Punch punch punch....

With our small, early spring staff, we have been hard at work getting the most important tasks finished.  The wonderfully dry weather has enabled us to get a tremendous amount of de-thatching, aerification, deep-tine aerification, fertilizing, and spraying done. 

Today, we went out to finish aerifying the last few fairways.  Now while we usually deep-tine punch the fairways with solid tines, #18 fairway, #7 approach, and the bottom of #9 north fairway must be approached a little differently.  All of these areas sit barely atop solid bedrock.  To improve the turf in these areas, we can only punch very shallow holes to avoid destroying our equipment.  In order to make the holes more meaningful, we pull a plug to get the best bang for our buck.  We remove a little thatch, get some air exchange, and help the soil drain a bit better.  Pulling a core helps the shallow hole remain open a little longer than would a shallow solid-tine punching.  In time, the holes should grow over and fill with roots.

Core-aerifying 18 fairway old-school.

With spring cultivation activities nearing an end, we have finally had time to begin addressing other projects.  The huge mud hole on the right of #6 was the result of a drain tile that had been blocked by tree roots.  We got it dug up, cleaned, and will get the repair finished as soon as the mud hole dries up enough.

The crew getting ready to send water in to test the line.

Two sections were removed that were completely packed with tree roots.

Next week, we will continue knocking out these nagging projects.  Hopefully slightly warmer temperatures will allow us to get our weed control out.  Remember, it's best to wait to spray your spring weeds until you have nighttime temperatures near 50 for a day or two.  Otherwise, the plant may not take the material up as well, making it less effective.

Aerification complete! Now if it will just quit snowing...

Despite a sketchy forecast, we were able to get greens aerified on Monday.  Since I have changed our usual practices over the last few years, many people have asked what "type" of aerification we are doing this spring. 

The only difference for this punching was we did not use the large, tractor-mounted deep-tine aerifier.  Last fall, the deep-tine machine went over the greens immediately followed by our greens aerifier with 3/4" solid tines.   This resulted in too much surface disruption and poor putting performance for longer than I liked.  On the plus side, it also meant that we have done our job in maintaining greens with minimal compaction which promotes good air flow, drainage, and root growth.  To avoid excess surface disruption this spring, we skipped the deep-tine for now and only used our traditional aerifier with 3/4" solid tines to about a 3" depth.  We will be using the deep-tine aerifier this spring, but will wait until the greens have healed.  Don't be scared.  I will be using very small 7mm tines that will punch deep, but make very small holes that shouldn't interfere too much with regular play.  It will help us through the summer by providing rooting channels and increased drainage.   

The net result is we got more sand into our greens than we ever have.  We used around 40 tons of sand for just over 2 acres of green surface.  This is extremely beneficial to our soil profile and will promote great performance during the season.

The greens were verti-cut and topdressed heavily before punching.

The traditional greens aerifier with 3/4" solid tines at 3" deep.

The aerifier does a nice job of getting the sand into the holes.

After punching, a heavy dose of organic fertilizer is applied

Sand and fertilizer being drug into the profile with our heavy duty "ass kicking" greens brush.  The guys hate this one because it is heavy, but does a great job of moving the sand.

A finer brush and some hand work filling as many holes as possible.

A final rolling, hand broom, and soaking complete the job.  The greens actually roll decently!

Groovy

While this weird/lovely spring continues, we are getting a jump start on another planned maintenance practice for this spring - Fairway verti-cutting.  Those of you that have been out braving the wind and cold the last couple of days have likely seen our tractor out cutting little grooves in the fairways and bringing lots of brown stuff up.

Small disks ripping through the canopy.

Lots of brown "stuff"

Normally, this would be done in the fall along with our normal fairway deep-tine aerification.  Due to the extremely wet fall in 2011, we were unable to complete it.  So a hacking we will go this spring.  The upside is that the unusually high growth rate we are experiencing should help the fairways heal in a very short time.  If we have time this spring, we may do this again before the summer heat comes.

The reasons we do this are: 1.  Remove thatch from below the surface to firm up the fairway and provide avenues for water, air,  and nutrients to get to the soil.  2.  "Groom" the canopy to help stand the grass up for a better cut and a cleaner surface.

Once we acquire our new deep-tine aerator, we will punch deep holes in the fairways to help relieve compaction.  In the past, removing thatch and alleviating compaction was normally done with core-aerification.   I believe we acheive the same thing by doing the verti-cut and deep tine without all the mess, player disturbance, and soil brought to the surface.

So I will thank you ahead of time for your patience while we chop up the fairways.  If the weather stays dry, we should be done quickly.

What a lovely June we are having.

WHEW!  It has been a hectic couple of weeks to start the season!  I apologize for such length between blogs, but we have been quite busy down here in the grounds department.  For this weeks installment, I have a random selection of photos from the last couple of weeks that of the things that have been going on and some of them WAY ahead of schedule.

The unfathomably warm weather has jump-started the golf course in an unprecedented fashion.  Air and soil temperatures that we wouldn't normally see until April or even May have the turf "leaping" out of the ground and growing like mad.  With our limited late-winter/early spring staff, it has been 'all hands on deck' just to keep the mowers in motion.  As you can see below, our December "dormant" application of fertilizer has the greens lush and growing like mad.  The yellow rectangles are where we placed plywood to prevent fertilizer from hitting the putting green when we made the application December 3rd.  As you can see, the fertilizer has made quite a difference in our spring 'green-up'. 



This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago.  You can still see the rectangles today. 

Aside from keeping the grass cut, we have also been out applying our crabgrass control products.  To put things in perspective, the proper timing for this application would be somewhere around April 15th.  This season, temperature models and the blooming forsythia had us out as early as March 19th.  We are almost a month ahead of "normal". 

Coming into the spring, we had the least amount of 'damage' from the Canada geese that I've ever seen.  Perhaps they stayed home with the warm winter.  There were a few meandering about, but overall they stayed away.  Some even moved into the trees.  I assume they were tired of Hank chasing them.

There are two geese in the elm between 1 and 10.  The second is a little hard to spot.

I took some soil profiles from the greens today.  The root length and density are the best I've seen in the springtime for our old Poa/Bent greens.  Thank you for putting up with our greens aeration practices.  They are paying dividends that will translate into better overall conditions during the peak season.  Spring aeration is still scheduled for April 9th.

The roots are holding this sample together.  They are dense and long, which means we are starting the year with healthy turf.  Even the upper sand layer is holding nicely.  The best root mass I've seen in spring in 7 years here.

Overall, it is a startling start to the spring.  Bear with us while we try to keep up with the mowing.  The grass will be a little thick and messy in spots, but we should get caught up soon if the weather decides to get back to normal. 

Welcome back early.  It's been great seeing everyone out on the course so early in the season!

Opening a Little Early After All

It would seem that I will have to amend my prior post and say we are going to open at noon on Friday the 16th!  This is by FAR the earliest we have opened in the 7 years I've been here.  Continued record warmth and wind have managed to dry the course out just enough for play.  It's time to get out and enjoy the course!

Today, we rolled and mowed the greens for the first time and got several of the tees and fairways mowed.  We will be finish mowing tomorrow if the weather cooperates and have one decent cut on the whole golf course prior to opening.

That being said, even though the weather is great, the golf course will not be in mid-season condition by any means.  We may not have the bunkers in ready shape, but will give it our best tomorrow and friday morning.  11 bunker still needs a couple truckloads of sand from the winter flooding.  The greens, tees, and fairways are still quite soft from the inch and a half of rain Monday.  We also have not had time to get all the accessories such as tee markers, ball washers, and coolers out just yet.  We will be picking at those projects into next week.

Also, it is important to note the chance of rain.  As wet as the golf course is still, just the slightest bit of rain will get carts cancelled.  We will do our best, but this early in the season, it's best to err on the side of caution to prevent starting the season with lots of ruts and mud tracks.

I hope the rain stays away, and I see you all on the course this weekend!

Couldn't resist....

This has been floating around the industry for awhile and it made me chuckle.  Thought I would pass it along.

Course Opening and Current Conditions

As I expected, the unusually warm winter has brought many questions about the opening date for the golf course.  Historically, the average opening date is around April 1st.  In year's past, I have been able to open as early as March 22nd and have waited as late as April 5th due to rain.  This is what I consider our "normal" window.  While I believe that we will open on the early end of that "normal" window, I fear it might not be as early as some members would anticipate given the forecasted conditions next week.  I have had members suggest we open as early as this coming Tuesday. Given this understandable confusion, I thought I would elaborate on the two major criteria I consider before opening to full member play and update where the course is today.

1.  Firmness - The course must be able to sustain foot and cart traffic without ruts and prints that could take weeks to smooth out as well as permanently compact the soil. 

Currently -  the last snow melt was off Monday and the greens are quite spongy and soft.  We are not quite ready to put a mower or worse yet a foot on them.

2.  Growth - We need growth to recover from traffic and mowing as well as firm up the soil.  Normally, I like to have the grass mowed once or twice before we put golf on it.  Cool-season grasses grow with air temperatures of 60+ and soil temperatures of 50+.  While the winter was 'above average' in the 30's and low 40's, it still doesn't necessarily get the grass growing when we need temperatures in the 50's and 60's. 

Currently - Today was our first sustained day of air temperatures in that range and the soil is still in the low-to-mid 40's.  As you can see in the photos below, the fairway, green and rough are still dormant, brown and not really growing yet, and the soil temperature reading I took today in the top 2 inches is still in the low 40's.

All that being said, I think a realistic timeline for opening will be sometime the week of March 19th if the weather holds.  There is much yet to do before we are ready, but we all look forward to seeing golf again as soon as possible.  I hope to see you all very soon!

COURSE CONDITIONS

As I said above, we are still quite soft and wet in areas.  Overall, I have yet to see any major damage other than the bunker on 11 and some other flood debris and silt deposits.  The Poa annua in the greens is showing signs of waking up, but bentgrass in the greens, fairways, and tees is still wanting it to warm up a little more.  In the picture below, you can see the light green Poa versus the still brown-reddish brown bent that is just starting to wake up.  Not really anything to mow just yet.

From #9 green today.

Given the poa is starting, we will likely be mowing in the next 5-7 days to start cleaning up the winter fuzz.

Winter Mess and Snow Mold

One of the great upsides to the warm winter was the lack of snow mold disease pressure.  Even the rough, which we do not spray, is relatively free of disease.  I have not seen the course this clean to start the year in 7 seasons.

Even the winter mess is not too bad.  Coming off winters with ice storms and repeated flooding, there is only some debris left from our late winter flood and cleanup on 11 bunker.  A tree came down across # 4 tee with the last windstorm, but we will have to wait until things get drier to clean it up without making a mess of the tee.

Fortunately for us, it fell almost exactly between the women's and men's tee.  We couldn't have felled it that accurately!

New H-2B Worker Laws In Effect

As I have begun hiring for the upcoming seasonal staff, many members who were here during 2006-2008 ask about the Hispanic laborers we used from the H-2B Visa program under the previous superintendent Mark Mixdorf.  The program was designed to help businesses that couldn't attract a sufficient labor force from local workers.  It allowed us to bring 12 workers from Mexico into Ohio legally as seasonal laborers provided we could show that no local workers were willing to do the job. 

With the state of the economy in 2008 along with several changes to the H-2B program, we were no longer able to prove need for outside labor, which forced us to discontinue use of the program.  I have had no trouble finding local people or students in need of work to fill the seasonal positions we have available on my staff.  We are generally overwhelmed with applications whether I solicit or not. 

Four years later, I still get asked about the Hispanic workers and if we could get them back.  They did a great job and many members appreciated the hard work these guys did for the club.  I have kept in touch with a couple of them over the years, and they still speak fondly of their time here. 

Now, the government has overhauled the law again.  Wages, worker protections, job posting requirements and quotas have all been changed.  With these changes in place, combined with the continued robust unemployment levels, I highly doubt that our little club will ever be in a position to use the program again.  A great deal of clubs and other industries rely heavily on these workers to fill a gap in available labor, especially in industries such as resorts and factories.  While we have a steady supply of willing laborers, I am very happy to put Americans to work and hopefully help the local economy.

The link below outlines the details in the adjustments to the law:

http://www.dol.gov/whd/immigration/H2BFinalRule/index.htm

A New Year, a New Look and a new mobile format!

The stable of nerds at Google have made it ridiculously easy for techno-idiots like me to make their personal blogs look and work much better.  Considering this is a free service, I am amazed at how much effort they put into making our experience better.

I figured that as the golf season nears, I would update the look a little and get ready for another year.  I even got a new picture of me that's a little more professional and a little less "Gorton's Fisherman".  If you are a new member or just new to the maintenance blog, I try to post pictures, links, or information from once to twice a week depending on how mouthy I am feeling in a given week or what all is happening on the course that may be of interest. 

Also, I have been able to format the blog for mobile device use!  Again a free service of Google Blogger.  Type the normal web address into your mobile browser and you will find a mobile device-friendly format for easy viewing.

A little knowledge from back home

As many of you know, I am originally from the Pacific Northwest, more specifically the greater Seattle, WA area.  As I was browsing some industry articles, I came across one from my previous USGA regional agronomist back home and was suprised to see pictures of Safeco Field (home of the Seattle Mariners).  After wondering what my USGA agronomist was doing looking at sports turf, I read the article and realized it carried a great message about shade. 

The amount of turf on a baseball field isn't very much compared to a golf course, but every inch of it must be perfect at all times (at least until the end of September since the Mariners can't seem to play baseball in October).  Even with the amount of time, money, and scrutiny they give the field, they still struggle mightily with shade from the grandstands.  Despite underground heating and cooling systems and perfect drainage and a retractable roof, the lack of sun will still kick your ass. 

As a result, the crew at Safeco is experimenting with portable lights to "sun" the portions of turf that have in years past struggled and required re-sodding.  This brings me to my ultimate point-shade makes growing grass difficult.  Even in a relatively controlled environment in a part of the country where summer stress doesn't really exist in most years, they can't grow it in the shade.

So please read the article, it's not very long.   Keep in mind the double-edged sword that are trees on the golf course, and maybe think twice if you see me thinning or removing tree canopy before cussing me out.

http://www.usga.org/course_care/regional_updates/regional_reports/northwest/Seeing-The-Light---January-2012/

Some very big trees hitting the ground - Don't panic, they aren't on the golf course.

Any of you living near the golf course probably heard the shrill buzzing of chainsaws for most of the day today.   Right in the middle of our compound back here are 3 gigantic cottonwood trees that have become serious safety hazards due to their size.  About 6 years ago, one of them let go of a limb that totalled my car!  As you will see in the below pictures, the trees are about 120 feet or taller, and as is typical with cottonwoods, the limbs in the highest portion of the tree are extremely large.  Many well over a foot in diameter. 

Every season, we have a few close calls with large limbs landing in or around the compound.  The area under these trees is where our employees park their cars, our dirt and materials are handled and stored, and the turnaround is used by any vehicle traffic that passes through our area.  In other words, it's a high traffic area.

Also, with the future of our compound hopefully involving some expansion and improvements (material handling bins, new septic field, moving of fuel tanks from behind #8 green etc.) it will really open up the space and make the possibilities endless.  Also, we won't miss the insane amount of leaves and "cotton" that these trees deposit each year in and around our buildings and equipment. 

There is a fourth tree that will be coming down that is large and currently leaning over one of our buildings.  A ticking time-bomb as it were.

Most importantly, you won't miss them from any important view on the golf course!

As you can see, they are not small trees.

The limbs are large and create a dangerous canopy over our entire parking and staging area.

The large oak tree that seems to lean a little closer to our building each year.

The trees don't even really block the shop area from view.  We won't miss the huge amount of leaves and "cotton" that litter our shop every year.

Winter work continues.

It would appear that winter has finally decided to visit, if but for a short stretch.  With that, the crew is still busy with their usual winter tasks.  I spent a great deal of time last year discussing the types of things that happen down here in a normal winter, so in an effort not to bore my normal readers, I will spend less time on that topic this winter.  If you are new to the blog and want to see pics of all the sanding, painting, and wrenching in a fascinating step-wise montage, feel free to access last winter's blog posts through the links on the side of the screen.

For the new readers who haven't had a snapshot into the winter shop work, below is just a little taste of all the excitement that goes on in our little garage during the winter.  While this is far from the crew's favorite type of work (they'd much rather be outside) it is so very important to ensure our equipment runs smoothly and reliably throughout the golf season.  An ounce of prevention...yadda yadda yadda.

Just like a top-notch mechanic - buy him brand new fairway mowers and he takes the bloody things apart!  Art and Jason are installing a new 'down pressure' kit to hopefully improve the quality of cut on the new machines.  Also, it allows our mechanic to make sure everything down to the last screw is greased, tightened, cleaned, and/or marked to his liking.

The greens mowers also get completely disassembled for maintenance and sharpening.  All chains, bearings, seals, belts, and cables are checked, replaced as necessary, greased to the gills, painted, and reassembled.

Here is a floor board from one of our old fairway mowers that we are stretching another season out of.  The holes and rust are just what happens over years of operation.  This floorboard will be replaced with sheet steel fabricated and welded by our mechanic.  Now hopefully nobody will put their feet through the floor.

Ohio Golf Courses Struggled in 2011..........DUH!!

Below is a link to Cleveland.com where they interviewed the head of the Northern Ohio PGA Section about the struggles in the golf market this past year.  While it was certainly a difficult year for the golf industry as a whole, I did NOT know that Ohio was the hardest hit in terms of rounds played.  While we weren't as bad off in terms of overall revenue, we were by far the leader in rounds lost relative to the previous season.
I believe that a part of this is directly related to the economy in general.  Unemployment is high yadda yadda yadda.  Overall, however, the weather was by far a bigger component.  Spring and fall had record rains, and the summer had record heat.  Not a recipe for great golf activity.

Highland Meadows had the lowest rounds in years, but near the top for the entire area.  This is a great testament to our dedicated and active membership.  Let's hope for a better 2012!

Click the link below to get the hard numbers:

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2012/01/rain_soaking_golf_courses_in_2.html

An Important Message

There aren't too many things I worry about, but one of them happens to be skin cancer.  I work outside, the people who work for me work outside, and we are exposed to the sun more than the average person.  I will harass my crew about sunscreen and hats every chance I get, but I'm not sure I've done enough over the years. 

Pat Jones, one of the prominent voices in the golf industry (whose articles, facebook posts, and blogs I highly recommend reading to golf industry people and golfers), posted the video below in facebook land this week.  It's your standard-issue public service-type commercial with a very dramatic overtone, but the message is simple - Don't be scared, but be aware.

Watch the video below and take the advice.  My doctor is happy to look me over for potential melanoma even when I just visit to get my asthma prescription renewed.  Between that and self-checks, you can do a lot to catch things early. 

When you are out on the course this summer or with your kids at the pool, be careful not to over-expose yourself, and for crying-out-loud put some damn sunscreen on.



Happy New Year!

2012 is here, and I am attacking things with a fresh perspective. A few years ago, my new year's work resolutions were mostly related to safety. I am continuing to work with the Ohio Bureau of Workman's Comp to develop safety and worker injury protocols that will help us be more efficient and have fewer accidents. Also, I will team with the clubhouse to make these policies work for the club as a whole.

For 2012, I am going to make more effort to address some of the environmental issues that face our course, our industry as a whole, and our planet. Issues such as fertilizer restrictions, EPA pesticide permitting guidelines, water use, fuel use, and others are at the forefront of the new 'sustainability' initiatives that our profession is working to implement. Being at the forefront of these issues will help my profession AND this club be more environmentally aware and financially successful in the future.

Below is a link to the recent issue of the USGA green section. At the top of this weeks issue is a link to an interesting article about "purple gold". Reclaimed water runs through purple pipes, and is becoming more widely used throughout areas of the country. I have been asked several times by members if we use reclaimed water, usually in the spring after members visit courses in the southern areas of the US during the winter where reclaimed or effluent water is used.

Fresh water is only becoming more scarce as the years go by and the population continues to boom. I feel that the future will require more stringent water use guidelines and effluent or reclaimed water use will be more prevalant across the globe. That being said, even though our area of the country is not currently set up for reclaimed water, we must stay prepared.

Click below for an interesting article on reclaimed water and some other insights from the USGA.

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/USGA-Green-Section-Record--December-16--2011.html?soid=1103157499740&aid=P9DXvH9nuX8

Happy Holidays! Blogging will resume in 2012

With the Holidays upon us, there hasn't been much of anything going on in the maintenance department that is blog-worthy.  Many of the year-round staff use most if not all of their vacation in December to be with family, and it is generally quiet or even vacant here at the shop.  The course weathered the flooding fairly well, and the rain has just continues to keep things a soggy mess.  We have had near all-time record rains for our area this year.

This will probably be my final post for 2011, as I too am headed west to see my family back in Seattle for a few days.  I would like to wish you all a fantastic holiday season and a happy new year.  This was a fabulous year for me and the staff, and we are looking forward to an even better 2012. 

Visit the blog in January for a 'Meet the Crew' segment and some of the winter tasks we have outlined for this year.

Merry Christmas!

The "Model" grass at HMGC

I'm merely posting this to toot my own horn as an amateur photographer.  By "photographer" I mean I take an unbelievable amount of pictures and like the blind squirrell, every now and again I find a keeper.  Well, by mere happenstance, an editor from Superintendent Magazine liked a picture I took of the turf on our #12 approach (I think) so much he put a zoomed in version on their cover for this months issue!  Below is the picture that I took, and below that is the link to superintendent magazine's website where you can see it on the cover.

http://www.superintendentmagazine.com/

Click above to check out your grass in print!  Page 4 of the digital issue has my credit in little tiny print. 

Slowly but surely, the water recedes.

After a record rain capping a record November for precipitation, the course remains flooded for the third straight day.  The creek has certainly crested, but all bridges are more or less impassable yet, and it will be at least a day or more before we can really see what's left behind.  Below are pictures from today.

If there is a positive note to take away from this flood event, I would say that all of our recent infrastructure upgrades to bridges, approaches, and stream banks are holding up great.  As you can see from the pictures below, many areas that were destroyed from the 2008 floods of similar proportion have survived in great shape.

Because of the conditions, the course will be CLOSED all weekend.  We will be open for winter play on temporary greens starting Tuesday, December 6th. 

A little 'stick' left behind on 12 tee.

Fortunately, the bench and ball washer stayed put on 12.

This is today's shot of 11 green, and you can see that the water is no longer on the green.

10 bridge somewhat above water.

The rock protection, new bridge timbers and concrete approach on 10 held up great!

2 bridge was completely under water yesterday.

The new concrete path installed on #2 experienced no erosion.  the 2008 floods completely wiped out the previous asphalt path.

The mats on #9 are a little messed up.

The new concrete approach and rock on 10 holding fast.

#2 concrete path.

The spruce tree base is eroded as usual, but the new raised creek bank held fast with the sod holding on for a change.

How high's the water momma?........

That old Johnny Cash song runs through my head every time we get heavy rains and high water.  Right now, the water is as almost as high as in 2008 4th of july weekend.  11 green is partially under water and all bridges are impassable as of noon on Thursday December 1st.  We have been unable to get to our maintenance building for 2 days now, and hope to get back to work by friday.  See below for some pics from wednesday and thursday that show that the water was still rising.

11 bunker on wednesday, you can still see the sand bags we put out.

10 bridge

1 green on wednesday.

12 tee ball washer and bench on wednesday

1 green

New bunker on 17 thursday morning

The maintenance road in front of the new service bridge.  Not taking my car across that!

Maintenance road thursday morning.

17 bridge.  The tee is in the background, sort of.

New service bridge at its max.

12 tee Thursday, where the ball washer and bench used to be

11 bunker.  Notice you cannot see the sand bags anymore.

water creeping onto 11 green.

10 bridge.

11 and 1 green in the background

11 trap again.

close up of 1 green.  Or at least as close as i'm getting!