Maintenance Update 03/21/12

We received 5" of rain from Monday evening through Tuesday morning.  The creek flooded holes #1, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 18.  While areas of these holes are a mess, the south side of the course is ok.  We will keep the course closed today to concentrate on clean-up and should have the course back open for play on Thursday. 

On Monday, we were able to get nearly all of the course aerified before the rain started.  I used a deep-tine aerifier to aerify holes #1, 7, 8, and 10 as well as all of the high traffic areas between the fairways and cartpath on the rest of the course.  This aerifier is able to penetrate down around 8" and has a "fracturing" effect to greatly alleviate compaction.  We used our normal fairway aerifier for the rest of the fairways.  We added close to 500 pounds to this unit and were able to aerify down to about 4".  I am anticipating the south side of the course will be dry enough this afternoon to get mowers out and clean up the tufts of grass.  Also, with the rain and the course being aerified, we will be cart path only the remainder of this week to allow time for recovery as well as allowing all of the wet areas to dry out without damage.

Also with the recent weather, we have seen some pretty substantial growth in all of the turf.  We will be raising our rough units to 1.5" to minimize the amount of clippings.  Last year, we were able to stay at this height throughout the growing season, granted we were also in a drought.  The previous year, we had to raise the height to 2.25" because of the clipping yield, which greatly affected the rate of play.  We will do what we can to maintain the roughs at 1.5", but I will continue to make the determination as we continue to head into the growing season and the amount of clippings.  It takes us approximately 5-6 full days of mowing to get around the entire course.

The bunker crews have remained busy.  The trap on #1 was completed last Friday.  We are waiting on area sod farms to have a decent supply of sod before adding sand to the other bunkers.  As of last week, sod farms were only about 10% green.  We took delivery of 6 pallets of sod last Wednesday, but I didn't think it was the quality I wanted to see.  We took sod out of the fairway on #16 to place around #1 bunker so it would be ready for the weekend.  Hopefully with the warm weather, sod farms are seeing a quick green-up and we will be able to get the bunkers on #7, 8, 6 and 17 completed next week.  After 5" of rain, no sand was washed from the face on the new bunker on #1.  The water level had risen into the bunker, with some settling of silt on the surface of the sand, but this was removed Tuesday afternoon and fresh sand was applied.

Maintenance Update 03/13/12

The bunker renovation process continued yesterday after a weekend full of always welcome rain.  The crew has finished shaping the bunkers on #1, 7 and 8.  New drain lines had to be installed in both bunkers on #8, which led to some clean-up work in and around the pipe from #8 to #7 to allow for proper drainage.  The timing to which Portland is mixed on these two holes depends on how much they dried out since the rain.  As of yesterday, the floors were still too wet to get the tillers in for mixing.  The greenside bunker on #8 had as much as 18" of sand in the bottom and up along the face, as you can see from the photo below.  Much of this lip was lowered down to the native soil line to allow for a smoother transition to the green.

 

With the warmer weather, I felt we were ready to verticut the greens and get out our first topdressing.  We spent the entire day yesterday on this project.  I thank you all for your patience in allowing me to close the course for the day to ensure we were able to adequately finish the project.  The vertical mower has blades that run vertical to the turf and are able to be set at variable depths.  Vertical mowing helps tremendously to remove old dead materal from the turf canopy, smooth the surface, and reduce grain.  The following describes our process:

• We verticut in 4 different directions.
• The material brought to the surface by the vertical mower was then blown off the green.
• Walk mowers were used to mow the greens and also help smooth the surface.
• Once the turf was completely dry, we mowed again with the tri-plex mower to pick up even more material.
• We then topdressed with sand lightly and swept the sand into the surface.
• Today, the greens will just be rolled and swept again.
• The following photo shows Mario verticutting #8.  Notice the amount of material being brought up at the cutting units.

Maintenance Update 03/07/2012

Bunker project is going smooth so far.  Crews had the bunker on #1 shaped by Monday afternoon and are now on #7.  The plan is to knock out the bunkers on the north side of the creek first.  Once the first few bunkers are shaped, they will go back to #1 and add the portland cement.  The plan was to have sand in this bunker before the weekend, but the schedule is greatly dependent on the upcoming weather event we are expecting.  Forecasts currently call for rain moving into the area this evening and lingering until Saturday.  Let's all hope for slow and steady!

We are also replacing the old 3 cup rotation on the greens and going back to the 1-5 numbered system.  We started this on Monday and finished up Tuesday. 

Notice the big trench behind the clubhouse?  A new drain is being installed behind the cart barn to allow for more proper cart washing procedures and this drain is connecting behind #1 tee.  They hope to be wrapped up this week!

Maintenance Update 03/05/2012

Well we have breezed through February without too many hiccups and the weather has been kind.  The grass is greening up and we are off to, what I hope is, a great golfing season.

With all that is going on around the club, I would like to introduce you to the many ways I plan on utilizing social media to keep everyone updated.  The first is this blog.  When I update this blog, I can only prescribe 10 email addresses to receive the update.  Lyndsey then emails my update to the membership.  One way you can receive it automatically is to become a follower.  There is a link in the top right hand corner which allows you to follow.  Click and enter your information and you will receive the updates automatically.  Second, I have created a Facebook and Twitter page which will allow me to more readily upload pictures and information from my cell phone.  The Facebook page is www.facebook.com/diamondoaksgolfcoursemaintenance and the Twitter feed is www.twitter.com/#!/aggieturfman98.  Simply click "Like" on the Facebook page or "Follow" on the Twitter page and have updates readily available.  With all of the projects we have underway, I will be updating all of these forms of communication on a regular basis!

That being said, the bunker renovation is set to begin today.  This project has been a long time coming and I'm excited to finally have it underway.  Here is a quick rundown on the scope of the project:

• work will begin on the greenside bunker on #1.
• the fairway bunker on the left side of #8 will be moved to the right side of the fairway.
• the greenside bunker on #17 will be make into 2-3 smaller bunkers to allow easier access from the green.
• drainage will be installed in all bunkers.
• there will be a liner system installed in all bunkers to help prevent contamination from the native soil.
• the liner system will include the addition of Portland cement incorporated to a depth of 8-12 inches, which will be wetted, packed and allowed to sit for a couple of days to set up.
• a clean, white sand will then be added to a depth of 4 packed inches.
• the plan also calls for removing the 3 bunkers around the chipping green and creating a new bunker on the left side of the driving range tee.  This will allow for more area around the chipping green to be utilized for chipping. 
• the plan calls for the renovation to take 6 weeks, but with a little help from Mother Nature, I would not expect it to take that long.

In other areas, Olden started an erosion control project behind #7 tee and #8 green.  The creek bank in this area has slowly moved closer and closer to the cart path and the "rip-rap" addition should prevent further erosion.  Once they are done with this area, they will move over to #10 and begin replacing the failed wall in front of the tee.  The new wall will be re-engineered to be able to handle flood waters that flow over the top in that particular area.

As far as the golf course, we are off and mowing.  I went out last week and painted the edges of the fairways and approaches and will continue to paint them on a weekly basis until we establish a line.  Typically this time of year, I move the fairways down as low as possible to remove the dormant material and allow for new growth.  With the many complaints I've heard about thin grass in the fairways, I will be leaving the height a little higher and will work to generate a little "cushion".  Once the weather shows we are in the clear of any more freezing, we will aerify the fairways and help relieve compaction.  Some areas (in particular #7 and #8) will be aerified several times.  The height of the rough is starting out at 1-inch.  The tees will be moved lower to help promote bermuda grass growth.

Finally, as time allows for me and my staff, we will begin creating new and updating existing landscape areas to help with aesthetics of the course.  This will not happen overnight, but I hope over time you see an improved look around the golf course.

As I mentioned earlier, please take a moment to subscribe to one or more of the many different ways I plan on keeping you updated with the golf course.  And as always, I can be contacted anytime at aggieturfman98@gmail.com!

Chuck McCaskill