#11 Tees

 #11 Tees is just about ready for sod!!

Upcoming Project

In the next 2 weeks, we'll be resurfacing the bridge on #10, just like the bridge on the 18th hole, where the boards run length wise, reducing the "roller coaster" noise you've come to know.  Also, the 6x6 post curbing will be replaced for safety.  Once the lumber has a couple weeks to dry, we'll stain the bridge a dark color.  

Wednesday

The above data sheet, from Syngenta, shows the current data of soil temps and other important info we need to make decisions regarding our agronomic practices.

I'm loving the forecast!  Bring on some heat!

This year, we are doing a spring DryJect aeration to incorporate more sand and also firm up the greens for the summer!  The minor disruption this causes will be well worth it in the long run.  This is the 3rd DryJect process we've done this year.  Greens of our age (almost 30 years old!) benefit a lot from this program compared to newly reconstructed greens that have little to no organic matter.

The white channels of sand are the result of the DryJect process, incorporating more sand into the upper organic layer. This, in conjunction with our core aerification and topdressing program, allows us to maintain firm greens that still drain at at high rates, through the summer.

Monday

 

This morning, we are mowing the entire golf course out and it is looking great!

Below, this shows how effective our drainage projects have been!  This is a photo looking down into one of the basin inlets in the middle of #1 fairway.  There is a 4" pipe below a 2" pipe above it, and both run non-stop, every day of the year.  This is water we captured from a spring under the 1st fairway.  If we had not directed this water into a pipe, the same water would be coming to the surface, making this area of the fairway unplayable.  The water in the 2" pipe, is from this winter's drainage project. 

Wall Street Journal: Bunkers

 CLICK HERE!

Click above for an article appearing in the April 4th edition of the Wall Street Journal regarding the history of bunkers and the cost to build and maintain.

USGA Green Section Record

 CLICK HERE to access the latest edition of the USGA Green Section Record. 

Practice Tee Update!

 

Are you in Highlands and want to hit some balls at the practice facility?  I've gone ahead and opened the practice tee a week early.  The stations are on the artificial mats however, if you'd like to hit from grass, please fee free to.  I'm grateful to have James back and he is anxiously awaiting your return.  The range tee will not be staffed this weekend, but it is open.  Starting Friday, April 10th, the range will be staffed most hours. Enjoy!

The only exception: we will have the practice area closed on Monday and Tuesday for maintenance.

Wednesday

We're rolling greens this morning with a 1.5 ton roller!  This is something we do once a year to smooth them out following aeration.  Our lightweight rollers we use on a regular basis are better for the overall health of the putting surfaces, but this roller gets us where we need to be faster,  in early April.

Also today, our annual spring fertilization, including a pre-emergent crabgrass prevention herbicide, is being applied to everything except greens.  The analysis is a 22-0-7 fertilizer, containing 22% nitrogen, 0% Phosphorous and 7% Potassium.  This analysis is based off of last autumn's soil testing.  We will finish this application on Thursday. 

Brad Klein Article

Tuesday

 

Watering sod and mowing are two tasks we can't ignore right now despite that amount of projects that we are trying to get wrapped up.  Our H2B labor isn't on site yet and it's looking like it could be the end of April before they arrive.  In the meantime, I am trying to work through another contact to get temporary help until the season staff returns.

Here are a few shots of the new path on #11.  There is still a lot of finish work that needs to be done to get this wrapped up.  We are shooting for two loads of sod later this week, weather permitting

Lyn Zalapa is continuing on his rock patio work at the croquet pavilion.

Paving #11 Cart Path

 

This afternoon, paving on #11 tee complex is going down!  This will allow us the ability to complete the #11 tee box project.  We are attempting to line up a load of sod for later this week but the weather isn't looking promising.  Rain is expected and that is a good thing for the area because Highlands is currently in severe drought with burn bans in effect.  

Soil Temperatures

 

The photo above is a soil thermometer placed in #1 green.  The magical temperature for creeping bentgrass and Poa annua growth is 65*F.  You can see above, we are just a bit shy of that by about a couple degrees.  Once our soil temps hit a minimum of 65*F, growth really picks up.  Based on the weather we've experienced over the past month, I estimate we are 2 weeks ahead of where we normally are for this time of year.  Today, the high temperature didn't get out of the 40's.  The starting and stopping temperatures don't help the situation but once we are nailing 65*F on a daily basis, it's off to the races!

Fairway Topdressing

Now that the drainage project has concluded and the contractor gone, we were able to aerate those fairways this past week and topdress them today with sand.  Look how green and dense the fairways are for late March!

Wednesday Greens Aeration

As promised, all putting greens on the golf course are being aerated today with 1/4" hollow tines on a tight spacing.  The next cultural practice we perform on the greens will be a DryJect aeration on April 8th.  The golf course opens for play on Friday, April 10th. 

Tuesday

There is a lot going on today on the golf course that you'll be interested to see.  First, we are aggressively verticutting the 12th and 14th greens.  As you know, these greens were reconstructed last winter and sodded exactly one year ago.  Last spring and early summer, we ramped up our topdressing program and also aerated these greens a couple times.  Our goal was and still is, to remove the sod layer that comes with sodding a green and then to incorporate as much sand as possible to firm up the top inch of the profile.  This layer, high in organic material, can impede the movement of water through the rootzone and it's my goal to remove as much of it as possible.  Failure to do so, will make these greens play soft and slower than our other greens. 

A Graden verticutter is a machine that removes organic matter by cutting a serious of small "trenches" by way of table-saw blades.  Then, dry sand is deposited behind the verticutter, filling in the small 3 mm trenches.  When finished, this process disrupts about 11% of the green's surface to a depth of one inch.  In short, it is the most effective way to deal with excess organics in the top inch.

Greens are also being treated with a fungicide today to clean up some yellow patch, a foliar fungal disease that's been seen on a handful of collars and putting greens.

We are also back to irrigating, and there is a lot to water.  Drain lines and new sod requires more irrigating now because the root system hasn't fully developed yet.

The putting greens are looking great, but it's clearly evident that Poa annua is the dominate species right now.  It grows at lower temperatures compared to Creeping Bentgrass.  Once our soil temperatures get up above the 65* range, the Bentgrass will kick in and give us a more uniform appearance.  Until then, Poa annua will have that mottled appearence.