Bunkers, chipping green, slit seeding and aerification.

This week we got back after the bunker project, starting on #9 fairway bunker and then moving to the green side bunkers on #7. The nice weather has allowed us to get a good start and we are already mostly done with the work on #9 and a good way into the largest bunker on #7. The fairway bunker we started with on #9 always had pea gravel in it and we weren't positive why, until we dug the sand out of it. There was hardly any sand and that meant that the pea gravel in the drainage lines was getting pulled up by the sand pro rakes and mixed into the entire bunker. To keep this from happening again the bunker has been dug down so we will be able to put a proper six inches of sand above the drain lines. 

#9 before. Notice the lack of sand. 

#9 currently. Notice how it's a little deeper? This will allow us to put the proper amount of sand in. 

The new fairway at the chipping green is all graded down and has been seeded. If you haven't been up there I'll include some pictures below but, if you have or are soon going to be up there please do stay off of the seeded area; the less traffic on the area the better it should grow in. Furthermore, if you do walk through there you're just going to make a mess of your shoes. Thanks for your cooperation. 

Dark soil will be rough, sanded area will be fairway. 

Seeded. 

We pulled the slit seeders out as well this week. Our goal is to get more consistent stands of grass in the rough and on fairways. We have done this in the past and had good success so this year we are doing more. We will seed even further into the rough around greens and are doing every fairway with bentgrass seed. On fairways we hope to have better success because of the use of the plant growth regulator I discussed in the last post. With the annual bluegrass being held in check, bentgrass seed will have a better chance competing against it, increasing success and our stand of bentgrass. 

Fairway slit seeder. 

Seeder used around greens. 

We also aren't quite done with aerifying. We decided to get tees punched one more time and to do a pass on the collars. The tees always have more thatch than greens or fairways and it showed this summer. The areas that had a lot of wilt on tees was largely a result of heavy thatch layer. Thatch acts like a sponge and it keeps the water from getting to the roots. So we wanted to get more thatch out of the tees this fall and started with the front nine tees this week. We'll get the back nine tees next week. The reason why we did just one pass on the collars was a little different. Collars tend to develop a little hump over time as topdressing disproportionately accumulates on them after aerifying. When we are blowing the excess sand off the greens from topdressing the collar acts like a speed bump and catches a lot of sand, resulting in mounding. So by pulling plugs and not filling the holes with sand and instead allowing the area to settle, we're able to reverse that trend. 

It looks like we'll get our first big frost this weekend so dress warm if you're crazy enough to come out and play! 

Ian 

Driving range wall, added chipping area and fairway extension at #1.

The retaining wall at the driving range is being dug out this week. Above this wall is where carts coming to the range will have parking spots. Right now the foundation is being dug out so a form can be set and a footer poured. Once that is set we will start putting the blocks up and soon we will have a nice retaining wall that will afford more space for teeing ground at the range. While working on the wall, Mark decided to fill in the low area by the chipping greens which we will then turn into more chipping area that will be fairway height grass. Adding this area will again increase usable practice space at the range. There has been a lot of work done at the range already and it will be another nice addition to our practice area once completed.

Future parking spots.

Base dug out. We'll pour concrete and then set the blocks on top of the footer.

Beginning to fill in by chipping greens.

Area after some grading and smoothing. The small mound in the picture is the existing irrigation head, this should give you an idea of how much lower the grade is now.

Last week we also starting the process of mowing down the grass between #1 fairway and green. Initially, we dropped the height to what we mow short rough at. We will continue to drop the height until it is down to fairway height. There already happens to be a lot of bentgrass (which is what we grow on fairways) mixed into the area we are mowing down, so that should transition nicely to the fairway height of cut. The other grasses won't do as well, so we do plan on slit seeding bentgrass seed in the entire area and heavily topdressing to help germination. This will be a neat look on the hole and should be a welcome change for golfers because you'll no longer have to hit shots from this area out of the thick rough.

I'm not sure how easy it is to see in these pictures but, the grass running from the fairway up to the collar has been mowed down to short rough height. The width of the fairway will stay consistent until bottle necking around the green side bunker.

Enjoy this nice October weather and good luck to those playing for the championship belt this weekend!

Ian

Bunker edges, fairways and bluegrass weevils.

This week we started doing a few things with an eye on next year. One thing we started working on is getting a good edge on all the bunkers before winter sets in. As the weather cools and the days get shorter, grass isn't growing as aggressively so by edging bunkers now there will be minimal growth before the grass goes dormant. Next spring when the grass starts growing again we'll be in great shape to just go out and do maintenance edging instead of this more aggressive edging that takes a lot of time and people, both of which are usually in short supply early in the year.

Fresh edge.

Another thing we are trying out is a different growth regulator (paclobutrazol) on fairways that has a greater effect on annual bluegrass than bentgrass. This is a great product for controlling annual bluegrass, however the problem is when you first apply there is pretty obvious damage to the annual bluegrass. It doesn't kill it, but it makes it look like it would rather be dead. We actually sprayed it in June a few years ago and the fairways looked terrible for a few weeks and we went back to our normal program. However, the annual bluegrass does eventually develop a tolerance and after a few applications doesn't go off color anymore. With that in mind we decided that if we applied it now we could get the plant to start developing a tolerance this fall while the weather is cool and the stakes are low. Hopefully next year when we continue the program, the effects aren't as drastic and we can start reducing the amount of annual bluegrass in the fairways. To be clear, this doesn't eliminate the bluegrass, it simply gives the bentgrass an advantage which results in greater populations of bentgrass.

Slight yellowing of the annual bluegrass in fairways. It is much more drastic when sprayed in the summer.

Finally, the other day when cutting cups on the practice green I just happened to see an annual bluegrass weevil by my foot. I started looking around and in about a 10 square foot area I found about two dozen adults just hanging out on the green. When I showed this to Mark he decided that we should get out and spray them while they are still actively feeding and before they go to their overwintering spots. (They overwinter in leaf liter in the woods, so once they get there they are safe.) By reducing the population before winter we will be cutting into the first generation of weevils next spring because, one of the first things the adults who overwintered do in the spring is lay eggs. This will help us out all summer long too because they are multi-generational insects, so the lower their starting population, the lower their potential maximum population can be.

Weevil party crashing.

Ian