Catch-up

There has been much to talk about on the maintenance side of the club over the last couple of weeks.  Record heat, storms, fence, have all added up to a lot of busy bees down here.  While spending my time nursing the course through the last couple of weeks, I haven't had much time to blog, so I will try to play catch-up.

As you all know, the storms that rumbled quickly through our area late last week left a lovely mess.  #5 green was the victim of a large oak tree as was #16 tee.  We have been hard at work to repair and patch that green to get it in the most playable shape possible for the remainder of the summer season.  With such a large impact, there were "dimples" in the green up to 6 inches deep as well as one large limb that poked a hole 3 feet deep into the green profile.  We will continue to patch, roll, and sand the affected portion of the green to get it smooth.  It will take time, but eventually I expect a good recovery.

This oak was about 80 or so feet tall and alive.

Just what you want to see in your green!

Jeff couldn't reach the bottom of the hole the limb poked into the green

Some of the more superficial damage.

Tools of the trade - oyster knife, steel pipe, and a pitchfork did a good bit of the surface lifting.  Hex plugs and cups did most of the rest

One of the other aspects of the storm is that it dropped around a half-inch of rain in about 10 minutes.  While this didn't seem like much, it did more harm than good.  Most of it puddled and collected in lower areas of the fairways.  The extra water in the soil combined with cart traffic and the next three days of 100+ degree heat basically "cooked" the Poa annua roots in those spots.  This has resulted in some "burnt out" areas in the fairways mostly in high-cart-traffic and drain areas where the water collected.  "Burnt out" is not really appropriate since these areas did not suffer from dryness at all!!! This is a great example of traffic stress, extreme heat, drainage issues, Poa annua, and soil type can all combine to cause serious turf health problems.   Many people think these areas have "checked out" due to the drought conditions this summer when the opposite is true.  Too much water and traffic had weakened these areas to where they couldn't survive the record heat we have had.  You will also notice that the majority of these areas are where cart traffic tends to be quite "funnelled". 

3 fairway in front of the ladies tee where so many carts tend to drive.

These areas are unsightly, but in this example there is some bentgrass surrounding that will hopefully take over.

#1 approach on the right.  The exact point where most carts drive despite our signs and ropes.  A curious note on this picture is the green "lines" of turf that did survive in our verticut channels (that's why we do it!!!).  The patches that survived are either bentgrass or ryegrass.

Another cart traffic/shade area on the approach to #3 green.  The ryegrass in the step cut and bentgrass survived well while the Poa annua is either dormant or severely stunted.  It is important to note these areas were never dry during the heat wave.

Finally, the other project you may have noticed is the cart bridge on #18.  As many of you noticed, the bridge deck had become quite wobbly and unstable.  Years of floods combined with traffic and pure age had taken their toll on the wooden deck and required it be replaced.  We did the work in-house and used much sturdier treated lumber that should last for some time.  I'm pretty sure you could drive a Sherman tank across the thing now.  We are also trying to smooth out the uneven concrete approaches for a softer transition from wood to cart path.

We use a chainsaw to remove the end boards and then pop the deck straight off.

This wooden center beam was no longer supporting the center of the deck, thus the "flapping wings"effect when driving across.

Rot.  It happens.

The rusty beams were scraped and painted with rustproof primer and high-quality paint.

New deck boards being placed.

The thicker deck boards left us perfectly level with the northern concrete approach but a little below the southern approach.  A little concrete hacking and grinding was necessary.  We will rent another machine to soften further.

Getting the edge just right with a little "persuasion".

Update:  The fence on Erie St. is mostly complete.  Contractors will be back on-site to finish installing the service gate opening mechanism and the security fence down the hill within the next week or so.  The recent storm and heat wave have prevented us from seeding around the fence for the time being, but we will get something down here very shorty.  Bear with us as we try to get the golf course back together from all the recent trouble.