Seams Like Some Sod

At about 5:30 yesterday morning we had a delivery truck of sod show up in the parking lot. By 8:30 the guys had all 2700 square feet laid out. By 9:30 all of the ends were cut to fit and the sod was getting watered. It was a smooth process that should turn out just a good as the previous area we had sodded a few weeks ago. We're going to try to keep everyone off of this area for the next couple of weeks to give the sod the best chance of taking hold. Depending on the weather we will probably be mowing with a walk mower by the end of next week. We will also be aerifying the area around the sod before the end of this week if time allows. We were a little off on our measurement so we should receive another pallet to finish off the last bit by early next week.
As a side note to this project you will see our mechanic Jim on our tractor in the background of the third picture below. He was out aerifying the rough on holes #5 and #6 while we were laying sod. We tend to struggle quite a bit with these rough areas during the summer. We will be following up with some seed and fertilizer be weeks end to try to build a better stand of turf before the summer months hit.

New posts and cable on #7

The last couple of days Jose, Scott and Tom spent some time installing some new posts and cable down the makeshift cart path on #7. As I have stated before, we are trying to rid the course of our "permanent" rope and stakes and replace them with the truly permanent posts and cable. This saves our guys on the mowers valuable time as now they don't have to get off the mowers twice to move and replace the old rope and stakes. We think it also provides a cleaner look to the course. On #7 we chose not to put in the bender board border or the DG. Next week Tom will come back and spray a little round-up underneath the cable so that we don't have to weed eat or mow the area.

Changes @ #3 Tee

We've noticed that over the last couple of years we have begun to struggle with the turf quality on the right half of the blue tee on #3. We are pretty sure we can attribute the decline in quality to compaction and traffic from all of the players that take their pull carts up on the tee while they are teeing off. So to try and combat this problem we chose to extend the split rail fence and remove a little turf as you approach the tee from #2. By doing this our goal is to try to encourage the players to keep the pull carts on the path while teeing off and then walk down the cart path to the green. The turf that we removed was also a problem in the summer months because of the lack of good irrigation coverage. Here's a few before and after photos.

Finally A Fix On #6

     With a small staff and a lot to do our decisions with our priority of projects is sometimes difficult to make. Our assistant superintendent Tom and I at any one time probably have a list of 100 projects big and small that need to be accomplished. Most of the time it comes down to budget and time constraints as we try to make the best decision on what we can accomplish.

     So now comes our issues on #6 fairway. I will start by saying that the soil in and around holes 5 and 6 is horrible. Ever since the golf course was redesigned, we have had problems with these two fairways mainly due to the soil and the addition of the mounds in between these holes. When the holes were redesigned the architect took the topsoil from the the old fairways and created the mounding between the fairways so he could create some separation of the holes. Doing so created some issues that we are still dealing with 3 years later.  We started a ways back with some drainage in two areas of #5 fairway which has produced great results with better turf coverage throughout and less puddling after it rains. Now we have started to fix the worst area in #6 fairway with some drainage and new sod. Below is a picture timeline of the first bad area that we have needed to fix for some time. We plan to continue in the next month or two as budget, time and weather allow.



 



The area on #6 before prepping and drainage











Old sod removed and ready for drainage



Tom trenching all of the drain lines















Drain lines are ready to be cleaned out



 

Final touches before the sod shows up



Sod is down and getting watered for the first time.







Tom finishing up the next morning with an aerification of the
surrounding area.



     Tom and the guys did an awesome job on this project. After the sod takes hold and we can mow this area we will remove the rope line. Until then we ask that all players take relief and drop your ball outside of the white line.

New Year...No rain...A Lot Going on....

     Happy new year to all of our followers and golfers. I am very happy to see the last year come and go and we are all very excited about what the new year will bring to our course. We started out the first half of 2011 with a bunch of rain (even into June!!) and finished off that year with a long drought. In the last six months of the year we only 3.18", which in a typical year is pretty low for us. The lack of rain has definitely put a damper on course conditions as we really haven't had a good flushing of all the salts and bad stuff that comes from our irrigation water. Here's to a few good storms in January and February and maybe even one in June again!!

The frost has also put a damper on things as most all of the turf has basically shut down and is barely growing. This makes things a little difficult as the wear and worn out areas are not rejuvenating as fast as we would like and any new seed we put down in divots is taking a long time to begin growing.
     With the new year comes a few new projects that we are really excited to start. The first being the new posts and cable that will run the entire length of #4. If you've been out playing lately you probably have seen where we cut out the sod along the cart path for the new posts.

We also took this opportunity to run some extra irrigation wires down the length of the hole for some future sprinkler additions. 
We've tried the posts and cable in a couple other areas (ie. #3 green and the putting green) with great success. It costs a little more to go with the posts and cable over the split rail fence but in the long run it should last a lot longer. A couple other projects on the horizon include a bunch of drainage in #6 fairway and some new sprinkler heads to help fine tune our irrigation system. We have also started the first stages of a nursery green behind #2 tee. More to come on these projects in later posts.
      I hope that Santa was as good to y'all out there this year as he was to us here in the maintenance department. We were very fortunate to receive a few new gifts by the way of new equipment. A new Toro Workman HD, an R&R Tee Mower and a Ryan Sod Cutter were a few of the gifts under our tree. Here's a couple of pictures of the new items in our shop. You should be seeing these out on the course very soon!



New Diesel Workman



Jim putting together the new tee mower



End of November

     Can you believe it's the end of November already? I hope all of you reading this had a great Thanksgiving with family and friends. I was fortunate to have the last week off for a much needed vacation. It's not always easy to turn my work switch off but I really tried my hardest this time. It makes it easier when you have a great staff. 

     This last week the boys knocked out all of the mowing by Wednesday and even had time to tackle a couple of small projects. A lot of credit needs to be given to my entire staff for making my job easier and the course looking great week in and week out.

    The projects this last week included a new split-rail fence to the left of #15 green. This was another step towards eliminating the (not so)permanent rope lines on the course. The next fence project will probably be down the cart path on #4 from tee to green.

    

    The next project at the top of our list for this week was the (almost) dead pine tree down the left side of #18 fairway. This tree took a turn for the worst last winter and has slowly been losing its green needles since. We will be planting some cypress in a few locations down the left rough of #18 very shortly.

     With December right around the corner the maintenance staff all hope you get to get out and play often in the next few weeks especially with no rain in the ten-day forecast.

   

Is That A Mole In #9 Fairway?



     No, that's not a mole or a gopher or any varmint making a trench down #9 fairway. The "dirt" you see in the middle of #9 fairway is actually a mix of a fine mulch, sand and seed. We have begun to try to fill in the French drain that was installed before the opening of the course to help with drainage. For some reason the architect did not think that drainage was necessary in the original design. But as we observed the golf course before the grand opening, we determined that there was going to be a need for some drainage down the entire hole. The soil in #9 is some of the worst in the entire golf course and the water does not infiltrate as rapidly as the architect believed.



Another one bites the dust!

     Yesterday we continued on with our scheduled tree removal and knocked down the dead pine that guarded the left side of #18 fairway. We have been trying to take down about one tree per week if the weather permits. With the removal of this tree it is really going to open up the left side and make this hole play a bit easier.  

   

Tom and Hung cutting out the pie on the front side

   

Ready for the fall

Ready to clean up!

Less rope-lines, more split-rail

     The last couple of mornings we have had a little frost so we were able to continue on some more split-rail fencing at #12 green. We are trying to continue to remove as much of the permanent rope-lines and put in either the split-rail and posts or the round posts with cable. In the areas that get less traffic we are using the split-rail and the higher traffic areas are receiving the round posts and 1/4" plastic coated cable. This particular area on #12 was really driving us nuts as this is one of the first and last areas you see when you drive in and out of the course. When the rope-lines would get knocked down or stepped on it would leave a messy look to the area. Take a look at the handy work of Jose, Enrique and Scott in the pictures below.

A few more projects....

As I stated in my previous post, here are a few more pictures of some more of the projects we've been working on this winter.


New split-rail fence @ #16 tee

#16 looking back at upper tees

New fence at lower tees on #16



A little shop clean-up..new shelves in the corner

A few of our winter projects.....

     The winter time provides the golf maintenance staff with a little more time to work on projects as the demand for mowing, irrigation and course upkeep is not as high mainly due to lower temperatures (although it is 74 degrees outside as I write this!!).
     Each summer we begin a list of projects we would like to accomplish during the winter and begin to prioritize as we near fall. The "list" is ongoing and will never be without a hundred different ideas and projects as we continue to try to improve our product for our customers. So in the next few pictures I will try to highlight a few of the projects you may or may not have seen us working on these past couple of months.

Jose and Enrique installing a split-rail fence behind #2 green & #3 tee

Before





After



Entrance to #3 Tee

Before

After

Installing posts and wire along #3 green (with border for edging)



Before



After



After-Opposite Direction

 





     These are a few of the projects completed so far off of the "list". I will post more in the near future.