Safety Training

This morning we started at 4 am to prep for the U.S. Amateur Qualifier and everything went well minus our bunker machine that we use to rough up the bottoms. Its current status is terminal for the engine finally gave out. Once the course was prepped we took the time to educate our greens staff on safety. Once a month we watch a video on certain topics that we encounter through out our work environment so that we can be as safe as possible. 

After the video there is a short true or false test that each
person takes.

Greens Update

Today we took the opportunity with the cooler temps to vent and top dress the greens. What we are trying to accomplish here is to allow the greens the opportunity to breath there by promoting air and water exchange. This is a valuable tool in relieving compaction as well. From the players perspective this is non aggressive and will close up in a few days. We utilize the top dressing to continue to dilute the organic matter in the top 2 inches of the green. The sand also makes the greens smoother and firmer and will help with ball roll and greens speeds.

Slicing to a depth of 4 inches

Top Dressing Staff

Once mowed and rolled the holes will close up and
the sand will disappear after a few days.

Course Update

We have successfully made it through the Mens and Ladies Member Guest with a few more tournaments to go and before you know it we will be aerifying the greens here in August. Some notable topics, our third and sixth green have been doing well, but ultimately we have been fighting a battle where we had removed the sod for the drainage repairs. We new this was going to be an issue going into the summer so we are doing everything we can to limit the amount of turf loss in these areas. What essentially has happened is we cut off the roots when the sod was removed and trying to grow new roots at that time of year can be a problem until we get into cooler temperatures. 

The intermediate and the rough have been sprayed to suppress bermuda grass encroachment, the white areas that you see is bermuda grass contamination. Our goal is to keep the bermuda from growing and taking over the existing rough. Some areas are not as bad but the areas that contain more bermuda we will seed tall fescue. The goal is to do a slow conversion from bermuda grass to tall fescue with out effecting play. 

Right side of #1 rough 

Close up of the bermuda in the intermediate around the fairway

#10 Right side rough

Course Update

At this point in time the summer has been relatively mild with exception of wet weather that seems to appear every other day. It has treated the golf course rather well and there have been minimal dry spots. As a matter of fact the hose has mostly stayed in the carts. With the wet weather it has posed a challenge on #3 and #6  greens and they have actually done well all things considered. Sure we are fighting some thin areas but a lot of that has to do with the work that was completed this winter, remember we had to re-work the drainage and install new lines. So this is why you have seen certain areas that have been top dressed. The idea is to gently level out the high and low spots and over time we will revert back to the original contours. Also our weekly program of needle tining these greens has really helped them dry out.  

Needle Tine Process

#3 Green Spot Top Dressing 

My Next topic I would like for you all to see is how the rough is mowed. This is a labor intensive process with over 80 Acres of rough to maintain. The biggest job is actually mowing the bunker faces which requires the most labor and typically is a two day process. In the photos below you can see how the process takes place.

This individual is tasked with edging the surrounds

Then we have a push mow crew that will get most of the
complex with the exception of the steep banks,
our fly mowers help out with this.

Another group blows out all of the grass

Behind the blowers a group will tamp the edges, this would be
the most valuable process, packed edges help mitigate
wash outs from heavy rains. It also will limit the ball from
plugging on the sides.

Last but not least is the broom crew, they smooth out all of
traffic that has been caused by the teams ahead.

Tee complexes are mowed with large walk behind units, we do
this because our other heavy mowers can really wear out the
grass, especially on Tee banks.

And finally for those big areas our larger units will pick up.