To Replace Divots or Not to Replace Divots?

Every golf course usually has a preference weather they would like you to fill your divot or replace it. This varies from course to course because of different grasses or even different climates. Here at Piedmont we ask you to replace your divots if it is still in one piece and when temperatures are cooler(spring, fall, winter). If the divot is shattered into a bunch of small pieces and or during the warmer months of June, July and August we ask you to fill it with sand. During the warmer months the divot will usually die due to heat and lack of water. Where as during the cooler months the divot can recover and root back into the ground which would have quicker recovery then filling it with sand. If you walk and don't have sand with you we ask you always replace your divot. Attached are a couple videos from the USGA about fixing divots and ball marks. Thank you for all your efforts in helping maintain your golf course.



Fixing Divots

Fixing Ball Marks

June Aerification

The maintenance staff did a great job getting all 20 greens finished yesterday. We pulled a 3/8" core at a 2" spacing. We then applied a heavy top dressing of sand and brushed that in to fill all the holes. Thank you for your patience while the greens heal from aerification.

This picture is a great explanation of why we aerify. 

Please don't forget to repair your ball marks!

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.