It has been a long time since I posted a blog on the course! It has been a very busy last 3 months, and I hope that this post will bring everyone up to date on the activities on the course, or perhaps answer any questions that you have not been able to ask me.
As of two weeks ago, we finally became fully staffed in the maintenance department. We have ten employees this year, which makes us down in numbers from previous years. We have been working diligently to try to catch up on work that was not completed due to untimely rain events in the early Spring. Here is an overview of the activities that have been accomplished since my last post:
Greens
The greens have came along really well this Spring. If you remember from one of my last posts, we were spraying a mixture of growth regulators to attempt to stop the annual bluegrass from setting seedheads. We applied this mixture every 2 weeks from March 1st till the first week in May. In short, I feel that we did an excellent job of controlling the onset of seedheads from the bluegrass. I never really saw seedhead production greater than 5 percent during our applications. With this success, we will be applying this mixture for Springs to come.
Aeration
In April, we aerated the greens with a 1/2 inch solid tine. The greens were grown back in and putting true in a very short period. We will be aerating the greens each month with 3/16" needle tines. These tines will not disrupt playability, allowing us to keep water moving away from the surface and the rootzone oxygenated. The rootzone remaining oxygenated is key for the survival of the bentgrass during the summer months. When oxygen levels fall, carbon dioxide will replace oxygen as the dominant gas in the rootzone. Once this happens, roots that are heat stressed begin to further shrink and are unable to supply the bentgrass plants with proper food and water for survival.
Plant protectant Applications to Greens
We will be applying plant protectants on a weekly basis. One week we will apply any nutritional packages with a growth regulator. The following week we will apply a mixture of fungicides and a herbicide to control crabgrass and goosegrass.
Mowing of Greens
We have been walkmowing the greens daily for the past several weeks. We are also topdressing the greens with a light coating of sand each week to keep the surfaces smooth and pore spaces open in the thatch layer for water and air movement. We will also begin to light weight roll greens three days a week. I feel that this is a very important cultural practice that allows the greens to stay smooth, true, and quick!
Tees and Fairways
The warm season turfs have been slow to grow as of late. Inconsistent temperatures and the effects of winter are still visible. To combat these environmental factors, we aerated the fairways and applied a granular fertilizer last week to get things jumping. The food, air, and water have them growing quite well right now. We will begin our growth regulation program on the fairways next week and continue through the summer. After this application, expect the warm season turf to get tight and fast! When temperatures get warmer they will begin to fill in the few thin areas we have. The tees are in great shape and have been fertilized. An insecticide has been applied to help with grubs and we are on a regular growth regulation program. The growth regulation is providing nice tight growth.
Roughs
The roughs are being cut at a higher height of cut than in previous years. After the inland hurricane last year, there was some difficulty lost on some holes. Since the tree lost, we decided to raise the height by 1/2 inch to make the course a little more demanding. The rough is cut two times per week. We have made an application of fertilizer and sprayed the weeds.
Projects
We have been working on several projects on the golf course. These projects include resodding 5000 square feet of the driving range, sodding winter damaged areas in the collars, relocating #13 Tee, and finishing the lot expansion off of hole #13.
- Sod work: We resodded the center of the driving range and have started to complete areas on the collars. The cause of the turf on the driving range not making it through the winter was due to late season traffic (State Championship), and a very cold winter. The tee was resodded with zoysia and should have better winter hardiness. The collars are being sodded with zoysia. We have completed three of the seven areas that need to be resurfaced. My hope is to resod a strip of zoysia around each green to help keep bermuda from encroaching into the greens, and keep the integrity of the greens shape.
- #13 Tee: As you all have seen the tee is being relocated for the lot expansion along hole #13. The tee has been rough graded and a sand/soil mix has been applied to the top for the finish grade. As of yesterday, we have relocated the irrigation to accommodate the new tee. We will finish grade and sod this week. It will take a couple of weeks for the sod to root and become playable. I think that the hole will be a much better hole with the tee being realigned. The hole will be a true dogleg now, with a risk/reward option on the tee shot.
- The Lots: Lots 1,2,3 have been shaped. The addition of a tile in the winter diversion ditch is all that remains. Lots 4,5,6 have to be graded. Once this is done the lots will have electric ran. I anticipate the lots will be ready for sale at the end of the month, weather pending.
- Bridge at #8 Green: We replaced the bridge at #8 Green. The bridge began to collapse last year because a metal pipe was used to divert the water under the bridge. The pipe over the years oxidized into nothing, thus collapsing the concrete bridge. We excavated out the old concrete and pipe, added a plastic pipe, formed and repoured a much better bridge. The new bridge will be standing for many generations to come.
- Overflow Pipe Replacement at Condos: The overflow at the lake at the condos was replaced because the original pipe that controls the water level in the lake had rusted and broke. The pipe again was made of metal, and was replaced with a pipe made of fiberglass and concrete. We had to complete this job in a timely manner because some of the homeowners geothermal heating cores were exposed due to water loss. The new engineering of the pipe will last forever.
I hope that this post shows all the work that we have been accomplishing, along with maintaining the golf course. I am going to make a conscious effort to keep the blog updated on a weekly basis. I hope all of you are enjoying the golfing season, and if there are any questions feel free to talk to me on the course.
Shannon
