New chipping area, sod work and algae.

The new chipping area is sodded and will be ready for play in a few weeks. We were able to take the sod from the fairway on #7 and re-use it as the fairway at the chipping area. We also laid some rough sod around it to speed up the time until this practice area can be used. The rooting should take place in about two weeks so we should be able to open it sometime in late May.

I'm sure you've also noticed a lot of new sod in different spots on the front nine. As part of the Nicklaus plan we narrowed the fairway at #7 and then we also replaced some areas of rough on #3 and #5 that were bad stands of grass. We ask that you stay out of these areas (you can walk in to retrieve your golf balls, but please don't hit out of them) until they are rooted, which should only be a few weeks. The weather has been very nice for sod the last few days and that, along with the fertilizer we applied to the soil, should have the roots quickly establishing.

#3

#5

#7.

Roots from sod at #6. It's only been a week and they're already starting to knit into the soil below.

Finally, you may have noticed that we haven't yet done anything about the algae developing in some of the smaller ponds. This is not an oversight on our part, in fact it's intentional. We want to have some algae in the ponds so that when our tilapia show up they have plenty of food to eat allowing them to prosper, multiple and then continue to control our algae and aquatic weeds all summer long. We had planned for the fish to be delivered on the 5th but the pond water is still a little too cool for them so we are pushing the delivery back to the 11th. This will give the ponds a few more days to warm up so that our fish are happy when they arrive. It will be interesting to see how this works. If they are not keeping up with the weeds and algae we will still be able control things as we have in the past, but we are hoping not to. For more information on the fish, I covered them in more detail here.

Fish food.

Oh and it's almost May!
Ian

Capillary concrete, sod work, fairway extension at #1 and drainage.

The capillary concrete bunker liner has been installed on #5 green side bunker and sand added. The process is similar to the Billy bunker system however, the concrete is a solid 2" layer once it has dried. It should be a great bunker base and we look forward to seeing how it performs. The concrete comes in a truck and after we've moved it into the bunker, we spread a 2" layer evenly across the floor of the bunker. After that we covered it with a plastic sheet so that the concrete doesn't dry out too quickly because, if it does it can become brittle and crack. Once it had a day to dry we uncovered it and tested it by turning on an irrigation hose and dumping water in the bunker; it took every last bit of water very quickly. Finally, we added sand and now you guys are able to play out of it. Now, we just have to repeat it on the remaining bunkers that we have prepped.

Spreading the concrete. After it was spread we rolled it to smooth the surface.

Finished product after a day of dry time.

Sand added.

We were able to get all the sod work done around the back of #6, leaving just the bunker to finish on that hole. Right now we are done with #5, and all the other bunkers on 4,6,7 and 9 just need to have an edge cut and they'll be ready for the capillary concrete. We will do our best to finish these bunkers next week.

Sod at #6.

The rough at #1 has been mowed down to fairway height and, while it still looks a little different, it is now all fairway. The longer it is at fairway height and has a chance to fill in the more it will look like the old fairway. It should make the hole more playable and I think it gives the hole a better look.

We've also been trying to add drainage to spots that are consistently wet. We started in high traffic areas like #3 and will continue to add more when we are able. The goal is to get the area in front of #4 tee, right of #14 fairway and a few other spots like that this spring and summer if possible.

Beginning of #3 fairway. We'll run laterals off of this line toward the fairway.

Left of #3 fairway before the bunker. This drainage was actually already in the ground, but the soil on top wasn't allowing the water through to the drains so we cleaned them off.

Ian

Dryject, irrigation at #7, artificial range tee and course pests.

Despite the frigid weather the last two days, we were able to get dryject greens, which we are doing instead of our normal aerification. One reason for this is because of the soil tests we had last fall showing organic matter at just above 1 percent. That is a little low, so instead of pulling out more organic matter with a traditional aerification, we decided to inject fresh sand into the profile. The other reason we went with the dryject was because we wanted to punch a channel of sand through the layer of organic matter at the top of the soil profile and the dryject machines are able to go deeper into the profile than traditional aerifiers. We will still get all the benefits of aerification (increased water movement, air exchange, microbial activity, firmness) and it's a less invasive procedure than aerifiying, so the greens will heal quickly. 

Dryject machine. The company that did this for us was great. They worked with us to make sure our greens were complete before the rain. And their day isn't done, as I write this they are now at a course in Chardon, working until dark trying to finish that course before it rains tomorrow night. 

Channel of sand. Notice how it is past the layer of darker soil at the top. 

Finished greens. Not too messy and most of this should wash in with the rain coming in the next few days. 

Part of the work at #7 green included adding some irrigation heads to the left side of the cart path by the green. The rough on the left side of the green often dries out in the summer because it doesn't get sufficient irrigation so we decided while the hole was under construction it was a good time to add a few heads. These will be very helpful moving forward and the healthier rough should increase play-ability around the green. 

Adding heads. 

A few quick notes. 

This is a picture of the finished concrete for the artificial tee. We will add a stone border before the grass is installed to protect the tee from mowers and golf carts. 

Geese are laying eggs and it seems that our harassment techniques are working. We are down to three nesting pairs (that I know of) on the course. If you see a goose, feel free to harass it! If you see a nest, feel free to tell me! Thanks for you help. 

Annual bluegrass weevils are coming out of dormancy. We will keep an eye on their population levels this spring and to see if our late season treatment did anything to reduce their spring levels. 

So small. So destructive. 

Ian