Friday, September 28, 2012

Patience

There is a lot of seeding going on in the roughs and fairways now. The seed is now germinating and growing in. The first picture is of bentgrass from #4 fairway and the second is Turf Type Tall Fescue that was seeded in front of the maintenance facility.




While there is disruption now the payoff will come. Here's a picture of the left hand side fairway bunker from the summer of 2011.



After seeding with Turf Type Tall Fescue last fall this is how the bunker surrounds looked this summer.



Again, this is not a "miracle turf" by any means. But does require less water, pesticides and nutrients then what is currently out there. While the seeding takes time. The wait is worth it.



Monday, September 24, 2012

Weekly Schedule for Sept. 24-30, 2012

Weather and unforeseen conditions can/will change the schedule.

-Get as much rough seeding done as possible

Friday, September 21, 2012

Rough Rejuvenation

Would like to explain the actual process we are doing to rejuvenate some areas in the roughs and the clubhouse lawns, front entrance plus the maintenance facility grounds. The process is as follows:

-A plant growth regulator is applied to the existing stand of turf. This greatly slows the growth rate of the plant.
-The existing turf is then scalped as low as possible.
-The areas are then aerified.
-Seed is worked into the soil.
-A light amount of compost is added.
-Water, water and more water
-Fertilizer is applied as germination occurs

A major improvement in this process is the actual seed we are using. It's a Turf Type Tall Fescue variety that we have chosen after extensive research. While it is certainly not a "miracle grass" there are benefits such as improved drought and disease tolerance. This means less water and pesticides are required to maintain the turf.

A good example of Turf Type Tall Fescue (not the particular variety we are using) is the surrounds on the back right bunker on #18 green. Specifically the area behind this bunker. The variety we are using has a finer leaf blade but the improved stand of turf is very noticeable compared to other areas.



Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Greens Verticutting

The verticutting on the greens went very well on Monday. You will notice some scalping that can be seen in these photos:




This occurs when the turf is growing in one direction and we verticut in the opposite direction it is growing. So this is actually good! Our goal is to have the turf stand straight up as much as possible as oppossed to growing in one direction. We have topdressed with sand which helps. The weather is predicted to be ideal bentgrass growing weather over the next few days so we are expecting a quick recovery.


Monday, September 17, 2012

Weekly Schedule for September 17-23, 2012

Weather and unforeseen conditions can/will change the schedule.

-Verticut and topdress greens on Monday
-Aerify collars on Monday
-Scalp, aerify and seed the following areas: putting green surrounds, #4 and #5 green surrounds, clubhouse lawn and front entrance

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Tee #3 Drill and Fill

In order to improve the drainage on #3 tee we are introducing some faster draining sand into what is currently in place. To do this we go through a process called Drill and Fill. There are actually machines that do this work if you were to use it on several greens, but for just one tee we are doing it manually.

The process work like this. First a piece of plywood is made as a template with 3/4 inch wide holes spaced on 6 inch centers:


The plywood is placed on top of the tee and a drill that is 3/4 inch wide is used that goes into the rootzone approximately 8 inches deep and removes most of what is currently there:





Next, sand that drains quicker then what is in place is filled into the holes using a watering can:




This gives us channels for the water to drain while maintaining the existing rootzone which is rich in nutrients.



Monday, September 10, 2012

Weekly Schedule for September 10-16, 2012

Weather and unforeseen conditions can/will change the schedule.

-Renovation of certain rough areas on the golf course. Will follow-up with a specific post on this process. Areas to include the putting green surrounds, #4 green surrounds and #5 green surrounds.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Updates on Collar Work and #13 Slope

We were able to mow the newly sodded collars on #3 and #6 today. Would have liked to of mowed sooner but the rain kept them too wet and soft. As expected some minor scalping did occur. Overall the results are very good. With continued topdressing these high spots will work themselves out.



On #13 we removed some bermudagrass that had contaminated the slope in front of the fairway. The bermudagrass is shown here with the red arrows marking it's location.


We applied a herbicide before physically removing the bermudagrass then seeded with turf type tall fescue and used matting to hold the seed in place.



At this point our main priorities are keeping everything mowed and fixing the bunker washouts.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Weekly Schedule for September 3-9, 2012

Weather and unforeseen conditions can/will change the schedule.

-Our main priority is getting the bunkers in shape after receiving 4 inches of rain this past weekend. Most of which came in a downpour on Monday.


It will most likely take several days to repair the bunker washouts.


-Greens are being topdressed on Tuesday