Good-byes

Sadly we will have to say good-bye to our Assistant Superintendent Brad Simpson in the next few weeks. He has decided to accept a position in Arizona. While we are sad he is leaving we have greatly appreciated and enjoyed his contributions to the club in the time he has been with us. We wish him good luck in his future endeavors and hope to cross paths again sometime.

Frost and the damages.

With the cold of winter upon us, frost becomes more common in the mornings. We had wide spread frost today, and it won't be lifting until at least 8:30. We call frost delays because of the damage that can be caused by carts and walking. The results of traffic on frosty grass is often not visible for up to 72 hours after the damage occurred. 

This is an example of the damage caused by driving on frosty grass. Frost is caused by dew freezing on the blade of grass. Since blades of grass are 90% water it also freezes and becomes very brittle. When the membrane of a blade of grass breaks, it's similar to an egg shell in that it can never be put completely back together. That is why it is crucial to be patient and wait for the frost to lift in order to resume normal operations to avoid unsightly damage to the playability of the golf course.

Green speed.

As we get further into the winter season, the greens will gain speed as has already been evident. As a result, we will be changing our approach to the set up of the course. Pins will be in more favorable positions based on the conditions of the greens.

#12 Water Feature

When we get rain like we had last week, we seem to add a new water feature to 12 fairway. Because the course is built on a flood plane, this happens nearly every time we have significant rainfall. We currently have the hole set as a par 3. The water has nearly entirely gone away, and we are starting to clean up the mess left behind from the flood, however the ground is still very saturated. So 12 will remain as a par 3 until the fairway dries out enough for regular play to resume. 

Bunkers

Sand has started to go into the bunkers. This pile will soon disappear and become bunkers; improving the quality and reducing the rocks. 

Bunkers

We have started working on redistribution of sand in the bunkers and adding more where needed. We have ordered a lot of sand to aid in this process. 

Greens and tees

The greens are currently rolling at a 9.5 and the tees will open up again this Saturday the 26th. 

Trees and Tees

We have begun our tree trimming. The olive trees are our first priority and they are being done quickly and efficiently. Also, our tees have been closed since overseeding and have started to fill in nicely. They will be open no later than Oct. 26th. 

This week...

Starting on July 29th we began our monthly aerification of fairways and spiking of our greens. This will continue throughout the week. 

Humidity

With the humid conditions we have been experiencing lately the grass has been growing at a rapid pace and has been very healthy throughout the course. However, there some areas on the course where the Poa has suffered because it doesn't respond well to the high humidity. We will aerify areas similar to the one pictured to promote growth of our warm season grasses to take over the voids of the Poa.

Green Speed vs Humidity

Along with the higher temperatures, we have been experiencing higher humidity. As a result, our green speed has slowed down. This is because the moisture in the ground hasn't evaporated as quickly and the poa has been growing more rapidly than normal. Over the next couple days as the temperatures subside, the green speed will increase. 

IMPORTANT!!! PLEASE READ

At the February 28, 2013 meeting with myself, Regional Superintendent
Ken Newcomb, General Manager Jason Lunde, Board Chairman Phil Brandstetter, and Ladies Representative Roberta Bell, it was decided that action was needed to reduce what has become several varieties of grasses on the
fairways to one or two. To accomplish this, we will be starting a spraying
program focusing on eliminating rye grass and poa. A 20,000 square foot
area on #6 fairway will be used as a test site. This will give us an idea
of what we can expect concerning turf damage and play disruption. It will
also allow us to estimate recovery costs in terms of seed, sod, fertilizer
and time to re-establish this and future treated areas. Spraying on #6
fairway will take place Monday, June 24th.

Closure days

Carlos spraying fertilizer on the greens

Ezequiel verti-cutting greens

Ramon fertilizing fairways

When we have course closure days we are able to take full advantage and accomplish a lot of things that are difficult when there is a lot of play on the course.

We were able to spray greens and green surrounds with fertilizer. We were able to verti-cut and topdress the greens. And we were also able to fertilize the fairways and tees. All of these jobs will help to improve the course conditions throughout the year.

Skunked

Some of you may have noticed a mess next to the cart path on #2 tee last week. At first glance one might think that it was a result of wet conditions and a careless driver spinning their wheels. However, after looking further into it, we discovered it was actually a skunk looking for a quick meal. 

In the past couple weeks we have done quite a bit of work on our greens. The big push was to quad tine the greens. When we quad tine, we create pencil thin holes which allows air and water to more easily move into the soil profile. This creates a healthier green and better playing condition. We use the small holes because it has virtually no impact on playability whatsoever. 

Finally, last week we finished our second round of aerification on the fairways. By doing so, we are allowing, as with the greens, the opportunity for air and water to penetrate into the ground. The result of which will help us achieve a better base through the summer and help create a much-improved playing surface in the winter months.

We have mowed and rolled the greens today to create a smooth putting surface. They are rolling at a 10.5 and are true to the break.

We are finishing up the aerification of tees. We have punched all of them and are now dragging and blowing them clean. Expectation is that it will be completed by the end of the day.

Aerification

We finished aerifying the greens yesterday. All 18 holes are back open. We are continuing with fairway aerification today.

Today we are continuing our aerification of fairways and spraying some fertilizer on the greens. The green speed yesterday was an 11 and today we are maintaining our consistency at an 11.

It's another sunny day here and the grass is really starting to get going. We have lowered the heights on a lot of the mowers to compensate for the inconsistencies in the fairways and roughs and have seen a dramatic difference already and with the grass continuing to grow and fill in, we are well on our way to visible improvement.

We have an outside tournament today, otherwise its just a normal day as far as mowing goes. We are continuing with the edging of traps and hope to have them completed by the end of the day.

Rain

We had half an inch of rain last night and have standing water on the fairways. We are open today, but walking only.

Shaping and Trimming

With concerns regarding the state of our bunkers, we have begun work on all of our bunkers to redistribute the sand that is still in them, as well as add more sand where needed. This will create a more uniform surface to hit out of with more consistency among all bunkers on the course.

Some tree trimming has begun around the golf course. Safety is one of our top priorities so we have started with the trees that possess the highest level of safety concern and will continue down the list. 

A gift from Santa

A belated Merry Christmas and happy New Year to all. Santa has come and gone and left us with a present. We have a brand new Toro workman and top dresser. We are very excited to begin using this new equipment and look forward to the improvement it will create. This machine will get us set up to run more frequently and efficiently with our weekly top dressing and will help produce a smoother, more uniform playing surface on our greens.