Course Update

We have been moving right along with our rough sod project. We have stripped #13 intermediate along with various large areas on #11 making our way around the back nine. We have a sod truck this morning that should replace most of it, if we are short we already have another truck of sod planned for next week. The temperatures are becoming much colder every day and more and more leaves are falling. It is a constant battle that has only just begun, please bare with us as we move through the golf course on a daily basis. 

#6 Intermediate, sod complete

#13 Intermediate stripped and ready for sod

#11 Right of green complex, ready for sod

#2 Intermediate walk path, tall fescue mowed
at 1 inch. This is what we are striving for.

Intermediate UpDate

The staff progressed nicely on the sod removal and sod installation at the short game and #1 fairway. At this point we are going to concentrate on the rough seeding and various spots that will require sod. Once we feel comfortable with how the rough looks we will continue selecting intermediates for removal.

Short game Sod Removal

Installing the sod

#1 Fairway Intermediate removed

#1 Walk Path

#1 Complete

Spot Seeding the rough with tall fescue

Course Update

Our intermediate sod project progressed nicely but we were just a few pallets short of finishing #5. Our plan next week is to continue on to the next planned holes and once we order sod we will take a few pallets to #5. And again the reason why we are doing this is because we want to be environmentally friendly by installing the proper grasses for our area and reduces our inputs into the environment.

As you can see this intermediate has been destroyed by
disease. (picture taken from #5) Notice the unaffected grass on
the left, this is tall fescue.

This is #2 completed.

On a side note I was watching a member of our staff changing the practice green cups and had a photo opportunity to explain even further on why we aerify the way that we do. In the picture is a hole made from a cup cutter and it shows the sand channels that we made. The darker material is precisely what we are trying to dilute.

You can see the new white sand channels

Course Projects

We are only a week from when the greens were aerified and they are healing very nicely. Last week we planned to start deep tining the fairways and ran into a broken part on the machine, this delayed us until this week. Our goal is to have 9 holes completed this week. 

Fairway deep tine process

We are embarking on the rough this time of year, this will include some spot seeding and sodding but the most dramatic part will be the sod removal of the intermediates. With the amount of disease pressure we get in the rye grass (this is the majority of the intermediate grass) we are converting this over to tall fescue. Tall fescue has become more adapted at low mowing heights, has less disease pressure and uses less water.  Another great aspect of this project is that it will allow us to define our fairway borders, this is just another detailed item that will improve the look of the golf course. Our current areas that we will do first will be #2 and #5, they will be sodded this Wednesday.

#2 walk path, 

Existing contaminated green side intermediate

Sod cutting machine for removal

Sod Removal

#2 Intermediate almost complete

An example on #3 green that has already been through a season,
the tall fescue did great.

#13 Walk Path

As we have done in the past we have moved the walk paths on every hole to better align them to the fairway. Our last walk path to finish was done on #13. Because we added walk paths between the Tees in the last couple of years it was necessary to move the existing one to match up. It is an easy process but very labor intensive. We physically go in and cut out the walk path then cut out the rough and swap them out. The reason we do this because there is rye grass in the existing walk path that if left and mowed at rough height we would see a green strip from the color differences that rye grass has compared to tall fescue (the dominate rough grass).