Spring began last Sunday amidst a beautiful weekend that carried over into outrageously hot days on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday was the swing day that had everything including hail and led into a return to below normal to normal weather for the rest of the month. Despite the wild swing in the weather and the fact that at least half of last year's seasonal staff has decided not to return, it was a productive week.
All fairways and collars have been cut short which will encourage green up that will in turn lead to allowing golf car traffic sooner. The cold night time temperatures will slow this progress but with the winter fluff gone the sun will warm the soil quicker. The majority of the rough was cut for the first time, the rain on Friday was just enough to prevent us from finishing. The bunkers on the front nine with the exception of fairway ones on 8 and 9 were fixed and raked. (This is where we missed those non-returning workers.) The irrigation system is now fully operational after our attempts of bringing it on line last week met with a disasterous leak on #14 where a tree root had grown completely around the pipe and caused it to pull apart.
In a trial run at greens aeration scheduled for next Monday and Tuesday, the practice green was aerated on Monday. The aerator did a credible job but the big news was the demonstration of a new piece of equipment called Sweep N Fill. It was used to brush the sand topdressing back into the aeration holes and did a wonderful job. The company then showed us other uses to fortify the need for its purchase. It was used on a regular green after mowing and it stood the existing turf up so much that we mowed the green a second time and collected almost as many clippings as the first mowing. Additionally, it was used to brush a swath on two fairways to show how it could control the bermuda from thatching up and laying over. It is an impressive piece and could help streamline the aeration process, groom the greens, and possible even the fairways (if labor could be allocated for that time consuming job). I recommended that it go to the top of the list of purchases.
On Monday a contractor will be here to deep tine the greens first with 1/2 inch solid tines on 4 inch centers. This will poke a hole without removing a core. Depth will be 8 to 10 inches that will make channels for water and roots to move through. As soon as he is finished on the first green, our aerator will begin making 1/2 holes 2.5 inches deep on a spacing of 1.4 x 2 inches. It will remove cores from the green that will be cleaned off. Sand will be applied to fill the holes. The Sweep N Fill machine would be utilized (if we had one) to clean after the cores are removed opening the holes for the sand to enter and then after the sand is applied it can move the sand into the holes and remove any excess. We will try to accomplish those tasks with brushes mounted on walking greensmowers, the roller, and a drag mat. After all the greens are finished (two days if weather cooperates and everything goes just right), fertilizer will be applied and then it can rain for a couple of days nice and easy. On Friday the greens may be mowed with old mowers to pick up any trash left on the surface and the first mowing with good mowers usually occurs on the following Monday.
This process worked reasonably well last year and there is no reason to expect otherwise except for Murphy's Law which golf course personnel are always leary of. With luck the greens will return to normal for the Master's weekend. I think most people are ready for warm temperatures. For me a nice slow but steady run up to summer would be just what the doctor ordered.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Last Days of Winter
The groundhog appears to have gotten the forecast correct as spring has arrived early. There has been abundant rainfall though and the area has gone from snow to flooding.
The bermuda continues to amaze me at how fast it is emerging from dormancy just a month after the last snow melted. The fairways are ready to be cut short removing the winter fluff that protects during cold weather. By doing this sunlight will penetrate to the soil warming it quicker and allowing the turf to come on stronger. The downside of starting this process so early is that there is still a possibility of frosts or freezes that could not only set back the bermuda but also kill it in its tender stage of new growth. Keep your fingers crossed for mild weather.
The tees have been cut down in the last two days and will continue to green as the days get longer. Next on the list are the collars and approach areas. The areas have to be blown clean first and the expanded areas may have to be cut twice as those areas all used to be rough.
With luck the majority of the seasonal staff will show up next week as the early spring has overwhelmed the six of us the last couple of weeks. Monday the practice green will be aerated in order for a demonstration of a Sweep N Fill brush to be done. This brush promises to put the sand topdressing into the aeration holes better than everything else. We are hopeful. If rain misses us tonight, fairways may be dry enough to be cut early next week and may be sprayed for poa annua too. Bunkers are high on our priority list especially now that we have gotten another load of sand for them.
The rest of the greens will be aerated starting on the 28th. This is a two day process and this year it will start with a contractor deep tining them with solid 1/2 inch tines to a depth of 8-10 inches. We will follow with our regular aerator and then topdressing. Look for them to be good in about 10 days.
I hope you are getting the itch for golf. There still isn't much roll in the fairways but the greens are rolling pretty smoothly. The new hole location guide is being implemented with some different looks. Last Friday was our debut and it did not go as well as planned with the location on #17 being unplayable. That situation was rectified and last Monday staff spent 90 minutes in training to make sure all staff are on the same page with knowlege and expectations and hopefully it will be smooth sailing from here on. The shelters are open and the water coolers were put out late this afternoon. Carts are still restricted to the paths as we wait for the bermuda to green up and the ground to dry up.
The bermuda continues to amaze me at how fast it is emerging from dormancy just a month after the last snow melted. The fairways are ready to be cut short removing the winter fluff that protects during cold weather. By doing this sunlight will penetrate to the soil warming it quicker and allowing the turf to come on stronger. The downside of starting this process so early is that there is still a possibility of frosts or freezes that could not only set back the bermuda but also kill it in its tender stage of new growth. Keep your fingers crossed for mild weather.
The tees have been cut down in the last two days and will continue to green as the days get longer. Next on the list are the collars and approach areas. The areas have to be blown clean first and the expanded areas may have to be cut twice as those areas all used to be rough.
With luck the majority of the seasonal staff will show up next week as the early spring has overwhelmed the six of us the last couple of weeks. Monday the practice green will be aerated in order for a demonstration of a Sweep N Fill brush to be done. This brush promises to put the sand topdressing into the aeration holes better than everything else. We are hopeful. If rain misses us tonight, fairways may be dry enough to be cut early next week and may be sprayed for poa annua too. Bunkers are high on our priority list especially now that we have gotten another load of sand for them.
The rest of the greens will be aerated starting on the 28th. This is a two day process and this year it will start with a contractor deep tining them with solid 1/2 inch tines to a depth of 8-10 inches. We will follow with our regular aerator and then topdressing. Look for them to be good in about 10 days.
I hope you are getting the itch for golf. There still isn't much roll in the fairways but the greens are rolling pretty smoothly. The new hole location guide is being implemented with some different looks. Last Friday was our debut and it did not go as well as planned with the location on #17 being unplayable. That situation was rectified and last Monday staff spent 90 minutes in training to make sure all staff are on the same page with knowlege and expectations and hopefully it will be smooth sailing from here on. The shelters are open and the water coolers were put out late this afternoon. Carts are still restricted to the paths as we wait for the bermuda to green up and the ground to dry up.
Friday, March 4, 2011
March Lambs
We are finally rid of February, and March has arrived like a lamb with the first days being above normal. Does this mean that it will end like a lion? Who knows? The abundant moisture last month has left the course wet in the drainage ways and is keeping (along with the wind) staff from spraying the poa in the warm season turf with Roundup. With the bermuda starting to send up new shoots even though they are still covered with the dormant fluff, the window of opportunity has probably passed. Especially since the forecast tonight is for 1-3 inches of more rainfall. Plans are in the works to spot spray some of these areas with a selective herbicide to kill the poa. The chemical will be more expensive than Roundup but by targeting the worst areas the cost will stay under control.
The greens are leaving dormancy and it is amazing to notice the differences in the varieties. Some are bright green while the worst are still purple from the cold. None are growing much yet (two frosts this week probably did not help) but our once a week mowing has smoothed them. They are still a little bumpy but that will go away with topdressing and rolling. The first of the seasonal staff will return next week and activity will pick up on the course. A load of bunker sand is on the way and will be used to get them back in playable condition (assuming it does not rain every other day). There are many limbs to collect and some trees to trim and we hope to finish measuring the greens next week.
My plans are to post to this blog weekly and now I have set up a Twitter account to post small snippets of information on course conditions. Whether it will be daily remains to be seen. You can follow me on Twitter at lhantlecgcs. I will also post these blogs on Twitter (that is supposed to make it easier for you). I am still learning the technology but this hopefully this will be informational for the membership and fun for me.
The greens are leaving dormancy and it is amazing to notice the differences in the varieties. Some are bright green while the worst are still purple from the cold. None are growing much yet (two frosts this week probably did not help) but our once a week mowing has smoothed them. They are still a little bumpy but that will go away with topdressing and rolling. The first of the seasonal staff will return next week and activity will pick up on the course. A load of bunker sand is on the way and will be used to get them back in playable condition (assuming it does not rain every other day). There are many limbs to collect and some trees to trim and we hope to finish measuring the greens next week.
My plans are to post to this blog weekly and now I have set up a Twitter account to post small snippets of information on course conditions. Whether it will be daily remains to be seen. You can follow me on Twitter at lhantlecgcs. I will also post these blogs on Twitter (that is supposed to make it easier for you). I am still learning the technology but this hopefully this will be informational for the membership and fun for me.
Friday, February 25, 2011
TGIF
Its the end of the second week since I returned from the Golf Industry Show. Last week Florida weather followed me home and we were able to accomplish alot on the course. Greens were mowed and rolled, holes changed, and the biggie was that the bunkers were fixed and raked. I hope you took the time to enjoy the course last weekend.
This week has been rainy and seasonally tempered and most of the time has been spent back in the shop working on equipment maintenance where we have been since early December. Although there is still much to do inside before everything will be ready to go, last week was a welcome respite. If you were out last week, you may have noticed the blue paint around the tees, greens and fairways. These are my markings to guide the application of Roundup and preemergent herbicides and also to denote the new mowing patterns that I have talked about in the newsletter.
The main reason for the changes that actually began last spring is economical. Even before the downturn, I was looking for ways to improve and simplify the care of the golf course. In other words, spend the money allocated on the most important parts. Those parts are obviously greens first, then tees and fairways, and ending with bunkers and rough. Throughout the last 17 years the programs have been tailored to improve all areas usually responding to membership assessment of the area. For instance, when bunkers were drawing the most criticism, a new way of raking was embarked upon that alleviated most of the objections. However, that way of raking was too time consuming in the intervening years and had to be changed as labor was reduced sometimes causing more criticism.
Mowing is the largest task the staff does and some areas require more time and intensity than others. The intermediate rough around the tees, down to the fairways, around the fairways, and then around the greens and bunkers used to take 20-25 man hours twice per week using three mowers and men. Last year we moved the strip around the fairway to primary rough and cut 2-4 hours per mowing. This did increase the primary rough mowers but they run faster and the machines need less maintenance. This year we will be allowing the intermediate between the tees and fairways to be primary rough and also moving the areas around the greens to either collar cut or rough cut. The hope is to cut the intermediate time to around 10 man hours per mowing and only have to use 2 staff instead of three. Time to mow collars will increase as will rough mowing. The ultimate goal is to reduce the number of different height of cuts to three; a. green, b. tee, collar, and fairway, c. rough. This would allow us to trade in our three expensive to maintain intermediate rough mowers and only require us to add only one more rough mower. We can not get there this year unless a new rough mower is purchased that can handle the slopes that the current mowers do and that does not appear to be economically feasible. The rough mowers are rotary cut, generally wider, and less to maintain than the reel mowers. The labor is really a small savings and will be reallocated to triming and hopefully better bunker care.
Anyway, last week let me get out and mark many of the holes with the new patterns that I have been studying on all winter and made me ready to try them out. Usually I can do a pretty fair job of visualizing in my mind how it will look and play but there is always that uncertainty. Just like writing this blog. Time to go, hope you are considering using the course more this year. Stay warm and dry.
This week has been rainy and seasonally tempered and most of the time has been spent back in the shop working on equipment maintenance where we have been since early December. Although there is still much to do inside before everything will be ready to go, last week was a welcome respite. If you were out last week, you may have noticed the blue paint around the tees, greens and fairways. These are my markings to guide the application of Roundup and preemergent herbicides and also to denote the new mowing patterns that I have talked about in the newsletter.
The main reason for the changes that actually began last spring is economical. Even before the downturn, I was looking for ways to improve and simplify the care of the golf course. In other words, spend the money allocated on the most important parts. Those parts are obviously greens first, then tees and fairways, and ending with bunkers and rough. Throughout the last 17 years the programs have been tailored to improve all areas usually responding to membership assessment of the area. For instance, when bunkers were drawing the most criticism, a new way of raking was embarked upon that alleviated most of the objections. However, that way of raking was too time consuming in the intervening years and had to be changed as labor was reduced sometimes causing more criticism.
Mowing is the largest task the staff does and some areas require more time and intensity than others. The intermediate rough around the tees, down to the fairways, around the fairways, and then around the greens and bunkers used to take 20-25 man hours twice per week using three mowers and men. Last year we moved the strip around the fairway to primary rough and cut 2-4 hours per mowing. This did increase the primary rough mowers but they run faster and the machines need less maintenance. This year we will be allowing the intermediate between the tees and fairways to be primary rough and also moving the areas around the greens to either collar cut or rough cut. The hope is to cut the intermediate time to around 10 man hours per mowing and only have to use 2 staff instead of three. Time to mow collars will increase as will rough mowing. The ultimate goal is to reduce the number of different height of cuts to three; a. green, b. tee, collar, and fairway, c. rough. This would allow us to trade in our three expensive to maintain intermediate rough mowers and only require us to add only one more rough mower. We can not get there this year unless a new rough mower is purchased that can handle the slopes that the current mowers do and that does not appear to be economically feasible. The rough mowers are rotary cut, generally wider, and less to maintain than the reel mowers. The labor is really a small savings and will be reallocated to triming and hopefully better bunker care.
Anyway, last week let me get out and mark many of the holes with the new patterns that I have been studying on all winter and made me ready to try them out. Usually I can do a pretty fair job of visualizing in my mind how it will look and play but there is always that uncertainty. Just like writing this blog. Time to go, hope you are considering using the course more this year. Stay warm and dry.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
A Look Back at 2010
Being in the lower Ohio River valley, the weather usually is anything but normal and 2010 was no exception. The year started with a cold winter that yielded almost no winter golf and ended with a much below normal December that saw most golfers stay at home. In between was a dry, hot year that scorched much flora in the region. The previous record for consecutive days above 90 degrees was 28 but a stretch of weather in July and August established a new record of 36 days. Rainfall during the summer months was limited but not totally absent. The monthly average rain in September was achieved on the only day of the month that it rained, and the year ended well below normal.
The golf course turf survived fairly well though there were some major challenges. The cold winter killed much bermudagrass around the greens in short mown collar areas. The greens height was raised and irrigation regimes increased and that produced green but mostly slow putting surfaces. Non-irrigated rough was hard and fast with little green turf left by summer’s end. Trees stressed from the ’09 ice storm could not cope with hot and dry conditions and died. Accomplishments on the course were as follows:
1. Greens survived with not much turf loss. #12 and 17 thinned mightily in August due to lack of air flow and sunlight, and incorrect moisture levels. Changes to the greens aerator improved the operation and speeded the recovery time but the machine still failed to aerate properly during summer venting. Weekly topdressings smoothed the surface. Increased irrigation slowed down the incidence of dry spots and when combined with the USGA (increased) height of cut produced a playing surface that most thought was on the slow side. During fall aeration, the greens were seeded with Alpha, the latest, lower maintenance, premier bentgrass.
2. Tees were great all year and areas in the collars where bermuda did not survive the winter were sodded with zoysia from our nursery. Collars were expanded outward making more short grass around the greens. The ryegrass overseeded back practice tee suffered much bermuda loss and was regrassed with our own sod that was a combination of bermuda and zoysia.
3. Fairway bermuda survived the winter with almost no loss of turf. With only one good fairway mower, the pattern of cut used was the fastest for the second year in a row. Unfortunately this led to the bermuda becoming grainy and leggy. Aeration was contracted out but without verticut units the situation was not remedied.
4. The rough survived well where the new irrigation heads had been installed. The intermediate cut around the fairways was abandoned to shift personnel to trimming. For the first time in over 6 years, all the rough was overseeded using perennial ryegrass. The dry fall slowed the germination and establishment. Most of the stumps left from the ice storm were ground up, the debris hauled off and the holes backfilled and seeded. In the late fall, the unkept area behind #17 green was cleaned and seeded with fescues with the intent of letting them grow naturally as a trial to improving other unkept areas on the course.
5. Fairway drainage was added on #3 and 8 to alleviate wet weather springs that impact mowing during wet springs. Another area to receive drainage was between the cart path and green on #16. This area was impacted also by a wet weather spring and should allow foot traffic to and from the green during soggy periods.
6. The landscaping and turf areas around the clubhouse and pro shops continue to improve with the help of contracted services for weed control and landscaping. The landscape bed around the main club sign was redone and a matching bed was installed across the driveway to provide symmetry. Plans were drawn up for four landscape areas on the course to be done when funding is available.
7. A new pond was dug along the property line on #4 just off the tee by Phillip Higdon in his development of the property for residential use. The club allowed the pond to be on club property in exchange for the soil from the excavation. The OB markers on #4 were found to be in the wrong place during this process and they were moved to their rightful place and the contour of the fairway and rough were adjusted late in the season.
8. The drought tested the irrigation system as it had to be used for most of the season on a daily basis. The new heads installed in the rough in 2008 proved their worth as they kept the rough watered better with less water than previously. No new heads were bought and the 5 year replacement plan is still two years from completion. The field controllers continued to deteriorate but the purchase of 11 used ones in 2009 allowed replacements. The central control package operated okay but with a couple of hiccups.
9. Roger Rulewich, golf course architect, was hired for a visit to inspect the course and offer solutions to improve the course in the future. His assessment of the course was high, he saw no reason for major changes, and offered suggestions for improvements and additions that the club could consider.
10. Because no equipment replacement money was available for the second straight year, the equipment maintenance costs continue to climb and be high.
11. Adam Hunerkoch, a turf graduate from SIU, was hired and has assumed a second assistants position. His enthusiasm and knowledge were instrumental in the care of the turf in 2010. Larry Lear, long time mechanic, started to train his replacement Justin Watson. This training will continue in 2011 and Larry will reduce his work schedule by 20% for the year.
Looking ahead to the 2011 season, sustainability has become the mantra for the golf course operation. It is obvious that the money available at this club will not be able to fund all the wishes and desires of the membership. Thus, in a continuation of changes made in 2010, the golf course care programs are being evaluated and simplified over the winter. Where needed, the time or money that is saved is being reinvested in expanding programs to make the greens, tees and fairways (in that order) better meet the member’s expectations. Some of the changes to be tried are as follows:
1. Rolling and mowing of greens on both Saturday and Sunday.
2. More collar/fairway around putting surfaces with less intermediate rough.
3. More and varied patterns of mowing fairways to cut back on grain.
Other money that is saved could be used for capital replacement and projects for the golf course. It is my opinion that if the golf course operational and capital expenses could be considered as a single entity and funded consistently, the golf course would shine and become more of an asset for the club in its drive to grow and retain the membership in the future.
Larry Hantle, CGCS
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