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!!

Welcome Rob Wilmans!

Rob Wilmans joined us at the end of January 2015 as the new Greens Superintendent for James River Country Club! Rob grew up in Northern Virginia, and attended college at Villanova University. He achieved his Bachelor's Degree here before going back to school. Rob then attended Virginia Tech to get his Associate Degree in Turf and Landscape Management. After graduation, he worked on different golf courses before being offered Assistant Superintendent at Elizabeth Manor Golf and Country Club in Portsmouth, VA in 1995. In 1996, he moved up to the Superintendent position where he stayed until arriving at James River Country Club. Rob currently lives in Chesapeake, and has been married to his wife Jamie for two years.

Here is an update from Rob after this first month with us.

I have been on property for just over a month now, and unfortunately have been under snow for over two weeks of it!

Prior to the snow the staff did a great job of getting the leaves off the course and getting all of the beds pruned and ready for mulch.  The clubhouse front entrance has already been mulched and looks great!

Since we have had a lot of time indoors, we have been working on improving the maintenance building. "Small" things like painting and adding blinds goes a long way! Along with that, we have been clearing out trash, organizing items, and purchasing any tools/ items we will need for this coming spring. The staff has also been refurbishing course accessories such as ball washers and benches.  

Also new the James River staff is Ruby, my American Bulldog puppy. She will be assisting in goose abatement once she gets older. Last but not least, I want to thank the membership for trusting me with your course. I look forward to fantastic season!

Winter Projects

As we prepare for the 2015 golf season, the maintenance department is busy finalizing leaf removal and finishing the drainage projects. Below are pictures of a French drain being dug on hole #7. 

Getting ready to lay drains

Markings on #9 for work to be done next 

You may also notice markings on #11 which is planned to be completed this month.

Golf Course Winter Project Update

With the decided shift in the weather, golf course maintenance activities have shifted from cutting fairways to blowing leaves and cleaning up storm debris. The biggest impediment to this process is wet weather.  Since fairways do not dry as fast this time of year, it is difficult to keep up with leaf removal. Everyone knows tractors on the fairways are not a good thing, so we appreciate your patience. Feel free to use the “leaf rule” to speed up play.

The greens continue to grow over the winter and we are monitoring places on the greens that have had damage prior to the project.  Some of these areas are being allowed to grow in and other areas have been plugged.  This healing process will continue into the spring.  You might notice different mowing patterns on the greens.  Normally the operator mows in a straight line and goes off the green to turn the mower.  Because all the areas off the greens had new Bermuda grass sod that required a lot of water, the operators have mowed the greens in a circle (to stay on the green) rather than back and forth. 

This mowing pattern has resulted in some scalping, which will heal.  At this point the Bermuda grass has become dormant and the green irrigation system has been turned off.  As the surrounds dry out the operators will return to normal mowing patterns.  

On #4 you may notice some scalping which is due to the new surface not being perfectly smooth.  The USGA recommends beginning mowing as soon as the turf is well rooted.  Quoting the USGA, “Since it is almost impossible to keep the green surface perfectly smooth (due to the frequent irrigation necessary during establishment) some scalping is inevitable.  However, it is better to scalp the new turfgrass plants early (and have time to recover) than wait to lower the cut just prior to opening.”   

The final phase of the green renovation project was to inspect and replace the defective subsurface green drains.  Fortunately the drain problems we identified were in the main drain lines off the putting surfaces, so we only had to dig up fairways and roughs. Since the last update, the drainage work on holes 7, 9, 12, and 18 has been completed.  On the 7^th hole, we added a “smile drain” which is an arc – like a smile – that wraps the low side of the green which will improve the bent grass on that part of the green.

# 4 Drain 

# 13 Drain

Finally the excess dirt we removed from around the greens has been placed in bare spots around the golf course.  It is being tilled and seeded for the winter.  As stated in a previous update, play these areas as ground under repair.