With the potential for some putting green alterations in the future, we are getting ready for those projects by reconstructing our 5,000ft2 turf nursery. The nursery, located at the back of the Practice Facility, has served us well over the years. Most recently, we grew the first ever seed Poa annua variety to hit the market.
The remainder of the turf on the nursery has been removed using a sod cutter. 24 tons of greens mix rootzone sand (80% sand/ 20% peat) was added to the top to make the area level again. Using a greens roller and continual hand watering, we are able to pack the sand as firm as possible. Before seeding any putting green seed, the goal is to get the root zone to feel like you’re walking on concrete. This ensures there won’t be any settling or scalping once we start mowing a couple weeks following germination.
When we’ve done greens renovation work at the club, we always save the sod that was removed from the green and reuse it. But if said green were to expand and require more grass, we want that grass to come from our site to ensure it is mowed and maintained in the same fashion as the grass on the golf course putting greens. This will ensure the additional turf matches what is on the rest of the green.
With Penn A4 creeping bentgrass seed down, the nursery is being irrigated 4x a day until we start seeing green grass. The key to seed germination is keeping it moist and not allowing it to dry out. In 14 days, we should be seeing a good amount of grass. Stay tuned…