techniques used to properly time these applications are inconsistent in providing results.  The last two years, we have had 60-80% control, while this year I would guess closer to 35-45 depending on the green.  My best guess would be that the unusually cold and wet spring had something to do with it.

One common misconception is that we can just 'get rid' of the Poa (or 'Po' as many golfers like to mispronounce).  If you take time to look at the patches of seedheads, you will soon realize that our greens, tees and fairways are between 50 and 85% Poa annua.  If we were to 'get rid' of it, we would be playing on mostly dirt.   Short of completely re-seeding the entire golf course, the Poa is here to stay.  While it is not as desirable a species as pure bentgrass in terms of disease resistance, putting quality, and root length, it can provide great conditions when properly maintained. 

We will always do our best to control the seedheads with the technology available to us.  With the limited performance of the chemicals this spring, we will have to do a little extra grooming and rolling to try and keep the greens putting as true as possible.  Seedheads should mostly be gone in 3-4 weeks depending on the weather.

Below is a link to a USGA article about seedhead control (a lot of turf nerd stuff mostly, but interesting nonetheless). 

http://www.usga.org/turf/green_section_record/2008/jul_aug/managing_poa_seedheads.pdf

Little white Poa seedheads covering about 40-50% of this photo. 

The golf ball is sitting on a patch of bentgrass.  As you can see, the lime green Poa annua surrounds it entirely.  Fortunately, it appears we did get some seedhead control, since not all of the Poa has the little white seedheads.

The darker green turf that the ball sits on is bentgrass.  One of our larger patches on 12 green.

A little closer look at seedheads from the fairway perspective. 

A break in the weather and more project work

We finally have a little break in the rain.  Golfers are out on the course again, and we are trying to get the last of our spring projects completed.  With a nice, sunny Monday with the course closed, we decided to tackle the expansion of #6 fairway.  For years, committees have contemplated extending the sixth fairway to better accomodate shorter hitters.  Finally, with a little help from designers and member opinions, we decided to bite the bullet and get it done. 

The big question was where to get the grass.  Because we have bentgrass/poa annua in our fairways, bluegrass in our rough, and ryegrass in our step-cut, we could not simply 'mow it down'.  With the helpl of designers and golfers, we looked around and decided to use some of the excess bentgrass that exists on #1 fairway.  The fairway grass that goes almost all the way to the front of the tee is unnecessary, and we decided to pinch the fairway on the right side a bit to better direct the golfer to the left dogleg.  This afforded enough sod to extend the 6th by about 25 yards or so.

We had hoped to have things buttoned up mostly by Tuesday morning.  Unfortunately, the amount of tedious labor it takes to transplant three different types of sod back and forth across the golf course means this project will likely take until later in the week.  Also, the lightening and thunder on Tuesday cost us about an hour and a half.  We will try to work in and out of play to get the job done and out of your way.

Start by cutting the fairway edge away from the step cut.

Workers then make a horizontal cut across the sod to make for manageable pieces.

Rolling up the sod on #6

After the sod was removed, there was a fair amount of re-grading that needed to be finished.  Low areas were filled in and the area was smoothed for the finer fairway turf.

By late afternoon, we were laying the new fairway.  Still have quite a bit of work moving the step-cut and finishing up number 1 fairway. 

Finally getting some spring projects moving along

The crew is still dodging raindrops to get the course cleaned up.  Just yesterday, we were still mowing areas that haven't been mowed in 2011!  Speaking with other superintendents, golf courses all around our region are struggling just to get cleaned up.  A slight break in the rain over the weekend afforded drier conditions and we were finally able to set off some spring projects that we have been meaning to get to.

So wet I don't even let the employees use a cart!

Ruts and mud are the norm these days.

The most obvious thing going on would be the renovation of #10 bridge.  We addressed the concrete approaches earlier this spring, and now we are tackling the replacement of the wooden bridge deck and restoration of the steel I-beams. The project is not just replacement, but an upgrade in materials.  Existing bridges were built with nails and 2" timbers while we are using treated deck screws and 3" timbers, which offer considerably more strength.  The beams are being scraped and treated with rust inhibiting primer and quality outdoor paint.  In an effort to shore-up course infrastructure, we are trying to do at least one bridge per year over the next several years to replace them in-house in a cost effective manner that doesn't require a large one-time expenditure.

We were hoping to have the bridge finished before the 18-holers opening scramble, but the rain decided to cancel the ladies and our last coat of paint.  We look to finish the bridge tomorrow to minimize golfer inconvenience.  Thank you for your patience.

A view of the rust on the beams of #10 bridge. 

The weak nature of these 2" boards is evident in the fact that they are all becoming detached from the rail after years of cart traffic.  Using the beefier timbers to replace should produce a bridge that will last for decades.

Another shot of the rust.

Cutting off the old 'curbs' being careful not to drop them in the creek.

A close-up of the boards shows nails that have almost completely rusted away.

Removing one board at a time by hand.

Sanding the rust off of the old beams.

 

The first coat of primer goes on. 

After we got the timbers removed, we added rock underneath to protect the bridge approach and the bank that had washed away underneath the bridge.

  We also made efforts to aerate the clubhouse grounds.  Most of the lawn around the clubhouse lacks proper irrigation, and we suffered some turf loss.  These areas were aerified, overseeded, and fertilized. 

Jonesy being careful not to mess up the concrete.

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.