For us, the fall is a great time to get a lot of things finished that cannot be done during the summer. In addition to cleaning up leaves, we always have a long list of projects that we'd like to complete before snow cover puts a stop to most things. This year was no different. Right after Labor Day we started core aerifying the course. We had great weather all week and were able to get all the greens (cored, cleaned and top-dressed) and fairways (cored and cleaned) done. Over the next few weeks we were able to aerify, clean and top-dress the tees and top-dress all of the fairways while working around play. Thank you for your understanding if you had to play on one of the days we were aerifying.
After finishing aerifying, we also ran a machine called a Verti-Quake over the fairways and as much of the rough as we could. This machine is a very deep, very aggressive verti-cutter and the goal is to reduce compaction and increase air and water flow. This, coupled with the sand topdressing of our fairways, will also give a channel for that sand to get deeper into the clay we have and improve our soil profile, giving the grass a better medium to root into.
The final cultural practice we performed on greens was a deep tine aerification of all the putting surfaces. This solid tine aerification process punches holes deep into the soil, relieves compaction, and increases water and air flow through the profile. These holes quickly fill in at the surface and do not affect ball roll, but the channel remains open through the soil, allowing a healthier profile for grass to root into.
As you may have noticed, some of our irrigation heads and drains are starting to get a little low in our fairways. This is because of the aggressive, beneficial top-dressing that Mark has carried out in his time here. To address the low heads, we have been using a tool that uses water from the irrigation head to soften and then raise the head. This tool is a good way to save time (the alternative is to remove sod around the head, dig the head up, raise it, back fill it and replace the sod) and avoid accidental damage to the irrigation heads. To give you an idea, below is a picture of Joe using this tool to raise a head.
However, with our drains we have no such tool to speed to process up, we simply have to dig each catch basin up and replace it as needed. While raising each catch basin we also replace it with a new, sturdier catch basin that has a cast iron grate top instead of the plastic grates that the original drains had. These catch basins will last longer and they also do not clog as much as the older ones because they have greater gaps between each grate, allowing for greater water flow. Replacing old catch basins immediately improves the appearance of the area, drains the area faster and increase play-ability.
As you can see, the first catch basin is low, the area without grass is most likely from our mowers catching on the high spot that is around the basin, and this situation would only get worse. The second picture is the new catch basin after raising, leveling and sodding the area. While there are still a few catch basins we want to address on the course, we feel that over the last year into this fall we were able to eliminate the worst offenders. We have a few more that we want to switch to new basins and plan on doing that in the spring.
Another little project that we completed this fall was connecting the approach areas at the chipping greens. Mark was able to get some excess sod from a friend who didn't use everything he purchased, and we used it to add more chipping area to the practice greens. This additional practice area will give the members a greater variety of practice shots to hit, and a larger area to rotate wear, so there should always be a clean spot to chip from.
While we did have a very productive fall, the early snow kept us from getting one last leaf clean up on the course. So that will be one of the first things we address this spring. It won't take us long to get the leaves cleaned up, but we need to wait until they aren't covered in snow, and for the course to dry out a bit after the snow does melt, in order to get our blowers out to get the job done. Overall, we are in a great position to get out in the spring and have the course in great shape whenever the weather is nice enough for play.
Thanks,
Ian
As you all are well aware, two weeks ago we experienced record breaking low temperatures and, after a short break, it looks like we will have another stretch of temperatures in the teens with single digit lows. This cold weather is beneficial and detrimental to a golf course. When the weather gets very cold and the wind kicks up, it can damage turf that isn't covered by snow. We did see damage of this kind on the golf course after the cold and windy weather of January 7-9. While the damage looks bad, it is usually just superficial and once the plant is actively growing in the spring and putting out new leaves, the damaged plants will be green and healthy again. As you can see from the picture above the damaged grass has more of a brown look to it, but this should quickly green up in the spring.
