#3 Collar-Part II

The first step is to remove the rootzone to about 4 inches below the surface using shovels and utility carts:

Then greens sand mixed with a soil amendment called Profile is added:

The sand is watered and compacted using a hand tamp just enough so settling will not occur:

The washed sod is then laid:

Pinki supervises the clean-up process:

We have purposely left the sod a bit low. It is much easier and better to topdress up then to have to remove material because it is too high.

#3 Collar- Part I

The collar and edges on #3 green have been a constant issue here at Fieldstone. Take a look at the thinning that occurs during mid-summer:

There are several reasons this occurs. They are shade, compaction from foot traffic, lack of air movement and a poor rootzone. These factors in combination are the cause of the problems. However, by alleviating any of these influences we can improve the turf health. By entering the green from the front we can improve compaction from foot traffic at the back of the green.

The next issue is the rootzone. Below is the same picture, the first without markups and the second with. The markups will be explained underneath the second picture.

The red arrows point to layering, most likely from previously sodding of these areas. The yellow rectangle highlights an area where algae is growing due to lack of oxygen. All of this makes for very poor conditions for root growth.

So, what are we going to do differently to improve this? First off we are using washed sod. This is basically soil less sod that does not create a layer when laid over the sand. To the left of the red line is this photo is the washed sod. The roots are clearly exposed from the washing process. The right side of the line is sod as it is normally cut with soil still on it.

In the next few days I will follow up with the actual process of changing the rootzone and laying the washed sod.

What Lies Beneath Part II

While regrassing the beginning of #18 fairway we ran into this boulder.

When mid-summer weather rolls in this rock heats up big time and scorches the turf around it. As these are encountered we chip away with picks and try to remove as much as possible and replace with soil.

Weekly Schedule for August 27-September 2, 2012

Weather and unforeseen conditions can/will change the schedule.

-Aerification of collars on Monday.
-Replacement of collar on #3. Will update with photos and descriptions in the next few days.

What Lies Beneath

While re-seeding some small areas in fairways where the turf is weak we often times (not always) encounter rock just below the surface. Here are pictures from the 1st fairway:

Our staff will take a pic and try and remove the top 3-4 inches of the rock and replace with soil. During drought and heat the rock heats up and the plants are unable to survive. By giving us a little bit more rootzone to work with we hope the turf will be more successful.

Weekly Schedule for August 20-26, 2012

Weather and unforeseen conditions can/will change the schedule.

-Continue sodding areas on #3 and #18 fairways
-Aerify and slit seed new tee on #3
-Slit seed the half of driving range tee closest to #1 tee
-Verticut/seed/topdress thin areas in fairways

Weekly Schedule for August 13-19, 2012

Weather and unforeseen conditions can/will change the schedule.

-Begin sodding/re-grassing areas on #3, #9 and #18 fairways
-Continue with post emergent application of herbicides on weeds

Observations on a Sunday Morning

This morning I took some soil probes of areas on fairways where we are going to have to regrass certain sections. While not the case in every situation, a majority of the areas had something in common. That is a rock very close to the surface. In this picture the red arrow points to a soil core taken from an area that will need to be regrassed where there is only a small amount of soil before reaching rock. The green arrow points to an arrow just a short distance away where the soil profile is 3-4 times as deep and the turf is fine.

Another interesting observation from this morning has been the trees that are already losing their leaves. It would seem to me that the lack of moisture from not having snow cover this past winter and then getting much less then the average amount of rainfall has caused these trees to go dormant much earlier then usual. In speaking with some of our staff who have been here for quite some time they do not recall seeing this amount of leaves so early in the year. It will be interesting to see how this develops going into the Fall.

Weed Control on Tees

This week we spot sprayed a herbicide on the tees for control of crabgrass. Due to the early Spring that we had crabgrass has been a major problem. The bentgrass on the tees is a little bit more sensitive to the herbicide then the grasses we have in our roughs. So as you can tell from this picture there is some yellowing.

The herbicide has done a great job on the crabgrass! The yellowing of the bentgrass is only temporary.

Weekly Schedule for August 6-12, 2012

Weather and unforeseen conditions can/will change the schedule.

Received 0.7 inches of rain Sunday evening. Mostly as a hard downpour which is not all that helpful. But some is better then none! Hoping for cooler temperatures and night time lows in the 60's. Recovery is not noticeable overnight, but occurs gradually.

-Light dusting of greens topdressing on Monday
-Doing some clean-up from Sunday night's storm. Have several large branches down and lots of leaves and small limbs
-Doing a hard rake on the bottoms of bunkers to soften them up a bit

Dog Days of Summer.....

High humidity, temps around 90 degrees and night time temps in the mid 70's make this the dog days of summer. There is little we can do for turf growth at this point in time until we get highs back toward 80 degrees and lows in the 60's. For now a good defense is the best offense and we are doing all we can to survive.

January 1 through August 1 of 2012 was the driest 7 month period of the past 11 years. We are 8.55 inches below normal. The second driest January through August was in 2002 when it was 6.3 inches below normal. While we do need rain, thunderstorms during high humidity and high night time temps cause waterlogged soils that are prone to disease and lack oxygen in the rootzone for turf to survive. So while rain is needed, a little will do at this point, not a lot.

Driving Range Bermudagrass Photos

Took these photos today (Wednesday, August 1st) two weeks after divots were taken from the lower driving range tee. As you can see the two bermudagrasses are almost completely filled in while the bent/rye mix still has a ways to go.



Patriot Bermudagrass

 

Latitude Bermudagrass





Bent/Ryegrass mix

As a reminder, the bermudagrasses do great when the tempeature is hot and is in full sunlight.