Friday, April 22, 2011

Rain Drops Keep Falling on my Head

When I decided to write this blog, I thought maybe every week would be the correct timing.  Last week my computer decided to show me who was the boss.  On Friday it sent my green committee agenda into cyberspace never to be seen again as I was trying to print it.  Saturday morning as I was going to write this blog, it locked up and I spent all my writing time trying to figure out what went wrong.  Hopefully it has accepted my apologies and will be my friend again.

The National Weather Service says we are stuck in this pattern where about twice a week a front comes in and causes abundant rain and some severe weather.  According to their predictions this pattern may last two to four weeks.  It may get worse as folk lore tells us that if it rains on Easter, it will rain for six weekends in a row.  With a better than even chance of rain for Easter this Sunday, I do not want to even contemplate the ramifications.

With the abundant moisture and mostly above normal temperatures, the golf course has blossomed early this year.  The tees and fairways are way ahead and look good when we can get them mowed.  Herbicide applications are lagging behind on these areas and a few weeds are showing through but not too bad except around the tees.  The new collars expansions around the greens are adapting to their new cutting height and losing that "wow, I just got buzzed look".  The rough is loving the moisture and is growing like a weed and generally outpacing our best effort to keep it under control.  Equipment malfunctions are not helping the matter but Mother Nature has been more of a limiting factor.  The bunkers are just not very good right now.  The heavy rains wash the sand off the faces, contaminating the sand with soil and debris, and clogging the drainage tiles.  Some weeks the cycle is repeated even before we have a chance to move the sand back onto the faces.  It is frustrating for the grounds staff but not a new problem.  Some years it just doesn't rain heavily but it seems this year every rain is going to be a gully washer.  The remedy is to renovate each bunker making sure the drainage functions properly, install a liner/barrier to protect the drainage and the sand from outside contamination, and then refill with fresh, clean sand.  In the interim staff removes contaminated sand, fixes the washouts and as time allows adds fresh sand.

The programs for the greens are slowly beginning to come together and produce the quality surfaces desired.  It has been hard to keep to the schedules with the weather and staff training, but the greens are starting to respond to the growth regulator application of 10 days ago.  It will be time for another application on Monday.  As the turf slows its vertical growth and topdressing is added weekly, the surface becomes smoother and less resistant to ball roll.  Throw in rolling and mowing and with luck the greens will become the object of much conversation among golfers.

There is much for us to do to catch back up but the weather forecast does not sound promising for this weekend into next week.  There are herbicide applications to be made both in the fairways and rough along with fertilizer treatments for the fairways.  Our new golf cart policy was unveiled last Tuesday and it promptly stormed overnight and carts have been restricted to paths since.  The early feedback on the new policy was positive and I observed good compliance with it that day.  (The pro shop is handling the implementation of the new rules.)  Hopefully this new idea will help protect the turf and create better playing conditions for you.  The sun has come out now as all green side bunkers have been shoveled just in time for the possible severe storms tonight.  Maybe the area will catch a break but either way we will cope with whatever Mother Nature throws us as we try to provide you with great playing conditions.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Augusta

Its the end of the first week of April and that can only mean that the Masters is being played and all eyes are upon possibly the most beautiful setting in golf (at least in April).  Television does not do it justice, it must be experienced.  Every detail has been attended to and even non golfers can appreciate the majesty of Augusta National.

Meanwhile back at the Country Club of Paducah another week has gone by without a frost that could damage the bermudagrass.  Unfortunately, because it came out so early, the cool temperatures the end of March have made the plants very cautious and even though the temperatures have been warm for the last week, the bermuda has yet to show much enthusiasm.  It is perking up though and hopefully it will decide that the time for growing is now.  Next week we hope to further encourage it by fertilizing it.  The practice tee was fertilized today and mowed too and the plan is to open the back tee on opening day next weekend.  That is also the day we hope to remove the golf car restrictions and start implementing the new golf car control policy.  The golf shop will have information for each group detailing the new methodology.

The greens continue to recover from aeration just not as quickly as I had hoped.  It probably has something to do with the topdressing being a week behind the aeration but separating the two allowed us to not get too much sand on the greens at one time.  Sand pickup by the mowers should be almost finished which will allow daily mowing to occur along with daily rolling.  Next week will see a growth regulator application made that should improve the stress tolerance of the turf, create a more uniform surface, and increase the ball roll after several applications.  While there are no illusions that these greens will ever be like Augusta National's during the Masters, I think we are on the path to creating fun, fast, and firm putting surfaces for your everyday enjoyment.

If you have been on the course you may have noticed some new faces on the staff.  They are being trained as quickly as possible but it usually takes a couple of weeks to get new employees up to speed.  As greens and tees are usually mowed with these seasonal staff members,  our frequency has lagged because while training it takes twice as many people to accomplish said task.  Balancing all the plates on the tray can be quite a challenge especially when the rains destroy the bunkers several weeks in a row.  They are now all fixed at least until the next storm.  We have yet to find the time to add the new improved sand but we have not forgotten it.  The rough looks better each day and for the most part the mowers have been able to keep up.

Other little items slowing down our accomplishments have been one of the rough mowers breaking down, the sprayer breaking down, and the irrigation system operating spasmodically.  Between these occurrances and training new people and watching The Masters, one can feel totally inadequate.  But we will continue to give the college try and I know that it is only a matter of time before all plans will come together and we will present you with a course you will not be able to stay away from. 

Saturday, April 2, 2011

April Showers?

March has ended like a lion on an eight day cold spell that has sent the bermuda into retreat.  What looked promising three weeks ago for early green up has eroded into just being a little ahead of normal.  You may notice that some of the bermuda leaves have turned a purplish color in response to the cold and wet weather.  Hopefully there will be some sunny days in the next couple of weeks with not so cold nights that will allow the turf to at least come completely out of dormancy.  When the weather is right, it will be fertilized with a fast acting nitrogen source to further speed the recovery from winter.

February and March gave us abundant moisture and now we enter the two wettest months of the year.  It is a change from the past couple of years but does add complications to bringing the course up to speed.  Already it kept us from making a dormant weed control application to bermuda and zoysia and continues to keep us from making an alternate application.  Gazing into the crystal weather ball shows that application may get made this coming week around the tees and bunkers where the broadleaf weeds are the thickest.  The weather has certainly played havoc with the bunkers and staff is about to get all of them back in shape for the impending storms headed our way on Monday.  New sand has arrived and as our staff grows to full strength, it will be added where necessary.

Aeration of greens is done but the process is not finished.  Once again the weather slowed us down.  That coupled with the fact that staff is short, caused a change in the process to occur.  We concentrated on the aeration and the cleanup of cores pulled and then worked at brushing the material that fell off the cores back into the holes.  No new topdressing has been added yet leaving many holes unfilled.  Topdressing will be added this week and worked in.  Doing it this way actually may work better as we do not have equipment that does a good job of incorporating alot of material at one time (hence why we wanted to demo the Sweep N Fill machine).  Separating the topdressing from the aeration will allow our equipment to better incorporate the topdressing.  It may slow the healing process slightly but the weather has already slowed the whole operation down with the rain and lack of sun last week.  Another distressing factor was the malfunction of the irrigation system that inexpliciably ran on #16 green when it was covered with cores delaying the cleaning by a full day.

April is a busy month with not only bringing the course back but readying the outdoor tennis courts for usuage and training the new staff members that have been hired.  In addition a new work schedule is being implemented and the bugs have to be worked out of it.  Am I hoping for a dry April?  No, but normal would suit me just fine.  Anyway, the challenges are before us and now it is time to get cracking and produce.  See you in the sun on the course.