Blue tilapia, a bald eagle and asking for help.

Part of what we do in the winter is plan out our disease and pest management plans for the upcoming season. This year we came across something a little different when trying to manage the algae and other aquatic weeds in our ponds. Blue tilapia is a fish that is originally from Africa but has recently been brought into the Ohio area as a means of algae control. Apparently, the fish do a great job of consuming aquatic weeds; weeds that we normally apply chemicals to control. So, this year we are going to stock our ponds in late May with the tilapia and see how well they do. If they are successful, we will not only save money on our algae control but, we should also have healthier ponds. The largest drawback is that you have to buy these fish every year because they do not survive the cold winters. However, they become a great food supply for the predatory fish and because they don't survive the winters, they cannot become an invasive species. Hopefully this works because it will save us money and the process of treating the ponds every few weeks is a hassle that would be great to avoid. Below are links providing more information about the fish.

Blue tilapia stars in pond algae war

Tilapia for pond management

This week we had a pretty impressive bald eagle on the course for an hour or so. I'm not sure where it came from but it was fun to watch it hunt for a bit. I tried to get a good picture of it but I wasn't able to get very close without scaring it away. The best I got was when it was standing on the ice in the middle of the pond.

As I've discussed before on this blog, we are working with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to reduce our Canada goose population. One thing of the bigger issues we have is that when the geese leave our property we cannot harass them or work on their nests. The representative from the ODNR told me that if we received permission from homeowners, the egg destruction permit he issues the golf course would be good on those properties as well. So, if you live in the neighborhood and have unwanted geese nesting on your property, I would be glad to come over and harass them and destroy their eggs so that you don't have to deal with a family of geese all summer. You can get in touch with me through email me at igallagher@barringtongolf.org or send me a message through the blog. Thanks a lot.

Ian

Tree removal and goose harassment.

We have gone back at tree removal in the last few weeks and work is moving well thanks, again, to the nice weather and lack of snow. It's hard to say for sure but I think we are starting to get caught up with all the dead Ash trees and moving into yearly tree maintenance. Every year there are a few trees that die for myriad different reasons and we need to remove those for safety. We rarely cut down living trees but, I think there is a misconception among some people that we are removing living trees. I bring this up because a few times people have come out and asked me why I'm cutting down trees. The only time we take down living trees would be because it is causing a shade issue on a green or if it is adversely affecting the growth of another tree which would benefit from its removal. Cases like this are more the exception than the norm.

Dead oak at #11 tee. Notice how much of the canopy shattered, this is always a sign of a dead or dying tree. Those are dangerous limbs to have 60' above your head.

Again, shattered and rotting limbs high above.

Tree rotting at the trunk.

This is an article that does a good job of explaining some of the different diseases and insects that kill trees every year in our area.
A Tree Hugger's Guide To The Forest Dynamics Of Northeast Ohio

Once again, geese are trying to find places to hang out this winter and they are attempting to make Barrington their home. To discourage this we are letting the ponds freeze and harassing them whenever we get a chance. This means bird bangers, screamer sirens and chasing in carts. It's very important to keep geese from getting too comfortable so we'll be aggressive with the harassment. Last year we had good luck with the same approach so, hopefully we can duplicate those results and have another goose reduction in 2016.

Ian

Happy New Year!

As the year winds down we continue to plug away at the bunker projects. Most of the grade work on #6 is complete and we have started taking sand out of the green side bunker on #4. Those projects will be difficult to work on for the next few weeks after the deluge of rain the last few days. The short days and cool temperatures are not conducive to drying a course and as a result it will be difficult to get carts and equipment to the bunkers. However, we are not complaining at all, the weather has been outstanding this fall (now winter) and we have completed far more than anticipated. 

Moving forward we will finish the wall at the range and do as much tree work as we can, again realizing we are limited our ability to move around the wet golf course. What we really need is for it to get cold and the ground to freeze. Once we are able to continue on the bunkers we will resume work there and should be in great shape to have everything wrapped up before golf resumes in the spring. I hope everyone had a great holiday season and has a very happy new year. 

#4

#6 

Driving range wall. 

Ian 

Project update

The mild winter continues to afford us plenty of great days to get a lot of projects finished. The bunker on #5 was sodded last week and grade work, drainage and irrigation work started at #6 and the wall at the driving range is nearly finished. In addition to projects, our routine fall work on the course is getting done as well. We put out our last snow mold application last week, are more than half way done with the Vertiquake on fairways and started a second trip around the course topdressing fairways. El Nino has certainly helped our productivity.

#5 bunker.

#6 grade and drainage work.

Range wall. The guys have done a great job here, one 75 pound block at a time.

It looks like the mild weather will be around for a while so we'll continue to take advantage of it, especially after the last two brutal winters we have had.

Ian

Tree work, bunker projects and wall at range.

Last week we continued removing dead trees from the course, which for the most part are Ash. There aren't as many this year as in the past but there are still a lot. The biggest reason for this removal is safety. Dead trees can come down at any point, in fact we had two come down last week in the heavy winds. This is some of the most important work we get done every winter. 

Dead tree hung up in canopy of other trees.

We also started work on the green side bunkers at #5 and # 6. The bunker at #5 had some regrade work done around it, new drainage installed and is now ready for sod. The bunker at #6 just has the sand removed for now, but we also stripped some sod behind the bunker where we will do a bit of regrade work as well. The goal of all this grade changing is to keep the water from running through the bunker. By slightly changing the grade we are able to move the water away from the bunkers and toward drainage. 

#5

#6. The sod we stripped out of this area was used to cover the drain lines at #7. 

We continued at the range working on the footer for the new retaining wall. We are using a a pretty cool product to form the base that doubles as drainage and it should work pretty well. We have the form all set up and will have concrete delivered Friday to pour the actual footer. Once this has set up we will start putting the wall up. 

Form for footer. Sorry for the recent shadows of myself in pictures, but with the early setting sun it's hard to avoid. The alternative is me taking a picture into the sun and then you can't see anything.

Ian 

Project update.

Another week of great weather lead to another very productive week. We were able to finish grade work and sodding on #7 and #9, finish the new tee at #7 and add more drainage along the cart path at #7. We also put out the first snow mold application on tees and fairways. As long as we have nice weather we'll continue to get as much done on these projects as possible. 

#7 green side bunkers. 

#7 Drainage. Back filled with pea gravel and leveled off with topsoil. 

#7 tee. 

#9 bunker. 

Next up is #5 green side bunker. I'll keep updating as we go. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. My advice is to focus on the side dishes, they're the best part! 

Ian 

Bunker project on #7

This week we laid a truck load of sod on #7 and installed some more drainage. The sod covered nearly all the bare ground on the left side of the green. We'll need to get more sod to finish the bunker on the right side of the hole and for the bunker on #9. We will wait until the spring to add the gravel, spray the billy bunker polymer and add sand.

Sod at green.

Drainage at beginning of #7 fairway.

We'll keep plugging away as long as the weather lets us. Enjoy the weekend!

Ian