Bunker Project Update Week 8

Bunker Project Update

As we finish week 8 of construction the end is in sight!!  All of the bunkers have now had gravel installed and have been sprayed with the polymer.  The last step is to get sand in the final 11 bunkers and finish some sod wok on 18.  If the weather holds up we should be done with the bunkers by opening day on April 13^th.  The project went very smoothly, especially since the contractor dedicated a ton of labor resources allowing us to stay ahead of schedule.  Working with John LaFoy has been awesome.  His diligent work prior to construction allowed us to accurately estimate and budget the materials we would need so we wouldn’t be socked with cost overruns.  The new look at JRCC has helped to rejuvenate the property and allows us to put our best foot forward for the membership and any guests that play our course.

Moving forward there will still be a lot of work, and some inconvenience, as we grow in the newly sodded areas and fine tune our bunker raking program.  In order to keep the new sod alive we will be doing a lot of watering which will soften the turf areas around the bunkers in addition to keeping the sand wetter than we would like.  Approaches won’t be as firm as usual and carts will need to be cautious around the new bunkers.

On the grow-in portion of the project we will be letting the sod grow and not doing any edging of the bunkers for a few months.  They will look a little shaggier than what we are used to, but we want to get the turf established and knit in before we do any mechanical removal of turf that could damage the liner.  Also, there will be some weeds in the grass, especially during the green up.  Herbicide does a lot of damage to Bermuda when it is trying to green up.  Once it is well established, we will spray out the weeds.  I am sure not all of the sod will survive that we laid this winter so any pieces that don’t green up will be re-sodded.

The project has eliminated the old bunker liner, fixed bunkers that were previously holding water, provided a new consistent playing medium that will not wash out during heavy rain events, and given the property a whole new look.  JRCC continues to invest in its property for the long term enjoyment of their membership.

Bunker Update Week 6

Bunker Update Week 6

After almost 6 weeks of work on the bunkers things are really start to come together.  We have 6 holes completed for a total of 20 bunkers.

On our second phase we have 24 bunkers that have been shaped already, leaving only holes 1, 17, and 18 to remove the old sand and shape the new bunkers.

We are planning on spraying the polymer on Monday or Tuesday of next week.  We should have around 15 more bunkers ready to spray and will only need sand to be completed.  Keeping our fingers crossed for no rain to keep us moving!!

Bunker Update Week 5

Bunker Update Week 5

As we finish our 5^th week of bunker reconstruction I am extremely happy with the progress we have made.  We have 16 bunkers that are completely finished!  Four more that only need sand added to complete the first set of holes.  This would include 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13 and the practice bunker.  The second phase is full steam ahead with 24 more bunkers under way.  As of the end of the day on Monday the 18^th there are only 1 more of those bunkers to rough shape.  The crew has installed gravel and drainage in 6 bunkers so far and should be done sodding around the second phase this week.  Very exciting!!

Bunker Update Week 4

Bunker Update Week 4

As we approach the end of the fourth week of the bunker renovation project bunkers are starting to be completed!  We started adding sand to the new bunkers on Thursday beginning with number 13.

By the end of the week all of the bunkers on 13 will be complete as well as a few others.

The new look is very exciting and will freshen up the look at James River moving forward toward our centennial celebration!  The membership is welcome to play out of the new bunkers, but please take a mandatory drop from the sodded areas.

We will be finished spraying the polymer in the first 20 bunkers this weekend, please stay out of any bunker that has a beware sign in front of it.  The polymer is very sticky and not good for you or your clothes until it dries, and we do not want to compromise the liner by disturbing it while it is curing.

The next phase of bunkers includes numbers 2, 12, and 14-16.  We will be removing the old material and shaping the next set of bunkers using the same procedure as phase 1.  Keep your fingers crossed for dry weather so we can stay on schedule!!

Bunker update week 3

Bunker update week 3

The weather has held off this week and we have gotten a ton done on the project!!  As of Thursday afternoon we have completely sodded around 5 bunkers.

We have 20 bunkers that are currently under construction.  All of them have been shaped and edged, and by the end of the week they should all have drainage and gravel in them.  Next week we will be sodding around the rest of those 20 bunkers.  We will also be spraying the Better Billy Bunker polymer on the first batch as well as starting to install the sand.  The construction will move toward 11 fairway and 15 greenside bunkers.

Bunker project week 2 Feb 17-24

Bunker project week 2  

Feb 17-24

The second week of the project went well considering we were only able to work 4 days due to all the rain we had.  The Architect was out on Monday afternoon and approved 17 bunker for drainage.  He painted the lines to delineate where the sand will be and the crew dug out the edges to install drain pipe and gravel.  Two inches of gravel go in first then ultimately sod around the bunker and 5-6 inches of sand to bring the bottom of the bunker up to the edge line.  We got the drainage done on the left side bunker on 13 the second week.  To date we have cleaned out 19 bunkers, filled in one bunker and edged 5 bunkers.  The beginning of week three look like great weather, we should be able to drain many more bunkers and get in a truck of sod to tie in the edges.

Bunker Project Week 1 Summary Feb 11-17.

Bunker Project Week 1 

Contractor worked 40 hours.

Only 4 days due to rain or wet conditions

Cleaned out 17 Bunkers.  All of 6, 7, 11, 13, practice bunker, green side on 8, fairway bunkers on 10.

Rough shaped 11 bunkers.  All of 7,11,13, Fairway bunkers on 10, practice bunker.

LaFoy will be here on Tuesday or Wednesday to approve shaping and place paint line for sand edge on shaped bunkers.

Rough Sod estimate on first 11 bunkers is 13,500 sq ft.

Once shaping is approved, we will begin edging and draining the bunkers.  Should happen this week.

We have taken delivery of 123 Tons of gravel so far.

Fill dirt at the shop has been excellent.  Area by old rain shelter did not yield good material.

February 12, 2019 Bunker Project Video

February 12, 2019

The bunker project is officially underway, only one day behind schedule.  Rain kept us off the course on Monday, but Tuesday we got the crew started.  We started near the shop to facilitate less damage to the course while transporting material to the dumps site.  Sand, sod and old drain lines are being removed until it dries out enough to start hauling soil back in to shape the new edges.

January 24, 2019

The week started out really cold with temperatures in the teens, then highs in the 60’s followed by heavy rains.  Two out of the first four days we worked in the shop on some cleaning and organizing.  We started painting the concrete floor to help keep the dust down and to brighten up the interior.  The new paint combined with some upgraded LED lights has made a huge improvement to the previously dark interior.

Once we got some paint on the floor and walls, we pulled out some old tables and a tool peg board and put up some new shelving so that everything has a home.  Every cloud has a silver lining!

We did manage to get some outside work done on Wednesday including spraying around some green complexes for winter weeds.

January 17, 2019

Even though we picked up over an inch and a half of rain over the weekend it has been a very productive week here at JRCC for the golf and grounds maintenance staff.  Last week we picked up most of the leaves from the turf and areas, this week we have been focusing on the beds.  Very clean look to the property now.

Deep tine aeration has continued with work being done on number 12 and number 14. We are approximately halfway done with the tee marker project and they are looking great out on the course.  One of the sunken catch basins on 13 got some attention this week in the form of repairing a broken drain line that was causing the soil to erode and then the ground to sink above it.  There are a number of other basins that need attention and we will continue working on them as time permits.

It looks like rain on Sunday followed by extreme cold temperatures Monday morning.  Keeping our fingers crossed that we don’t have an ice storm!!  Get out and play some golf before the bad weather arrives!!

January 11, 2019

It’s been a great week for golf maintenance, lack of rain and nice weather has allowed us to remove the leaves from even the wet holes!  Tuesday and Wednesday warmer temps brought out the golfers and the course looked awesome.  Greens were cut, bunkers raked, cups changed, it was an absolute pleasure to be out on the course.  Bunker renovation plans continue as we approach the start date.  Below are a before and after pictures simulating the new edges.  So exciting!!

Happy New Year

This week we have been trying to finish up the rest of the leaves on the course as weather permits.  The deep tine aerator completed number 11 and started working on number 1 between rain events.  Unfortunately, conditions remain saturated heading into the weekend.  Greens were mowed on Friday and should be great when the rain subsides.  On the bright side we have had a chance to get started on painting tee markers and ball washers.  We have brought in a single marker from each set of 2 on a number of holes.  This way the teeing ground is still marked by the other marker.  This process will continue until we get them finished up.

JRCC June Golf Course Update June 5, 2018 Dear JRCC Members, It has been 30 days since the last course update.  Great news, the heat came and the grass is growing hard and filling in!  Many areas that looked like they would not recover a month ago have either filled in completely or are well on their way.  We sodded the big areas on the #2 and #12 fairways, as well as the senior tee on #2.  Areas like the small part of the fairway on #1 have gone from 90% brown to 90% green and many thin areas are now covered with grass, but they are still thickening up to good playable turf. We have been topdressing the weaker areas to give the stolons something to hold on to. There are still some larger spots on some tee boxes and a couple of fairways that might need another 30 days to fill in.  We are assessing those areas to weigh the costs of laying sod versus allowing the grass to grow back in.  Sod is a quick fix but it is expensive and takes some time to blend in and become as smooth as the existing grass. The rough is also growing like it's August-needing to be cut twice a week and having to blow just about all of it for grass clippings.  The extra fertilizer used to fill in thin areas is giving us a little trouble with some runners growing on top of the turf, mainly in the fairways.  We are sanding these areas as well and raising the mowing height a touch on the turf to give the runners a chance to move back into the canopy. Greens aeration was completed yesterday with smaller tines and less sand topdressing.  We are looking to heal up quickly from this practice. So far 2018 has been an interesting year, but rest assured that the staff here at JRCC is doing all it can to make your property beautiful and playable. Sincerely, Rob Wilmans  Director of Golf and Grounds Maintenance

October 15, 2017

Update of condition of the greens on numbers 3, 5, 9, 17 and practice green.  These greens have been showing stress for 3 weeks now and raising the mowing height and cessation of rolling has not improved them.  We went ahead and pulled cores on Monday and topdressed on Wednesday so we could incorporate seed into the thin areas.  We had previously punched them with solid tines and applied additional fertilizer along with our regular program to fill in these areas.  Having greens that are not responding to fertilizer this time of year is very unusual.  They are behaving as if it is the middle of August. 

Certainly we were aggressive with mowing heights and roller frequency following our fall aeration leading up to our October events in an effort to achieve green speed. Temperatures reaching 90 combined with high humidity and nighttime temps in the upper 70’s may have predisposed us to some fungus even though we were on our normal fungicide preventative schedule. Whether this caused the thinning or some overlap with the greens sprayer is still yet to be determined.  We are being vigilant and are taking whatever steps we feel necessary to hasten the recovery of these greens.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns about this issue.

Sincerely,

Rob Wilmans

Golf Course Superintendent

Course UPDATE:

On Monday we aerated the putting greens so I wanted to run through the procedure we used, the work we contracted out and what we hope to achieve throught the process.  We began the day at 5:45am when I walked our aerator over to number 13 with our mechanic Randy to make sure the machine would pull plugs like we wanted it to.  We used a ½” tine on a 2 inch square spacing about 3.5 inches deep.  We pulled tons of material out of the greens and collected it all in a box attached to the rear of the aerator.  The box would then deposit the pile at the edge of the green when we picked up the machine to turn around.  The staff then began the long grueling day of picking those plugs up with shovels and loading them into utility carts.  12 hours of shoveling plugs is a brutal day of labor, many thanks to the crew for doing such a great job!!  This is what the greens look like once they are cleaned off.

Next we brought in a contractor to drill and fill 6 of our greens that drain the worst.  The machine drilled 8 inch deep holes, 1 inch in diameter on a 6 in square pattern.  After drilling the hole they would open a tube that filled the hole with dried sand that we supplied.  We used almost 16,000 lbs of bagged sand that more of my crew had to carry to the machine, lift over their heads and then put in the hopper!!  More awesome work by the staff!!  Once this was done we then ran our machine behind them pulling the regular cores.

After all of this we sanded the entire green with a top dresser and then drug the sand until we filled the aeration holes with new clean sand.  Once across with the roller and one more drag with a mat and we had a finished product.  This week we will spot topdress, drag and roll to smooth the greens, we will wait until Monday to start mowing again.

What do we hope to gain by all of this??  Our goal is to create a clean sand “chimney” from the top of the green down into the original sand that the greens were built from.   Over the years a layer of organic material has built up in the top of the green that prevents air and water movement.  The drill and fill will create deeper wider channels to move the water off the tops of the greens.  The finished product was not as intrusive as I had expected and a few weeks it will all be a distant memory.  Thank you to the members for allowing me to tear up your beautiful greens so they can be healthy in the long run, and thank you to all of my staff for working so hard!!

Hello Fall!

I wanted to take a few minutes to update the membership on the last couple of weeks here in Golf Maintenance.  The week of the 19^th it seemed like it rained every day.  We ended up with close to 6.5 inches of rain.  Compared to a lot of other courses in Hampton Roads it was barely a sprinkle.  Some golf courses in the Virginia Beach and Chesapeake area took 12-15 inches!!  Those courses were closed multiple days and one still has not completely opened back up.  The rain here filled the lakes back up and brought our month long drought to an end.  On the down side we went 7 days without mowing anything except greens.  When we finally got back out on Monday we bailed hay everywhere.  The pictures show what it looked like before the turbine blowers came through to clean up.  This week we have dodged the rain and are back on a regular mowing program.  The course looks great after being cut a couple of times.  We skipped edging bunkers last week but they now have a razor sharp edge on them.

We did miss two days on greens mowing last week which allowed the plants to get tall and fat when added to all of the rain.  We double cut them on Thursday and Friday of last week and have mowed them every day since.  This week we lowered the height on the mowers and changed out the front roller to a more aggressive style so we can get rid of all of the fat plants.  Consequently greens are rolling great again and getting back to our normal speeds.  Hopefully fall will arrive soon with some cooler nighttime temperatures and pleasant afternoons!

August 23 Update

As the end of summer approaches it seems like a good time to reflect back on our season.  On a positive note the Bermuda was awesome once it got going.  We are growing grass in areas that have been thin or were dirt for a long time.  The sod work on the range, number 5 and number 6 looks awesome.  The other thin areas on the course are much smaller than last year.  Quality on the fairways has been good with a much farther ball roll.  We have raised the height just a little this week to prevent scalping.  The rough is also very thick and is being mowed at least twice a week.  Even on the second pass after only 2 or 3 days we are having to blow off the clippings everywhere we cut.  We have held the height the same all year long, but it is playing tough right now due to the density.

The greens have been a struggle for us this July and August.  Early wet weather in May and June led to some disease problems, anthracnose in particular.  This is not a common disease of bentgrass, but is a difficult one to get rid of once you have it.  The extreme heat followed up in the last couple weeks of June causing some turf loss due to direct heat kill as well as some loss due to wilt.  The putting green in particular dried out on a hot windy day, and even though we got water on it that day, it never recovered.  The roots on that green are never good and the turf just wasn’t strong enough to recover in the poor location where it sits.  We did vent greens on a frequent basis, we did adjust fertility, growth regulator and fungicide applications for the weather.  We did raise the mowing height on the greens on July 25^th, in hindsight maybe sooner might have helped some?  No way to say for sure.  We were not seeing any damage from the mowers even when we raised the height.  Going into next year we will make some changes to our programs in the event that mother nature hits us again with a once a decade heat wave.

Good news is that September aeration is right around the corner.  The cooler weather this week has helped tremendously in just a couple of days and the greens are already happier.  Hopefully next year we won’t have as many dog days of summer.

USGA On Site Visit Report

The USGA Green Section came to visit the JRCC Golf Course on Tuesday, July 12, 2016. Below is the entire report from their visit!

 

Breathtaking...

If these pictures don't make you want to play, you don't like golf!!