Maintenance Update

While September was the wettest since, oh..... probably ever, the golf course stood up to Mother Nature pretty well. We have seen however, the development of some new soggy areas in and around some greens. For example, #7 green has some areas to the right and back of the green in the surround areas and we also have an area next to the cart path at the #15 green and a small area to the rear of #17 green. Our plan is to cut the sod out in these areas, place in some drainage and re-sod. This has worked well in some other areas around the golf course. In addition to some of the green surrounds, we developed a drainage problem on #4 rough to the left of the 150 yard marker. You may remember we did some drainage work in this area last year. Our main goal was to replace the mainline pipe that was catching water by the green and from a bog on #5. This provided a clear path to the lake, which eliminated the water in the swale. Unfortunately the area towards the lake, a popular area if you slightly pull or hook your tee shot, had a lot of thatch and was in a low point along the line. In order to correct this area, we are pulling the sod and adding additional drainage and will re-sod.  

Area behind #7 Green

Area between #7 Green and cart path

#4 Rough looking back towards the tee

Another angle looking towards #7 tee

We are also considering some tree removal on # 7 and #3 tee. There is a patch of trees that during the winter months is blocking any kind of direct sunlight we may get in the afternoon hours. Because the sun is at such a low angle in the sky these trees are in affect acting as a light blocker and as you know living plants especially turfgrass need light to survive in a healthy state. #7 has been a very poor performer during the winter months due to the affects of this diminished sunlight.We've already seen the benefits of removing select trees around greens. One example is on #3 green where trees were removed towards the back of the green. #7 is virtually blocked by sun the entire day during the winter months. Removing some of these trees will help in this effort and will benefit the tees on #3 as well.

#7 Green looking towards the #3 black tee

In addition to these trees, the large trees directly behind the green are creating some shade issues too. Our plan here is to limb up the trees a ways to help eliminate the problem.

#7 Trees behind the green that can be trimmed

Maintenance Update

It's been a busy summer in the maintenance department as July and the first of August brought us all of the Member Guest Tournaments together within a few weeks of each other.

We are very appreciative of the many favorable comments regarding the golf course during all of the tournaments. The crew worked very hard to bring you the best conditions possible. As with any golf course, we will always have areas to improve on and we work hard to identify them and make changes for the better. We appreciate any and all feed back, it really does help in this process, thank you.

A view up #10 from #18 green prior to the Men's  MGI

Bunker Update
We have been working hard to get the bunker edges and sand distribution in the bunkers in good condition. Some have received some new sand, but most just need the sand moved around a bit. We will continue to address problem areas as we continue to improve our raking and mowing techniques.
The following photo was taken on #10 fairway bunker. You can see how the grass edges are coming in nicely.

Irrigation Improvements
As many of you may have noticed we recently had another irrigation blow out on #15 in the front bunker. After many attempts to correct the problem,we decided it would be best to eliminate the lateral line from the bunker and move it around in front of the bunker. We think that because this area is one of the lowest areas of the golf course we may be experiencing what is known as hammering. As pressure fluctuates in a system it can create a hammering effect that can cause undue pressure in specific areas, which in turn can cause pipes and fittings to fail, especially with aging systems such as ours where pipe is 25 years old.

#15 Irrigation repair

I'm happy to report that so far so good on this repair. At least if it fails now we won't have the bunker flooded out.
We've also recently repaired some sprinkler heads on #4 and #6. As the irrigation system ages, we have been experiencing some underground wiring issues that has prevented many sprinkler heads from working on the automatic system at night. When this happens the sprinklers have to be turned on by hand from a selector located at the head itself. This can become quite time consuming for the irrigation staff which has to spend time away from other areas that may need attention. We've tried using wire location equipment with mixed results and often times we end up chasing wire all over the place wasting time. We only spent approximately an hour and half to complete each fix. On this day we were able to fix five heads.  We haven't given up on wire location equipment as we have tested some good ones and will be looking at securing something in the near future. It's not the complete answer, but will help with these kinds of problems and other wiring issues we face from time to time. As time allows we hope to repair five or six more heads with similar problems. Normally we wouldn't attempt something like this during the middle of the summer, but with the recent rains it has allowed us a window of time to get it done without disrupting our normal schedule of maintenance.

The following photos show what is involved in correcting the problem. We basically are tapping into a working sprinkler head nearby that can handle another head on the same station during the watering cycle.

Getting ready to sod cut from one head to another

With sod removed Irrigation Tech Jeff Ellison is digging the trench at about 8 inches in depth so that when we aerify this area the tines will not damage the wires.

Assistant Supt Jason Kelly and Irrigation Tech Frank Pablo make the necessary connections and place the new wire in the trench

Once  the trench is filled the sod is replaced

In a few days this area will be as good as new.

Maintenance Update

The golf course maintenance team has been busy catching up on mowing the past couple of weeks. The rain we had set us back a bit.  Fortunately we had a good week of weather and we were able to get caught back up. Our irrigation crew has been very active also,  fixing and replacing bad or damaged heads and valves from the winter months.  More recently we have been focusing on our bunkers.  Over time the bunker sand shifts, generally towards the back and to the low end.  Much of this is due to rain events. Our goal is to redistribute the sand back up to the high end and in some cases up the face to the edge of the grass.

#18 green side bunker

With some modifications to one of our mowers called a fly mow, we will maintain a higher cut along the edges to soften the look.  The mower actually floats on a cushion of air. It does a good job on very steep hills and mounded shoulders on bunkers.  Lift kits help us get to the desired height of cut and will keep the edges looking good.
 

Fly mower

 
 The photograph below shows the back edge of a bunker on #18 after some sand redistribution.

The photos below are of #1 green side bunker where we are pushing sand back up to eliminate the large flat face on the greens side.

#1 Right green-side bunker

 

#1 Right green-side bunker

Below is the finished product. More sand is now back where it belongs. Much of the sand that was in the back of the bunker has now been redistributed to the upper face and weak areas.

#1 Right green side bunker

As you can see here on #3 sand is being taken from the back edge where there is plenty of sand and  redistributed around the bunker.

#3 Front green-side bunker

Notice the large face, again a product of sand collapsing from a very steep face.

#3 Front green-side bunker

#3 Front green-side bunker

Once again a finished product with less of a face. Additionally, there is less sand in the back and more in the bottom and front where it was lacking.

#3 Front Green-side bunker

More and more bunkers will be done in the days and weeks ahead until we have them completed.

Another functioned performed recently has been what we call a "wall to wall" fertilization. We applied a special blend of fertilizer to the entire golf course. This is a follow-up to an application we put down several weeks ago. This time we increased our nitrogen amount to help get us almost through the summer months. It takes up to 18,000 lbs of fertilizer to accomplish this task. Supplemental spray applications will be done also.

Assistant Supt. Jason Kelly spreading fertilizer on #1 fairway

Golf Course Maintenance Update

#11

It's been almost four weeks since we conducted aerification on the golf course and things have healed up nicely. We still have some areas in the fairways with a light coat of sand, but this should continue to get better as we get more good growing weather. We also have the front nine rough to aerify as well. I had hoped to get some of the approaches verticut and sanded by now, but weather and other factors have delayed this process. We are looking at the schedule to see how we can fit this in without too much disruption to play. We also are about to apply our post aerification fertilizer to the entire golf course.

Much of our time lately has been working on the irrigation system. Typically after the winter months there are issues with valves and damaged sprinkler heads that have to be repaired. When repairing valves, this involves digging down to a lateral line which is connected to the main line. Many times this can be quite deep and digging can be difficult. Based on how deep and how it's configured to the main line, repairs to valves can be very time consuming.  Sometimes the entire plumbing has to be redone. Frank Pablo Jr. and Jeff Ellison, our two irrigation techs, do a great job of identifying the problems and make the repairs as quickly as possible.

Members have commented recently that the grass in some fairways are thin. I agree, and we are working on a more aggressive plan to try and stimulate more growth in these areas.  Part of the problem, as we all know, is due to shade and some of it may be due to a lack of increased inputs in past years to help with winter recovery and addressing soil issues . Our goal this year is to target some of these areas with increased agronomic inputs to try and address the root cause of the deficient turfgrass. Hopefully over time this will improve to give us a much thicker stand of turfgrass. 


The pictures where taken on Wednesday the 8th on a beautiful sunny afternoon.  I never get tired of taking pictures! 

 #10 

#12

Aerification Update

I'm pleased to announce that our spring aerification process is in its final stages. As of today, April 19th,  we have finished aerifying and sanding the greens, collars, and tee complexes. We've also finished aerifying the fairways, and will now topdress them with sand over the next several days, weather permitting. We also are going to be verticutting and sanding the approaches to the greens as well. Our last aerification will be in the roughs, which we plan on doing next week. Once these final processes are done our spring aerification will be complete. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the membership during this process as I know it's an inconvenience.

#10 Tee

#9 Green

Additionally, you will notice that our snack shack/restroom at the 9th hole has a new roof and new support posts. We are planning on putting in a new counter as well. When weather permits, we plan on painting the building utilizing the same colors that are on the clubhouse. The food and beverage department is planning on utilizing the building this summer, stay tuned.

Snack Shack/ Restroom Before

Snack Shack/Restroom After

Golf Course Maintenance Update

The golf course maintenance crew has been busy the last couple of weeks with a couple of projects along with continuing to adjust to our spring growing season. As soil temperatures increase, we will continue to see additional growth out on the golf course. The past couple of weeks have kept many of our mowers busy trying to keep up. The photos below are of some recent activities around the golf course you may be interested in seeing.

#10 Behind the Green

You may be asking, why behind the green? As you probably know, this area stays wet and soggy year round. We had difficulty mowing this even in the dead of summer and it was very unsightly.  It's a natural low area where the existing drain had failed. Once drained, golfers who carry their bags or use push carts will eventually be able to walk through here without losing their shoes! We know this is not an area of great importance to play, but was something that had to be fixed.

#3 Brush removal

This is an area to the left of # 3 green that was once a large blackberry bush and a small grove of holly trees. If you hooked your ball off the tee and it bounced left you probably would never have ventured very far due to the thorny consequences. Now you can most likely find your ball and be able to play out either into the approach or possibly to the green. While not finished completely, we are planning on doing some more clearing to make the area even better.

#6 Left rough cleanup

The three pictures above where taken to the left of the rough on #6 down in an area you definitely don't want to hit your tee shot. The crew spent the better part of one day cleaning out this area to make finding your ball easier. Good luck with your next shot!

Snack Shack/Restroom 

As you may be aware, we are in the process of re-roofing the snack shack/restroom building. The building has some good news and bad news. The bad news is, we had considerable rot going on in the posts on the outside of the building and the cedar shakes on the roof. The good news is, the rest of the building is in very good shape, with no interior damage or structural rot, except one main beam of the four that support the roof. As you can see by the photo rain delayed some construction, however we have been able to get the new beam installed along with the new outer posts that are now treated lumber and not resting on the ground along with three sides of the roof sheeted with plywood.Weather permitting we hope to have the roof on next week. No new construction or renovations are planned for the existing restrooms, we are focusing on just the roof at this time.

And finally, one fine spring day #10 !

#10

Golf Course Maintenance Updates

The following photos are of projects the maintenance crew has been busy with over the past several weeks, some of which will be on-going until our mowing season starts up.
.

Freshening up the landscape around snack shack/restrooms

Removal of dense underbrush and trimming of the Rhody's

The restroom area was pressure washed and new drains were installed in the ground completely around the building. The old drains were non-functional and failing completely. We are planning some needed improvements to the roof and pillars. Opening up this area has helped the tee on #10 in providing some badly needed light. We have targeted the removal of a couple more trees in this area also to help with our light issue on this tee.  

Walk path improvement

If you've played golf over the winter months you surely will have remembered this soggy chip path leading from #9 green to # 10 tee. We have installed some drainage to this area to keep the water from entering the pathway and we've also removed the old soil and chips and installed a gravel bed covered with new chips. This has improved the path completely and walking through here now is less of a problem.

#11 tee landscape bed improvements

#18 tee landscape improvements

#18 tee landscape

#14 Restroom landscape improvements

#16 Black tee tree removal

If you happen to slice your drive on #1 and go in amongst the trees you will now have a better chance of finding your ball. We have been trimming some of the Salal down in this area and will be continuing to do this throughout the golf course in the weeks ahead. We also are going to focus trimming around the base of trees and stumps, as will notice in the last photo. 

#1 Rough along OB line

#1 Rough along OB line

#1 Stump with Salal removed