Green Side Bunkers

       The green side bunkers were redone in 2012. The Better Billy Bunker system was installed to help with wash outs, contamination and drainage. The Better billy bunker system drains so well the faces of the bunkers dry out quickly. To help prevent the faces from becoming soft we are implementing some new techniques when grooming bunkers.
     
        First, we are smoothing the faces with the back of the bunker rakes or by using a paint roller. If an area of the face has not been disturbed we do not touch that area the next day. The less disrupted the sand gets the firmer they will be come. We will also be doing some wetting agents on those faces to help keep them from drying out too much.

       Our membership can help with this by entering the bunkers from the bottom of the bunker. The maintenance staff will be placing the rakes at the bottom of the bunker where the golfer should enter. Please exit from the same spot. Doing this rather than walking up the face of the bunker will help firm up those faces even faster. Please help out your club by spreading the word, since this is a new practice we are implementing.

Poa Annua

Annual bluegrass or Poa Annua, is one of the most common weeds of residential and commercial turfgrass in the United States. Poa is particularly hard to control because each little plant will produce over 100 seeds. Poa is most active during cool weather, when bentgrass is not. This will allow the Poa to out compete the bentgrass during the fall, winter and spring. Any voids in the turf such as ballmarks or weak areas in the turf the seed heads from the Poa will find and germinate during this time period. The seeds from Poa are tough and can survive multiple seasons in the soil before germinating. Hot temperatures are the only thing that Poa does not do well in. Last summer was cooler and wetter than average which allowed the Poa to stay healthy all year and produce more plants this spring. The more seed heads we can control the less multiplying of Poa we will see the following year.

We are currently spraying to control seed heads throughout the spring when the plant is most active. We are also going to cut out or plug the Poa from greens throughout the golf course which are manageable. Number four green and the big putting green are past the point of being able to plug out. A few years ago in the rough between the cart path and green on #4 was mostly all Poa, this is one of the biggest reasons why number 4 looks the way it does today. The seeds we tracked onto that green from the rough by people walking from their cart to the green. This was all sodded out in the fall of 2012 to help prevent more contamination.

The long term solution for the 4th green is to re-grass the green back to all bentgrass. Obviously this will require a substantial commitment of both time and money, and it is an option currently under consideration.

Please remember to fix all you ballmarks and remind your playing partners to do the same! Thank you for helping the maintenance staff take care of the golf course!

Poa growing in a ballmark that was not repaired

Winter Projects 2015

This past winter we have been working on multiple projects throughout the golf course. One project that we started and will be an on going project through the spring is clearing out the woods between holes 6 and 17. This will help airflow to 6 and 16 green, which is a critical component of plant health. The lack of airflow doesn't allow the grass to dry out which creates humid wet conditions not favorable for the plant. Below are some pictures of the progress we have made.

When we were first getting started

Current view from #17 

Current view from #6

One of our other projects we recently finished up was the last two water cooler stations on #13 and #17. These were done in house by two crew members that really take pride in their stone work. Take a look at the before and after pictures below.

Before

After

Mats on Par 3's

Starting Monday November 3rd we are asking members hitting from the white or blue tees to use the mats that have been placed in the tee boxes on par 3's. This is done during the winter so that we can protect the turf for next spring. Using the mats help the tees not get any worse over the winter when we are not getting any turf recovery. We will be filing the divots with seed and sand over the next week, as well as applying addition fertilizer to help with recovery. We will not see a full recovery from the divots with the colder temperatures upon us but we will see improvements. Please use the mats through March of 2015. Thank you in advance for helping establish a better teeing surface for next spring. 

Winter Bunker Project

This fall and winter we will be continuing the cleaning out the fairway bunker drains, like what we have done on number one. This helps the bunkers not hold water after a half inch rain storm, which will allow them to be ready for play quicker. They currently hold water because the sand and gravel is contaminated with silt and clay from the subsurface of the bunker. This happens when we receive heavy rains and the bunker slopes wash out and mix the clay with the sand. Fixing these will not prevent wash outs but will allow the bunkers to drain. This means we can push them up and get them ready for play rather than having to drain them first. This will be a slow process, but worth it for next golf season.

This was a bunker this past season after a heavy rain. All the sand and silt washed to the bottom of the bunker over the years has clogged the drains. 

Drew supervising as we cleaned out the drain lines and added new gravel.

Here sand is being put in the bunkers after the drain lines have been topped off with new gravel. 

Status of the Creek Bank on #5

As many of you seen the initial clearing of the creek bank on number five was started earlier this year. We planned on seeding this area in the spring but with the excessive rains we received throughout May and June we are going to have to wait until the fall to continue this project. We are waiting because the summer is a difficult time due to the heat, and weeds that would be tough to control in the seed bed. Fall is the optimal time to seed with cooler nights and less weed pressure. In late August we will spray the entire area with round up to kill all the undesired weeds. This will be followed up by tilling up the ground to prepare for the seeding in mid September.

Spiking of Greens on June 11th

On Wednesday June 11th we originally had our 2nd aerification of the year planned but with the long recovery from the spring aerification, this one will not be necessary. Instead of the aerification we will be spiking the greens followed by a light topdress. This is a less aggressive way to help water and oxygen penetrate the surface of the green. The spiking will also help generate new growth in any thin areas remaining on the greens. This cultural practice is important before the heat of the summer, so we can help the overall healthiness of the greens with minor impact to playability.  The spike marks will be visible for about 3-5 days but will not affect playability after the first day.

The day after we spiked, fertilized and topdressed the small practice green.