Early Snowfall

This past Tuesday we received 6-7" of snow and the next morning was a chilly 23 degrees.  It's odd seeing leaves on the trees and snow on the ground.  It does make for a great picture, though.

Rain, Rain, Rain......

This past Thursday we received 6" of rain from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm.  Before this day a 2 month drought had forced us to lower the ponds on the course and we were in the process of transferring the water up to the reservoir.  Amazingly, every pond on the course was filled and some water was lost over the overflow near the club's entrance in a matter of hours.  We were able to transfer some of the water up to the reservoir for future use.  Below are some videos and pics of the day.

The new short game area got hit hard by the rain.  Washing out in a number of areas.  Thankfully, the greens are still intact. 

The video above is of the river of water going over the entrance drive.  At one point it was over 1 foot in depth. 

Al Peters: 1955 - 2013

This past weekend one of our grounds crew members, Al Peters, passed away during his work day here at the club.  Al was 58 and had been working for us for the past 2 months.  His son, Scott, who has been working for us since 2008 was by his father's side in his last moments. 

Al was a great addition to the crew.  He was consistently upbeat and got along with everyone.  Always quick to enjoy a good laugh or to strike up a conversation about current topics with anyone he was around.  He was willing to do whatever was asked of him and went about his normal day doing the best job he could.  He will be missed by all of us. 

Short Game Area Progress

Even after the rain event 2 wks ago, the new short game area is coming along nicely.  Today marked the first day for mowing the greens.  They were mowed at .250", which is 1/4".  As the greens mature we will slowly lower the height of cut to match our existing greens, which are at .125" or 1/8".    

Short Game Area: Greens Mix

The new short game area greens will be grown on a mixture of 80% sand, 15% compost and 5% peat.  The new greens (5-8) are grown on a similar mixture, while #2 & #16 greens are grown on a sand/peat mixture.  The remaining greens are "push up" or native soil greens.  "Push up" simply means that when the greens were constructed they pushed up the existing topsoil and shaped it into a green.

 

Below is a picture of the blending machine used to make our 80/15/5 mixture.  

 

 

The compost is used in our greens mix as a source of organic matter and nutrients.  The compost also allows the new greens to have a similar composition to our existing push up greens.  For many years now, the greens have been topdressed with straight sand and after taking a sample of the top 2" of the profile recommendations were made for a sand/compost mixture. 

 

Short Game Practice Area

The short game practice area is in full swing.  As you may have noticed 2 weeks ago the area was starting to look a little yellow.  The cause of this was an application of a product called RoundUp.  RoundUp is a non-selective herbicide which kills plants that it comes in contact with.  The application is a standard practice in the renovation process, which helps to kill not only the green portion of the grass plant, but also the root.  This aspect is important because some grass plants can regenerate new plants from their roots, so during the construction process the soil is moved around the site and if some viable roots remain there is a chance they could regenerate.  An undesirable example of this is rough grass (Kentucky Bluegrass/Ryegrass) growing in the short game areas that are intended to be cut down to fairway (creeping bentgrass) height.

Before the construction began we removed all of the sprinklers in the area and capped the irrigation pipe.  As you can see from the picture, the grass has been completely killed off at this point.

Here the contractor Vintage Golf is beginning to shape one of the chipping greens. 

Here they are shaping the edge of the green and bunker face on the west green complex.

The picture below shows the east green complex being fine tuned.  Green surface contours are created during the construction process that will mirror the finished grade after the greens mix is installed.  12" of greens mix will be installed inside the "shell" of the green complex. 

The Sand Man Cometh

Tuesday and Wednesday of this week we were playing in the sand.  Well, not playing.  Applying would be a better description. 

Tuesday marked the inaugural day of topdressing tees.  Our tees are showing signs of being puffy and in a few small areas scalp marks are occurring after mowing.  Topdressing with sand will aid in firming the playing surface, diluting the thatch mat and will also make a smoother tee.

On Wednesday we continued our sand onslaught.  #6 fairway has been a focus of our topdressing attention over the past 2 years and the improved conditioning of the fairway is in large part due to this.  Our goal is to make an application each month.  This is directly dependent on the weather, though.