Trailer Fabrication

I would like to thank Randy Robbins and Kurtis Burden for designing and fabricating a trailer for the maintenance crew to use. They took an old pull-behind tank sprayer, gutted it, and repurposed it for use as an on-course trailer. We now have the ability to haul extremely heavy equipment anywhere on the course.

This will really pay off when we reach the aerification/venting processes. Transporting our greens aerifier from one hole to the next is very time consuming and limits our ability to needle time during the summer months. This trailer helps alleviate that issue and makes the process much more convenient.

These are the behind-the-scenes processes that often times go unnoticed and, as a result, unappreciated by the golfer. Not only did these guys save the golf course money we would have used to buy a new trailer, but they also saved us time working on the course and, as we all know, time is money.



Heavy Roller on Greens

Following the last aerification process, I wasn't satisfied with the smoothness of the greens. This fall, I brought in the big guy to smooth things out. This is a process we would like to add to both the spring and fall aerification processes moving forward. I think we can get a quicker recovery and better product if we increase the amount of sand we apply to greens during aerification and use this roller the following week.

The first question most people might ask is "aren't you creating a compaction issue?" The short answer is no. Compaction is a huge issue on a high volume golf course, but less of a concern on the sand-based greens. The particle size and structure of sand does not lend itself to compaction like a heavy clay soil. Sand-based greens are far more prone to wear and tear damage than compaction. This allows us to get away with using a 1 1/2 ton roller on them.

This is not a fast process as it takes 20-30 minutes per green in addition to the transport time between greens. Hopefully it will prove worth the time and effort.

Aerification Recovery

Greens are recovering pretty well following the removal of a 5/8" diameter core during aerification last week. This process always puts some stress on the turf and last week's brief heat wave only made it worse. We plan to push growth for week or two to ensure a quick and complete recovery. 

A photo of the green six days after the process.

Aerification Plug Processing

Below is a video of a piece of equipment we are looking at using for aerification clean-up. It has the potential to make aerification a much cleaner process and less of a hassle on both us and the golfer.

In the past, the core clean-up process on greens required 13 people hand-scooping everything.

The old fairway clean-up process left fairways full of dirt for weeks. You can see here that the clean-up and recovery is pretty quick. This picture was taken five days after aerifying the fairway on #7 Red Feather. 

Following a few modifications to our cart beds and some work on our aim, the dumping process worked out great.

Course Update

 

I'd like to apologize for the lack of posts in the past couple of weeks. Last week was spent aerifying the course which is a process that always seems to eat up most of my time. A huge thank-you goes out to the members of my crew for putting in the long hours it takes to complete the job. I would also like to thank all the golfers for their patience during this process.

The greens are healing from the aerification process fairly quickly. With cooler weather in the forecast, we expect this process should speed up by the end of the week.

Now that aerification is finished, we will shift our focus back to over-seeding thin areas on fairways, tees etc... This seeding will likely continue for the foreseeable future, as I would like to move out into the rough and repair areas that were lost to the drought.

As we approach fall we are beginning to prioritize our list of late fall/winter projects. Here are a few of the things we want to address:

1. Add and/or move specific irrigation heads to provide better coverage for years like we have recently experienced.
2. Improve or add drainage to some low areas on the course. An example of an area would be along the west side of the cart path running between #1 Black Bird fairway and #2 Black Bird tee complex.
3. Re-edge bunkers on the Black Bird course.
4. Raise and level low irrigation heads throughout the course.

The renovation of Gray Hawk is moving along very well. All fairway and tee box seeding has been completed and the sod work is drawing to an end. All of the greens are growing well thus far. This is the most consistent germination we have had throughout the three years of renovation work. The hot temperatures we experienced the two weeks following seeding may have slowed initial growth a bit, but the cool nighttime temperatures have helped alot. The cooler forecast for the end of this week should real kick things into gear.

With all the major tasks completed, we could use a good rain to help things fill in. 

 

 #4 Grow-in underway

 

#7 Fairway bunkers are sodded

 

#7 View of green complex from 200 yds

 

#3 Fairway just prior to seeding

Course and Construction Update

We were fortunate to catch some cool weather and rain last week which has really helped the course. The over-seeding process began last week and most of Red Feather and Black Bird fairways are complete. We have really started to see some good germination in these fairways. This process will be put on hold temporarily as we gear up for aerification next week.

 

Our aerification process will be very similar to the one we used this past spring.We will again be pulling 5/8" cores on the greens and 1/2" cores in the fairways and collection areas. In addition, we will core all the tee surfaces this fall. This is something that hasn't been done since I started at Indian Creek.

 

Construction is going well and deadlines are being met. All of the greens were seeded earlier this week and the sodding of the greens complexes will be complete by the end of day on Friday. Once the green complexes are sodded, we can really start throwing water to the greens. Gray Hawk is slowly shaping into a great golf course. I firmly believe we saved our best for last.

 

All in all, it appears we have survived the summer and are well into the recovery period. For now, let's hope for cooler weather and additional rain. Take a look at some pictures of the construction process below. I hope you all enjoy your Labor Day weekend. Football season is here - GBR!!! 

 

Sodding green side bunker on #7 Gray Hawk

 

Seeding collection area on the back of the green on #5 Gray Hawk.

 

#2 Gray Hawk green complex after sod and seed.

 

Installing a riser to match irrigation head with new grade.

 

#4 Gray Hawk green complex after sod and seed.

Aerification Process

The following videos feature footage from each of the steps in the aerification process.

Step1. We pull a 4"core that is 5/8" in diameter. These cores are pulled at a 2.5" spacing.

Step 2. A crew of 6 push these plugs to the greens edge.

Step 3. A crew of 6 shovels and loads the plugs for disposal.

Step 4. Once the the plugs are removed we apply a kiln dried topdressing sand to the greens.

Step 5. We use a ground driven brush to direct the sand into the open holes. Assuring that every hole is completely filled.

Step 6. We run a 30 minute water cycle to push the sand into the holes and turf canopy. This also provides relief to the stressed turfgrass.

This video shows a a green after the entire process is complete.

Thanks to my entire crew and the employees from Job Source for working hard to complete this process. Couldn't have done it without each and every one of you.

Greens Aerification

Today marked the first day of the springtime aerification process on the greens. This process is tedious, labor-intensive, and not very enjoyable for my staff or the golfers. It is, however, one of the more important agronomic processes we perform on the course.

Over the years, the greens have accumulated multiple layers of organic matter. These organic matter layers have a dramatic impact on the performance of a green during the stressful summer months. These layers prevent water from percolating through the soil profile which leaves the greens soft and spongy. These spongy conditions not only make for a poor putting surface but also make the greens more prone to mower scalping. If you scalp your turf shoots, you will lose your roots system. The layers also compromise the soil's ability to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with the atmosphere. Plants, like people, need to breathe so the soils ability to exchange proper gasses with the atmosphere is vital to root health.

Core aerification is one of the most effective ways to battle the effects of these layers. We pull and harvest a 5/8" core to the depth of 4" and then fill these voids with a fine-textured, kiln-dried topdressing sand. This creates a clean and porous channel that allows for improved water movement and gas exchange through the root zone. The photo below shows a cross section of our greens profile eight months after the last aerification process. As you can see, this sand channel will act as a corridor through the root zone for both water and gas.

We understand that this is not the most enjoyable process for the golfers but please understand that it is very important. We hope to have the greens healed up and putting normal very soon . Thank you for your patience.

Granular Feeding

Today, we applied two granular products to the greens. The first product was a 7-14-14 fertilizer. These three numbers represent the "by weight" percentage of Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium contained in the product. By applying 5lbs of product per 1000 square feet, we applied .35lbs of actual Nitrogen per 1000 square feet. The majority of the Nitrogen is in the Ammoniacal, or Urea form, which will allow for quicker uptake by the plant.

The second product we applied was 0-0-12 Mag-tec, 24% magnesium (Mg) product. Mg is a vital constituent of the chlorophyll molecule, which is the molecule responsible for the absorption of light. A lack of Mg will result in a yellowing of the plant known as chlorosis. An Mg deficiency is not a major concern in heavier soils such as clay, but on a sand-based green it can become an issue. The science behind this is better saved for a future post.

All this is being done in preparation for aerification next week. The healthier the turf is at the time of aerification, the faster the green heals.