Maintenance Mayhem

Wow! After a 3 day holiday weekend the club was closed on Tuesday. The golf course maintenance gang went to town with a wide open golf course. Numerous important tasks were completed while taking advantage of no golfers.

The ongoing  task of Bermuda suppression was done around our greens in the zoysia collars.  This is an extremely important task to have ample time for the product to dry on the leaf before having foot traffic walk through it and walk on the green as it would harm our  bentgrass greens. For this reason, this practice is a challenge for us to do during play days so Tuesday was perfect!

Tree work was also on the hit list. We removed a pine tree next to the cart barn that was causing debris issues in the cart barn drain. A dead elm tree at the maintenance facility was removed as well. Last but not least the famous Oak tree on hole number 18 was limbed up significantly and shaped a little bit. 

Bunkers made the cut too! We are experimenting with some rubber based paint to color our black liners white so when exposed they are much easier on the eyes. The bunker behind 6 and a few bunkers at 12 green were done this time. We plan on continuing this process when time allows, but this is another hard task to get done during play days. I have been waiting on transportation of white bunker Sand to maintain proper Sand depths in bunkers. After four weeks we are supposed to receive a load this Friday, so we will be addressing bunkers very soon.

Putting greens were also vented. Once again this process helps exchange gases within the soil and promote root growth at this time before summer sets in. We followed up with a smooth roller and a light top dressing on Wednesday. Our sanding rate was a little heavier than I would’ve liked but greens will be great for the weekend.

Finally, on Tuesday we started sod prep to repair poor areas in fairways. Prep was finished on Wednesday and sod was completed today on Thursday! Please avoid driving through these areas or walking through them. They will be pretty soggy for the next week or so to get the turf rooted in.

Our landscape bed rehab at the bogey hills clock near the practice green is complete! Great work by our horticulturist, Jeny, planting a variety of plants for a new upgraded look!

Jacket Weather

Wow! It has been unseasonably cold, I’m still busting out my carhart coat in the mornings. What this translates to is I keep pushing back the opening of the turf on the range tee. Luckily we have a really nice mat system that you are all enjoying! We will need temperatures steady in the 70s before I feel comfortable opening the tee. This is a good time to remind you all that I am allowing carts to drive in the roughs because the fairways really aren’t growing yet. Here’s a picture of our golf course indicator board. The cart ruling of 90° with no restrictions means you CAN drive in the rough!!!  I actually would prefer to see members driving in the rough as opposed to fairways currently.

We finally are gaining staff members after a shorthanded spring. There is a lot going on on the golf course and I’m really excited about this weeks work already! On Monday we planted almost 20 trees in Strategic locations. The two main areas were next to #2 tee complex and more trees added behind the back left of #8 green.

Monday we also vented greens for the first time this season. This process is a light aerification with a small solid tine. The holes are so small they really don’t disrupt play, but each one of these holes are nearly 4 inches deep into the soil profile which will allow for roots to dive in and grow rapidly. This stimulation of roots will help us later down the road when summer starts stressing out the turf.

Jeny and other staff members have been working really hard at getting our annual flowers in the ground! We also hit the reset button on one of the flowerbeds near #4 Green. We are waiting on a piece of equipment to arrive so we can attack our clock bed near the practice green.

Finally, we are two weeks into our weekly practice of light sand top dressing greens. Top dress Tuesdays is what we call it!! This process helps keep greens firm and rolling true and smooth!

Mercy!

A look around the golf course would make you think it’s been a productive week or two... greens successfully aerated, bunkers getting raked, started mowing roughs, grinding stumps, back filled and sodded, #14 trench sodded, compost spread in landscape beds, etc. But the truth is we or maybe just me is extremely frustrated.

This time of year is crucial for a laundry list of important chemical applications.  Granular crabgrass control treating 80 acres of roughs, chickweed, henbit and clover broadleaf control in roughs, preventative large patch control treating 17 acres of zoysia surfaces, granular fertilizer on greens to help heal from aerification, poa seed head suppression application and spring preventative disease control on greens too!  All of these applications need to get done within a 7-14 day window and all have the same restrictions.  THE WIND!!!! We need wind speeds of no more than 5mph to do granular fertilizer on greens and less than 10mph for all other applications.  It’s been either too wet or too windy for 2 weeks straight.  We have started and stopped applications multiple times this week, trying desperately to sneak in a greens fertilizer in the morning before the wind picks up.  Over a four day period we have completed 12 of our 19 greens.  We hope to finish the last 7 on Monday. 🤦🏻‍♂️

If you have read this far it probably appears this is more of a rant than an exciting blog, and I suppose you are correct. 😂 But geeeez, just another example of how challenging golf course maintenance is being at the MERCY of Mother Nature at all times.  When things get dicey or not executed perfectly I use a term with my crew, “it will buff out”.  Growing up around cars it’s my go to, and I guess I can apply it to this situation.  We will be fine, we will adapt and overcome, it will buff out.  Thanks for all the support, it’s great seeing everyone back out on the golf course!!!

Chopping Arms and Legs

A little late with this entry but last week we did some impressive tree work.  A mini excavator was used to prune the roots behind number 14 green. We dug a trench about 3 foot deep and severed hundreds of cypress tree roots. Every one of these roots had reached out into the green and had been sucking water and nutrients from the green. Some can even recall last fall when we had to cut multiple root knots out of the surface of the green as well. This process of pruning the roots will have to continually get done every couple of years. This area will be getting a little extra zoysia collar width in the near future.

A lot of lower limbs were trimmed off of trees in various areas of the golf course.  We intend on continuing to raise canopies of trees throughout the season. We do have to take a small break while trees are budding and leafing out. During this time it is the worst time to trim trees because they are translocating all their water and energy towards producing leaves and can leave trees Susceptible to pests as it takes longer for their wounds to heal.

Winter Projects/Spring Cleaning

From 0-70 in a flash, temperature that is!  Last week the ground was frozen solid and covered with 6+ inches of snow, this week mild and pretty dry all considered. That’s the MO we know and love, kinda...

We successfully completed the installation of the new practice facility netting.  This will retain mishit golf balls, saving the club resources.

Creek stabilization got a good start, but a few areas were too dangerous to do under snow cover.  This will be continued when the ground is firm.

Moving on to this week, we mowed greens for the first time in months and raked half the bunkers(once they thawed) on Thursday.  The other half will be completed today(Friday).  Hole locations and markers were moved this week too.  

We are also wrapping up our annual warm season turf clean up.  We apply pesticides to eradicate non desirable cool season grasses while also applying pre-emergent herbicide to keep warm season weeds from encroaching during the golf season.  We use blue tracker dye to help with visualizing coverage.

New Year Same Game

It’s officially a different year but we are up to the same ol tricks! We had our contractor take down a large dwindling oak next to #8 tee today.  It had too many dead or dying branches to make it worth saving. Taking this large tree out allows sunlight and space for neighboring trees to prosper and fully develop into mature trees. 

Last week we transplanted numerous amounts of ornamental grass plants. It was decided the grasses near #2 green were frequently visited by golf balls so we moved those next to #12 creek where we typically have a summer eyesore sitting. We were able to move them in large sections so they will come back next season as full grown mature plants again. We also removed the grass plants near the fence at #2 blue and black tee. They will be getting replaced with arborvitae trees and eventually the fence taken down. The area near #2 green where the grass plants were removed will be filled with soil and sodded with fescue this week or next.

Perfect Execution

The “sod” projects crossed the finish line last Thursday perfectly timed for a Friday soaking rainfall. All areas turned out great!  We fixed two separate areas along cart paths that usually hold water and the walkway to #15 tees.  We also fixed three sinkholes in high traffic areas and two separate tee renovations!  More cart path and sinkhole sod repairs to come this offseason!

#14 Red Tee

#7 Blue Tee

#15 Tee Complex Walkway

#8 Tee Surround Sinkhole

#1 Cart Path Birdbath Repair

Projects!

The end of the golf season and leaf cleanup means we have transitioned to projects.  Multiple projects have been initiated.  #14 red tee has been relocated again closer to its original position.

 #7 blue tee has been altered slightly.  We stripped about six foot of teeing surface from the left and installed it on the right side to better align the tee box with the hole.  We reused the zoysia sod and the fescue sod from either side.

Finally, we started to repair the walkway to the tee boxes on hole #15.  This area frequently collected water and was a safety hazard.

We are filling this area with soil and then bringing in sod to complete.  Fescue sod will arrive Wednesday or Thursday to finish up all of these projects and possibly a few more small areas.

Stay tuned!

Fresh Turf

The new Turfhoumd mat system was installed at the practice facility today!  The concrete was poured a week ago and we spent the rest of last week back filling with soil and sodding.  Starting Tuesday the 13th we will be mats only for the season.

The new mats are a huge improvement with both short and tall synthetic turf.  It also has a slot for placing tees that allow adjustments for many options! Go try them out!!!

More dead limbs were removed Monday.

Shutting Down

Cold temperatures continue as we encounter our first frost of the year already!  Sustained below normal temperatures has all of our zoysia surfaces shutting down.  Tees, fairways and collars are going into dormancy and are not growing anymore.  They have all been cut for the last time this season. The turf has been left a little taller and will be a little fuzzy to start the offseason. 

Unfortunately  due to the cooler temperatures and the added cart traffic from Covid single passenger cart use we are restricting cart traffic this week.  Starting Tuesday the 6th all cart traffic will be restricted to the cart path until next season.  This is a very difficult decision to make but is in the best of interest of BHCC and will help preserve premium playing conditions.  Thanks for your understanding!

Cart traffic marks are becoming visible in the fairways which is a sign of plants entering dormancy.

In other news, we are prepped and ready for concrete on Monday, and we also have seedlings germinating in over seeded rough areas!

Tons of Fun

Lots of little projects in cool weather has been a fun change to the golf seasons regular grind. Greens are about healed up after last weeks fertilizer application.  A heavy top dress on Tuesday will finish the surface. Greens will be rolling smooth and quick next week!

Our four Bent grass tees were aerated and sanded on Monday.

Numerous dead limbs were removed from multiple trees on Monday as well. Limbs from an overhanging tree on #11 Fairway line were removed and overhanging limbs on the right side of practice faculty too.

The stump from the fallen pine tree behind number 16 green was removed and a mound was shaped and sodded.. A tree replacement is currently being discussed.

Finally, we started the prep work for the installation of a new mat system on the practice facility tee.  Concrete will be poured Monday and the new mats installed same week. Unfortunately the practice facility will be closed on Tuesday the 6th, and Wednesday the 7th for the project.

This is going to be a very impressive improvement to BHCC! Stay tuned in to see the progress!!!

Enlarged #5 red tee with recycled sod from mat system project.  Here’s how we map it out!