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