Getting caught up (Finally!)

Well, two great things happened today.  1 - it didn't rain and 2- there was no Monday outing.  That's a combintation to get some things done.  Along with our usual chemical and pesticide applications to greens and fairways, we were able to get to some tasks that the bad spring weather had put off.  On mondays when the course can rest, we do not mow the greens to give them a day of rest and also free up some man hours to get some other tasks completed.

Fertilization of the rough was finished.  This will really help continue the recovery from all the spring damage.  Things are already looking a little greener in the areas completed last week. 

Also, things finally dried up enough to topdress our greens lightly with sand.  This will help us control organic matter and keep the greens healthy and firm.

With no play on the course, Savory Tree service came out to clean up our arbovitae along 18 tee/erie street fence.  Several large limbs had lodged (fallen over) and will be banded together, trimmed, and made to look like a proper screen bed again.  It drives me nuts to see those ugly things all bent over and untidy.

We did some of our own tree trimming through the course and most noticably along #2 fairway.  The maples on the right side had limbs that we couldn't mow under, and the shade was making the grass very thin in an area frequented by slices.

Now that we have started our topdressing program, we will continue every 1-2 weeks through the rest of the season.

The arbovitae were getting too heavy to keep themselves up.  They will be banded to stand back up and continue to be a great and attractive barrier for #18 tee.

There are lots of 'danglers' hanging out over Erie St. as well that will be banded back up.



After a little trim, the top line will be uniform and the entire hedge will look much better.  See the difference in the first few that he completed versus where he is working in the picture.





Lifting the drip line on #2 right side maple trees.

Odds and ends, and BEES!

We are still working to get the course put together from the spring damage.  We have been out sodding, punching, seeding, and just cleaning up to get the course in shape for the busy summer months.  The stumps left behind by the spring storms were ground and cleaned up today, and we continue to do what we can to grow as much grass as possible leading into the hot, humid summer. Every day we get mild temperatures and a little rain, the course seems to get a little greener.

Also, we have decided to mow down the area between the driving range floor and #9 fairway to see if it would be a viable practice tee for lessons, short game practice, or additional hitting area on busy days.  We are just mowing it down and growing it in to see if anyone will use it before considering any construction/leveling. 

Finally, we had several calls about the bees behind #6 green last friday.  This was not a hive, but a swarm of honeybees!  Generally harmless when amassing like this.  I called Mike from Fitkins Greenhouse, who happens to be a hobbyist beekeeper.  He was happy to come out and take the swarm home to stoke his hives.

New sod on the left of #14 fairway in the low area.

Down in the flooded area by the creek, a little fresh fairway sod on #10.  The other thin areas will be left alone for now to recover on their own.  We will reevaluate in the fall if we need to sod these areas also.

Finally polishing off the remnants of the spring wind storms behind #3 green.

The 'scalped' tee between #9 and the Driving range.  Will you use it?

Mike donning his gear assuring me that we won't get stung.  (Then why do you need the bloody gear?) 

I stood well back while he collected the bees.  Nobody got stung after all.

Recovery and New sand

We seem to have stumbled into some perfect late-spring weather.  The golf course is humming again, and the dry, mild weather has gotten us up and working again. 

As mentioned in previous posts, we had some turf burn out from all the standing water and subsequent heat around the week or so after Memorial Day.  Now that things have calmed down, we have been out trying to get these weak areas to recover on their own as much as possible.  Hopefully, we can get some recovery, but we will definitely be sodding and seeding some areas that took the brunt of the heat and wet.

Also, as we do every spring, we have loaded a handfull of the worst bunkers with some fresh sand.  #14, #8, and the practice bunker have all seen new sand.  Every year we purchase sand to address our worst greenside traps.  The next loads are headed to 8, 11, 15, and 9.  We will continue to spruce traps up to combat the highly contaminated sand that sits in them now. 

Bunker sand piled into #8 'propeller' trap.

All smoothed out and hand raked.

Punching the damaged and weak areas in the fairways will help us break the 'crust' that developed after these areas were innundated with water and then 'cooked' by the high temperatures.

  

Working with Junior Golfers on Care of the Course

This USGA Green section record has lots of great information. First of all, natural buffer areas for water features is a great idea to reduce pesticide runoff and create habitat for critters. Also, the Greater Pittsburgh GCSA is working with the first tee to educate young golfers in how to care for the course.

Click below to check it out:
http://myemail.constantcontact.com/USGA-Green-Section-Record--May-27--2011.html?soid=1103157499740&aid=wJsXR51FK1U

Early Summer heat wave brings a little early season stress

After what seems like months of cold, sopping wet conditions, the golf course has been smacked by days in the low to mid-90's and nights near or above 70 degrees.  While it did help the course finally dry up, the shock to the grass (Poa annua - not what's left of our bentgrass) on the greens has brought about a little off-color turf on some of our weaker greens, namely 8, 15, and the right half of 4.  Also, areas in the rough and fairways that were smothered with water for days are struggling to grow.  With these unseasonably hot and humid conditions, we have been forced into a little defensive turf management far earlier in the year than usual. 

Most of the greens are doing fine, but we will be cautious and extremely diligent for the next couple of days until we get into some more seasonable weather.  Hot weather such as what we are experiencing can bring disease, stress out the turf, and make it difficult to recover from the day's traffic. 

Tomorrows high is going to be between 93 and 97 depending on who you listen two.  With the humidity, high skies, and the length of the day to consider, we will have to be on our toes.




Another puddle area on a fairway edge.  We will aerate these areas to loosen things up and hope to get some grass to come back.

The rough on 10 not feeling the love.

Bottom of 10 fairway where the flood waters sat for a few days.  Since I've been at HMGC, I think we've re-sodded this about every other year.

This rough on #3 was wet for days.  Between rain, traffic, and heat, this area will be slow to recover.  Drainage needs to be installed in this area in the worst way.

More former puddles struggling to keep alive.

A little more damage from the Memorial Day Storms

After a day and a half of just getting caught up mowing the golf course, we started to address the mess left behind by the Memorial Day Weekend storms.  Many crew members spent the whole day picking up sticks, limbs, and raking up messes.  There is much more to be done, but at least we have a start.

Once we dug into the big mess behind #3 green, closer inspection revealed two more trees that were partially uprooted during the high, straight-line winds that blew across the course Sunday.  They are both fairly large and currently in a precarious, partially uprooted state. 

We have used yellow tape to alert players to the area of danger, and just ask that you obey the signs and stay out of this area until we can get a tree company in to clean up these dangerous trees.  While we can do tree work in-house, the dangerous nature of these particular trees force me to err on the side of safety and have professionals with the proper equipment handle the job. 

And to all those that have been asking, while the tree company is here we will trim the hanging limb on #8 tee.

The worst of the two is very near falling over.

The larger of the two trees is leaning and just starting to uproot.  It is a very large linden.

Keep out!  Wouldn't want anyone to get squished.

Another memorable holiday weekend - Highland Meadows style.

In true HMGC tradition, another memorable holiday weekend ..... for the wrong reasons.  Repeated storms during the evening dumped another half-inch of rain on our already soaked golf course.  Unfortunately, the heavy rains were combined with high winds.  Localized gusts of up to 70 mph were reported around Northwest Ohio/Southeast Michigan.  As a result, there is a great deal of debris and tree damage on the golf course.  Combined with being a week behind on regular mowing maintenance, this is a headache we definitely didn't need.

While we are playing catch-up, the golf course will continue to be messy for awhile.  Trying to get the fairways and rough back down to their normal cutting height will leave a great deal of clippings.  Bear with us while we try to get your club cleaned back up again.

Check out some pics from Monday:

With the high heat coming Monday and Tuesday, it was imperative that we get as much standing water off the course as possible.  Multiple days with high heat and standing water will cook the grass.

A nice young maple tree between 4 and 15 snapped right off.

Our pumps ran all weekend to keep up with all the rain.

The mess behind #3 green.  Our famous "leaner" tree (that we all aim at) didn't break, but was uprooted with the soft ground.

A nearby linden, with about a 20" trunk just snapped right off.  Lindens have a very soft wood that is prone to breaking making them a rather undesirable tree.

The uprooted "leaner" tree.



The "leaner" tree is currently lodged in the crotch of another nearby linden.  For the sake of safety, we will have a company come in to get these trees on the ground.



As a great upside to the loss of the trees, there is already more morning sun shining on #3 green, which is a good thing!

The linden that snapped off was actually rotten inside.  Lindens are notorious for being perfectly healthy and unbelievably soft inside. 

A lot of general debris all over the place.  In this case another unfortunate hit to the elm trees, which took a beating in the Presiden't Day Ice storm as well.

Standing water at the bottom of #11

Many members asked me why I wasn't pumping the water in front of #11 to prevent the grass from dying.  The drains that keep the area dry actually dump into the creek.  The light-brown colored water in the middle of this picture is the result of the creek 'backing up' into the area in front of 11.  The water will not go down until the creek does, making pumping futile.

Day 2 of the 2011 Spring Rains

I am beginning to think that Mother Nature has an issue with our summer holidays.  2011 Memorial Day flooding, 2008 4th of July, 2011 President's Day Ice storm, etc... It seems we can't catch a break! 

After the 2 inches of rain the 25th - 26th, we received another half inch overnight.  As expected, the course is extremely wet for what seems like the 10,000th time this spring.  The crew is out battling with pumps, weedeaters, and shovels to do what they can to clean the course  up for the first decent weekend of the year.  Summer is here and it's time to play golf.

Unfortunately with all the rain, we are behind on our mowing.  Fairways and rough will be a little long for awhile.  We will be here this weekend when conditions are dry to try and play catch-up.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend to all of you.  Let's hope this is the start to a great summer season!

  Below are a few pictures of today's activities.

The creek did get out of its banks eventually, but not at destructive levels.

#10 a little flooded.

Crew was out dodging puddles and getting sand back up on washed out faces.

Pumps were out in bunkers and fairways trying to clean up the standing water.

Wet wet wet....again.

It must really stink to be a meteorologist.  We curse them when they are wrong, and right now I want to curse them for being right!  After about 2 inches of rain overnight, the course is obviously a tad moist.  The good news is that so far, the creek is well within her banks.  The bad news is that the course is unplayably wet.  Every inch of the golf course could qualify for casual water at this point.  The course will be closed for at least the morning if not the entire day to allow it to drain, and we can only hope that the forecast for up to an inch more rain today and tonight is incorrect.

 This morning I have taken some pictures of the course as well as some reference pictures to follow the rise and fall of the creek over the next couple of days.  I will post more pictures if there are dramatic increases in creek levels.


#9 Fairway first thing this morning.



#8 Fairway.  I have never seen a lake like this here before.

It's a little fuzzy, but the creek isn't too high yet.  It is rising quickly however.

So far the bridges are above water.

#2 still passable for now.

More rain in the forecast. A little band-aid for 17 bunker.

Well, it seems mother nature has decided to rain on our parade again this week.  We were planning a full renovation of #17 bunkers for this week, but with storms forecast throughout the week, it would be unwise to open ground.  If we were to start digging and received heavy rain, the soil would be too wet to sculpt properly.  Also, with 17 being so low and sitting on bedrock, it stays quite wet during severe weather episodes.  All this considered, we played it safe and decided not to dig.

However, I couldn't possibly look at #17 for one more day in the condition it was in.  Sand falling down the hillside and grass nonexistent was driving me nuts.  With a couple of guys, a couple of hours, and some shovels, we dug the trap down, rebuilt the edge and layed some leftover sod from the fairway switch.  THIS IS ONLY A QUICK FIX - NOT THE FINAL RESTORATION.  We will do a proper, full rebuilding of this bunker when weather allows.  If we get too far into the golf season and are still unable to dig, we will wait until fall to break ground.

A little leftover sod and a re-shaped edge will hopefully keep balls from resting on the lip when they enter the trap.

Now I won't have to scream every time I see the bunker.  At least there's grass now.

USGA Green Section Record

This weeks USGA Green section record has some interesting comments on our wet weather in the region and how it affects grass health. Also, there's an intersting article from the 20's about bunker conditioning that proves that bunkers have been a member controversy for decades. An interesting read for players and maintenance afficionados alike.

Click below to read this update:
http://myemail.constantcontact.com/USGA-Green-Section-Record--May-20--2011.html?soid=1103157499740&aid=ufdMSrdDetA

Sod work done and more spring repairs taking place

After a few days of sod work, the crew is tired and a lot of sore backs persist.  However, it seems worth it with the result we got on #1 and #6.  We used some excess bentgrass on #1 to add almost 30 yards to #6 fairway.  I think both holes improved aesthetically, and the playability of #6 will be forever improved for shorter hitters.  The sod should be knitted in and playable in a few more days.

I actually heard some grumbling from members about "all the money we were spending" to do that sod work.  When all was said and done, we had nothing but our own labor and about $600 worth of purchased materials that went into the project.  Relatively little for an impact project that has been talked about far beyond my 6 years here.  These type of inexpensive projects provide great benefit to many members without breaking the bank.  Just the type of projects to do when the play is slow and membership is down.  Scroll down to see before and after pics.

Now that the sod is finished and the rain has finally slowed down, we are getting to deal with some more standard spring maintenance projects, namely drainage and irrigation.  You have likely seen all the leaky sprinkler heads here and there, and we are now starting to pick them off one by one.  Also, with all the rain, we have been able to detect drainage tile in need of repair. 

Before

It's a little tough to see in this photo, but there are almost 30 more yards added.  Aesthetically from the upper tees, the fairway is much more visible.

IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE:

The older our sprinkler system gets, the more leaks we seem to have each spring.

Fortunately, most of the leaks are simple, rubber O-rings that allow these 'swing joints' to move.  Hopefully we can avoid any serious 'main line' issues like the valve on #9 this past winter.

It was evident that the drain next to #17 green was no longer working.  Aaron is tracing and excavating the line to root out any clogs or breaks in the line.