Hand Watering

We are in that time of year now that you will see more hoses out on the golf course, especially on the greens. Everyone on my staff has been instructed to be aware of the golfer and where there hose may lay. They will do everything in there power and in a timely fashion to move out of your way.  As we are hand watering the greens the management staff will make there way checking each and every green for proper moisture levels and to cool the green when we are approaching high temperatures. They only have a slight window to work around the golfer so please let them inspect the green and give what is needed at that time. There time on the green really is only about 30 seconds to 2 minutes tops, depending on the severity of how dry it may be. They do not try to follow any groups rather than avoiding any play if at all possible. I would ask that we be patient and they will be gone on to there next green, and please do not hit into them. Typically we have 2-4 guys checking greens on each side and 2-6 guys checking fairways and tees.

One last note, there has been a rash of ball marks going around lately so please find yours and one other for the groups behind you. Green and white stakes have been placed in high traffic areas to move carts a certain way protecting the grass, pay attention to these as they are moved on an as needed basis. And this is your golf course,  take care of it and enjoy your round of golf with your friends, family and guests.

Greens Needle and Top Dress

Today we are top dressing the greens and needle tining them. Why you ask are we doing this well for one we are on weekly top dressing schedule for the greens, remember I talked about how important this is to complete on a regular basis. We are diluting the organic matter we accumulate until our next aerification and helps with smoothing and firming up the surface. The needle tine is important to open the greens and let them breath with out being aggressive. This aids in compaction relief, air and water exchange and root growth. This is very important considering the high volume of traffic that we have when we get into the hot part of the summer. Once we roll the greens, in a couple of days the small holes will be covered up.

Also you may have noticed as you walk up to the short game that there are now plants lining this area. We have placed these plants here to screen the area as well as to transfer traffic around the green. So please walk around so we do not trample them.

#7 Tee new bed addition

As you can see in the photo we are adding a planting bed here to help revive this area. Not only will this be a great addition but with the rising costs in fuel this will save us on having to mow this area. Greens were top dressed yesterday and will continue every Monday until the hot weather dictates us to hold back. If we were to top dress in the heat of the summer we risk damaging the grass blades when we would already be in a time that is stressful for the turf grass.

I have also changed the way we top dress fairways this year kind of a trial to see how well we can blend in our very small thatch layer. In the past we would top dress two times heavily over the winter. This year we are top dressing heavily over the winter one time then taking the second application and splitting it into 5-6 applications so we can blend that layer. What I mean by that is to get sand to co-exist in the thatch layer. I really think that this will work out for every one and still completing our goals for fairway top dressing. As you can see this is hardly noticeable. Since we have started this program, going on 4 seasons, we have developed almost 1 inch of sand on the fairways.

Course Update

The course is finally turning around with greens just about healed and our list of details is underway. Of course there is always something that will throw a kink in our plans. For instance we have discovered that we have a few drainage issues from all of the rains that we have been getting. Usually not an issue, but with the water constantly coming out of these day lighted drains they are causing some problems. They are quick fixes so to speak and will be remedied next week. Such issues; #8 right hand fairway bunker, #12 left fairway bunker and left of #7 green, left of the path near the fence line. Along with two low areas right of #7 approach, this area will have two drain basins installed to catch the water. I will have pictures of these areas next week to better facilitate what we are trying to fix. Our upcoming to do list is finish mulching of beds, continue with our cart path edge repair (sod), annuals are in and will be planted next week along with some additional plants at the short game area. And this week we actually mowed the rough twice!