December Maintenance

It is the second week of December and temperatures are slated to be in the low 70’s this weekend.  Great time to get out and play golf.  The greens are awesome right now!!  The speed is quick, the ball rolls true, chips are running out and approach shots are holding.  Lots of fun.  We were out spraying around the edges of the greens this week to get rid of any off type grasses or weeds that are growing close to the bentgrass.  This will help to keep a clean edge between the greens and the collars so we can maintain definition. 

A significant amount of the course has gone dormant, but we have yet to get the full course killing frost to put the rest of it to bed.  Until then we will have frost delays still even for lighter frosts.  Leaf clean-up has gone well this year with the addition of the vacuum.  The warmer weather has allowed the trees to still hold on to some leaves, but once they are down we should be able to get them cleaned up quickly.

We have hired a company to work on the debris pile down behind the maintenance facility.  They began this week so there will be some trucks moving across the property with loads of trash.  We will attempt to minimize any disturbance to the membership while we make improvements to an area that has needed attention for some time.  When we are finished we will move a container in for the trash and dispose of it as we go along.  There will also be parking for the staff and guests so the cars will no longer be parked under the trees. 

Fall Update

Now that Fall has arrived we have been busy working in some other areas on the property.  Winter annuals have been planted around the Clubhouse and on the golf course.  An azalea bed has been planted to the right of one green on the hill.  We used Encore azalea which bloom spring and fall so we can get color twice a year!

We also planted shade fescue in the tree lines the second week of October.  Water was applied to get the seed to germinate, this unfortunately has caused a few of the holes to stay wet, particularly in the rough.  No more water will be applied in those wet areas and hopefully they will dry out soon.  

We are out this week getting the first mow in the tree lines this week which will help with the leaf clean-up.  The leaf vacuum we bought in the spring is now in use in conjunction with the mulching mowers in an effort to stay ahead of the debris.

Fall Aeration

On Tuesday we performed our fall aeration on the greens.  The project went well and removed tons and tons of nasty organic material from the greens.  As you can see in the pictures it is a full day of picking up these plugs for the staff.  Each greens has 6 or 7 loads of material that has to be loaded by hand and then we distribute them around the course in the wooded areas so they can become grass.  Since I arrived here in January, we have removed 23% of the surface area of the greens and replaced them with good sand.  This will help a great deal with surface drainage, as well as reducing thatch that causes the greens to be puffy.

We are still in the middle of a drought here with hardly any measurable rain in the last 6 weeks.  We continue to use the wells to supplement the water from our lakes.  You will notice that some areas are still browning out while other areas seem to stay wet.  This is a factor of nightly irrigation and the fact that some heads get both high dry areas and the low spots next to them.  These areas become obvious during extended periods of no rainfall.  The greens tees and fairways all continue to look good while the areas under the large oak trees are taking the worst of it.

Greens should be healed up in a couple of weeks and the aeration will only be a distant memory.

Fairways Aeration

This week we had all of the fairways aerated by an outside contractor. The holes were 3-4
inches deep and 5/8” in diameter.

Harmon Turf Services brought foud machines out and had all of the fairways cored in about nine hours. Our staff then came in behind them and broke up the plugs by dragging a mat across them. After that we blew off the fairways, and then ran the mower across them to chew up any debris left behind. It was a very messy project but cleaned up well after working on it for a couple of days.


The benefits of this project were two-fold. Number one we were able to remove thatch build up that will keep the fairways from being so spongy and grainy. Number two it will help with
drainage by removing a lot of clay material and creating channels for the water to get into the
soil profile. Aeration in conjunction with a heavier verti-cutting schedule next year will help to
improve ball roll in the fairways and hopefully let us enjoy more days with the carts off the path.

Water and Verti-Cutting

We have received only .5” of rain in the last three weeks!  At this point we are dependent on the wells we have to supply irrigation water.  As per our DEQ permits, we have drawn down the upper lake to its lower limits so we can fill only from the permitted wells we operate.  We should always have enough water for the greens , but we are starting to withhold water to the other areas of the course in order to maintain sufficient levels in the lake.  Hopefully some rain will be heading our way soon to help with this problem!

We have started a verti-cutting procedure on fairways this week to help with thatch control.  Some of the turf has gotten so spongy that the mowers sink right into them giving a horrible cut.  They also are laying over instead of standing straight up and down.  We have cutting units that go on the fairway mower that are spaced closely together and are oriented similar to a skill saw.  These blades go down into the turf cutting the horizontal runners and removing some thatch.  We do this in two directions and then mow them twice after to clean up the debris.  The turf looks scalped and discolored for a few days after the process but it really helps for tighter more playable fairways.

July 1 Update!

The last couple of weeks have been filled with weather extremes on the golf course.  A brutal stretch of 90 degree plus days followed by deluges of rain has kept the maintenance staff busy.  It seems like as soon as we get all the debris up from one storm, another thunderstorm rolls through depositing sticks and debris everywhere. On two out of the three nights for the club championship the bunkers washed out completely.  The new bunkers on 15 did great and needed little to no attention.

The heat took its toll on some of the bent grass sod on the greens.  The roots have not grown much past the clay layer that came on the sod. This leaves them very susceptible to damage from the high temperatures.  A couple of cool nights last weekend helped bounce them back to green so they can build some reserves to fight the heat.  We have raised the mowers on the sod areas and are applying additional nutrients to give the grass a fighting chance.  We will also be solid tine aerating frequently to keep water and air moving through the sod.

On Monday, we put a heavy topdressing on the Bermuda around the greens.  We are trying to get it smoother and more playable through sanding.  It will be a little messy for a few days but will help in the long run.  We are hoping to have a surface that we can putt through on a consistent basis!

Pictures are worth a thousand words!

The course looks fantastic, and the weather is wonderful! Come out and enjoy your course!

Greening up!

Things are really shaping up on the course! After a painfully slow start, the fairways and tees are filling in nicely.

There are only a few low areas and north facing slopes that are still lagging behind. We have been working on striping the fairways and most of the holes are gorgeous from the tee box!! The Bermuda sod planted around the green complexes is greening up nicely, but it will be
quite awhile until it has all filled in and is level. Some of the sod was not as nice and is much
slower to green up.




You can see the lines and squares of thinner turf around nice full green
areas. Extra fertilizer, aeration and keeping off of it will fill those spots in. The leveling will take
longer as the topdressing can only go on in small increments. We will get there, but it will not be
overnight. The greens on holes 4 and 7 are doing well but will need additional aerification and TLC to make it through the hot times. The same goes for the bent grass sod ring on the greens. All of
the sod has a significant layer of clay on it that we will continue to work on through aeration.

Better Billy Bunker Update

The Club has decided to take advantage of a contractor already being in the area to install two of the new Better Billy Bunkers.  Our current bunkers drain well now but the liners are deteriorating. This is starting to make an unsightly mess as well as starting to contaminate the sand with the native soil.  At some point down the road this will need to be addressed.  

The Club chose to try the bunkers on hole 15 because the existing left side trap was already holding water.  The concept of the Billy Bunkers is to do away with the fabric liner and use a spray on polymer to interface between the sand and gravel. This will enhance drainage and keep the sand from being contaminated with the native soil underneath. 

The first step was to remove the old sand and expose the existing drain lines.  Once they were exposed the contractor checked to make sure they were working.  The left side bunker was holding water because the outfall was clogged with tree roots.  This was also preventing the green from draining as well as holding up the right side bunker.  A new drain line was installed and these problems have all been fixed.

Once the drainage was working correctly two inches of gravel was put into the entire bottom of the bunker.  The gravel was then sprayed with the Better Billy Bunker polymer and left to dry overnight.  Once dry, the gravel becomes fixed in place but the water is still able to move through it.  Next 6 inches of sand is put into the cavity and then packed to a 4 inch depth.

The sand we chose came from out of Maryland and is called YBD.  There are a number of clubs in the areas that have done the Billy Bunkers and this is the best sand for having firm bunkers and minimal plugging.  That being said, it is still new sand and will be a little fluffy at first.  Ultimately it should perform well and be fair to play out of.  Hopefully the membership will like these bunkers and this sand so we can look to the future in the rest of the course.

Greening up!

The Bermuda is greening up nicely in most areas.  The low spots are the slow areas but seem to have grass in them.  We are mowing fairways and tees twice a week right now, and will be applying fertilizer as soon as the temperatures stabilize.  This is the ugliest time of year for Bermuda courses, but hopefully we will be solid green soon!!  Greens are doing well and have healed fully from the aeration.  They are now on a growth regulator program to control top growth and improve putting speeds.  The walkways from tee to fairway are coming in nicely and should be a great touch for the walking members.

Spring is here

Spring must be here as we are finally mowing the short grass on the course!  Fairways, tees and approaches have all been cut down to remove the winter “duff”.  By mowing them short in the spring we expose more of the plant to direct sunlight in an effort to encourage the green-up process.  There was a ton of grass on the fairways in particular. Since we have mowed the fairways, the ball rolls out better and there is not as much “grain” to them.  We are also changing some of the mowing patterns to enhance the aesthetics of the course. This will also make it play a little fairer around the greens in particular.  This will be a work in progress and changes will be made as needed.

Greens have been slow to heal with the cooler temps this year, but are almost back up to regular playing condition.  We applied more topdressing this week to smooth them out, and have been keeping them wet in order to grow the grass in quicker over the aeration holes. The sod around the greens is greening up, but will take much work to get it smooth enough to mow at collar height.  Right now we are mowing a pass with the approach mower outside the green itself.  We look to institute a walk mower wide collar by the end of the summer at a lower height.

Lastly, we have been cutting some walkways in between the tees and fairways for the walkers.This will be a nice touch once the rough comes in. 

Spring Aeration

Greens aeration went well this spring.  We used pretty large tines and removed tons of thatch and silty soil from the greens.  The process was aided by a box that attaches to the aerator pulling the plugs into a pile at the edge of the green for clean-up.  We used around 65 tons of sand to fill the holes that we opened up by aerating.  The sand has a larger particle size to help with water infiltration on the aging and heavily thatched greens.  

We are mowing the greens daily and they should be getting back in shape by the end of the week.  Mulching has been completed on the course, and when combined with the blooming flowers, the property is looking awesome!

We have begun mowing the fescue areas under the trees and we are getting ready to cut in a walkway from the tees to the fairways at a shorter height so the walkers will have drier feet in the mornings and less resistance when using the push carts.  

Last week we edged all of the bunkers and we are now working on the yardage markers and sprinkler heads on the course.  Get out and enjoy the course while the weather is nice!!

Aeration is coming

This week we finished up spraying the golf course for weeds and applying the crabgrass preventer.  All of the cart paths have been edged and a good portion of the mulch is complete on the golf course.  

We are now starting to prepare for aeration.  We completed the process on the nursery green behind 13 and it went well. The process is aerating the green, removing the cores, applying sand, applying fertilizer and then brushing it all in the holes. Lastly, we will roll the green.  

We will keep the mowers off of the greens for the first week.  The following week we will start the mowing process and will keep at it until the greens are healed.  They should be good after two weeks and great again after three, weather permitting. 

Spring is almost here

Spring has finally peeked its head out from under the snow blanket!  

It is great to be out doing golf course work again. 

We have started mowing greens again on a regular basis with the walking greens mowers and they are getting their color back after a brutally cold winter.  Nutrient applications are also being made to improve the soil chemistry in the greens mix. This will allow the plants to better withstand stress.  You will notice fertilizer particles on the putting surfaces that can be a little inconvenient at times, but they are essential to getting the greens ready for the summer. 

These nutrients will combat stress from traffic and heat to give the turf the best chance for survival when the heat sets in.  We are also getting out the pre-emergent for summer weeds, crabgrass in particular.  We are spraying it on the bermuda areas along with a weed killer to clean up the winter weeds.  The fescue grass areas in the tree lines are being fertilized with a product that also contains the pre-emergent. 

 Ball washer restoration is almost complete and they should all re-installed by the beginning of next week. Mulching and cleaning up the flower bed areas continue. The Clubhouse and road areas are almost done, and then we will move to the golf course.  Time to get out there and play some golf!!