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!

Moving Forward

Hello!  Time to dust of my blogger app!  It’s turned into a really busy year and the past month has been jamming with both golf and maintenance events!

I’m going to start with a really cool video that has been going around about the golf course maintenance crews preparation for this past weeks US Open. This video really demonstrates the same thinking, planning and work we do at BHCC, just on a slightly smaller scale. Take a look! 👀 

Behind The Greens Winged Foot

Now back to Bogey!  We successfully completed the aerification of greens for this fall season! Technically we actually did them twice.(shhhhhh)🤔🤫 

A week ago we pulled a 1/2”core, cleaned the surface, sanded, brushed, blow excess sand, roll, water and everything else under the moon during a couple long days.  This week we snuck in a 1/2” solid deep tine at a 6” depth! The trick is that the solid tine leaves a smaller affected hole in the surface than a 1/2” hollow tine used the week previous.  The result is NO added recovery time!  Tomorrow we are fertilizing greens which will help finish closing in the holes by the end of next week hopefully.  Please note we dislike the aerification process as much as the members dislike the putting surface during the healing time.  I enjoy looking at a perfect and tight putting surface and it kills me to look at bumpy holes but we know this is the necessary process to allow us to provide premium putting greens throughout the golf season! Thanks for your patience and understanding!

Picture after pulling 1/2” core a week ago

Picture after 1/2” solid this week

We have also made a mess out of the roughs while over-seeding a fescue/bluegrass mix.  Most seeding was concentrated around greens and fairway entrances and exits.

Finally, last week we also treated fairways for Bermuda contamination for the last time this year.  With this application and the unseasonably cooler weather, fairways have really yellowed off quick.  Unfortunately that means the change over to carts on paths is looming in the near future.

Practice Makes Perfect

The short game area is finally open for play! It is located between holes number 9 and number 11. There is a bunker and a modified fairway/collar connected to our Nursery green. This will be a great place to hone in your short game skills!

Since this area is located in the middle of the golf course it is very important that members navigate properly.  Members traveling to the short game area should cross the bridge in front of 18 green and then proceed going with the flow of golf from hole 10, down 11, turning at hole 8 and finish the route by coming up hole 9.  Please park your golf cart to the side of the cart path near number 9 red tee box.  When completed proceed down number 9 with the flow of golf crossing back over the bridge in front of 18 green. Enjoy!

Knocking Off The Rust

So I will be the first to admit that it has been too long since my last blog entry. To be honest with everything going on I have lost interest and motivation in some things. We have been working strange hours and in my time off I have been trying to be a homeschool teacher and it’s just been tough to get in a routine. Soapbox aside we have continued to work and have a good product out on the golf course. We are going to pull the crew back together for a regular schedule starting next week and we have summer help already starting to show up!

While state guidelines are starting to loosen up some allowing the club to reopen, We will continue to have no bunker rakes, ball washers and trash cans on the golf course.  We changed our hole set up to the pool noodle method and will keep flag sticks in the hole. 

Project work has started back up again! The right side of number one green surround is taking a new shape. Dirt moving was done on Monday before the rain and finish grade, sod prep will be done Wednesday with sod showing up on Thursday!  A large amount of our annual flowers will be planted this week! So look out for a lot more color around the property.

Before

After

The Big One!

Have a lot of information included in this one, but the first topic I want to discuss is the one that’s most exciting! The cart ruling has changed for the season and we are now allowing carts off the path! At this time we are going with a “no restrictions” ruling which allows members to drive in both the fairways and the roughs. Please still enter at 90° to your ball and exit the fairway and rough at the blue exit stake.  We have also initiated our hole location rotation on putting greens for the season.

Last week we completed greens aerifiaction during a two day event. The event was extremely successful and the greens were left in very good shape upon completion.  Greens were left with a moderate sand top dressing layer to help with the smoothing process. We then also vertical mowed the greens on Thursday, thinning out the canopy and continuing the smoothing process. The greens are already rolling great and should be filled in within another week or so.

In other news, we have been keeping bunkers raked and started mowing areas of rough but will start mowing in its entirety this week. Fairways and tees are starting to green up but probably won’t see their first mow for another week or two. Compost has been flying into beds and flowers will be on order soon to start providing color around the property.  The area behind number eight green has received grass seed and straw. More plants will be installed this spring in the area. A lot is going on but we are rocking and rolling on the golf course.

Doom and BLOOM

Tough times right now with covid-19 affecting everyone in one way or another.  As of now, the grounds crew is still working and trying to go about business as usual.  We have took extreme measures in assuring each other’s safety and health.  From now moving forward we have split our crew into two teams, staggering shifts.  This will ensure that in a worse case scenario of a positive testing staff member and forced quarantine, we will still have one team isolated from the other able to perform at a minimum capacity on the golf course.

Going to try to do more blogs during this time to distract from what’s going on currently.  The main topic of this post is although we are pausing some routines in our lifes, Mother Nature is going to keep on going!  The plant, forsythia, bloomed on our golf course late last week.  It is easy to spot as a flowering yellow bush at this moment.  In the turf industry we use this bush as a phenology indicator for crabgrass prevention applications.  Simply meaning once the forsythia blooms it is time to get your preemergent down!  We finished our application in roughs today! So if you haven’t done so yet, it’s time. It’s recommended to time applications before a rain and is essential to be watered in with a half inch of water before it’s activated in the soil. 😉

Here is some more information for the turf nerd or just someone bored.  Missouri University has a very involved turf department that works closely with our golf industries needs in our area.  Dr. Lee Miller puts out a routine e-blast with good info for us.  Some home owners could benefit from some of the info too!  Here is the link!

Missouri Turf Disease Report 3/4/20

Take care everyone!!!

Effective Immediately

While it pains me to join the nation in sending out my version of a Covid-19 update, unfortunately the situation has escalated to a serious matter.  The good news, at least for now, is the club is open and the golf course is open.  To support national and local efforts we have made some changes worth noting at BHCC.

Effective Immediately 

• All golfing members are encouraged to limit their trash on the golf course and keep it with you, disposing at the end of your round.

• Also encouraged to not touch or remove the flagstick during play.

• Golf course maintenance has temporarily removed all the bunker rakes and ball washers from the property.

We hope this situation doesn’t last long so we can all get back to our normal lifes and routines.  In the meantime, take care and we hope to see you all soon. One thing is for sure, spring is on our doorstep and the grass is starting to grow.

Continued Education

Sometimes it’s not always about what happens on the golf course.  For me, I enjoy continued education and trying to keep up with the latest technology and trends.  This ultimately helps us as a team crank out a great product at BHCC.  Winter is a time for projects, a little extra down time and education.  Myself and on multiple occasions, Steve, attend seminars during the winter months.  Last week I attended the biggest of them all, the GIS.  The Golf Industry Show was held in Orlando where I attended three separate classes and walked a monster trade show floor!

There was far too much information gained and new gizmos and unnecessary equipment explored to write about it.  But one thing is for sure, it was another successful experience for me and BHCC will continue to benefit from continued education.

Snow Problem

Snow keeps lingering around, long shadows has kept important sunlight from melting away last weeks snow fall.  

We are optimistic on opening the golf course in some capacity tomorrow!  Check for updates from the club in the morning!

Photo of #3 at 8:00am on Monday morning.

While the snow has caused the course to be closed for an extended amount of time, we have had snow problems staying busy! 

Brush clearing around the cart barn, final removal of the yews on #2  and a removal of a damaged tree on #13 tee are among some of the tasks we completed during the snow cover week.

Everyone have an enjoyable and safe holiday! 🎄

Picture Perfect?

We are well into the golf season and it has become evident a new golf rule is becoming a problem.  It is ruining our wow factor and making your putts harder...

This picture wasn’t taken at Augusta National and it didn’t take their three man team to change it either.  This was taken after Steve prepped hole #1 this morning...before golf started.  We take great pride in providing the best playing conditions while getting the details down to perfection.  So this is what each hole looks like each morning of each day.  A crisp edged circle, smooth surroundings and a glowing paint job.  Do you remember the last time you actually had the pleasure to witness this work?  Probably not unless you were the first or second group of the day.

Most of you get to see this and then have to try to hole out a putt in this non-regulation sized hole.  This picture is also hole #1 but at 12:30pm. Notice the damaged paint job and more importantly the damaged edge.  The new rule allowing to keep flagsticks in place during putting is a problem.  Not directly, but the main issue is now dozens of golfers each day pull their golf ball out of the hole while the flagstick is still in.  And they do so without enough caution to not damage the hole.  The result is putts that will lip out and a paint job that I would be ashamed to show a guest.

Please remove the flagstick before retrieving your golf ball.  Take caution and care so we can preserve the integrity of the hole and everyone will make a couple more putts in the process 😉

Summer School For The Golfer

I have ran across two good articles in the last few days so I’m going to pass along!

This was put out by the USGA and really nails golf course management in the summer from my perspective...

What to expect in the summer

The second was written by Missouri University’s head of the turf plant pathology department.  They do a ton of research for us local guys to help us develop new plans and strategies!

Plant Pathology Report

Enjoy!!!

Green Up and Clean Up

We were forced to prioritize some tasks late in the week and over the weekend.  We apologize for the short comings.  First, our sod arrived much later in the day than usual on Thursday.  This forced us to work through Friday to complete the task.  Because of this we did not mow tees or collars and they were a little harry this weekend.

Areas prepped for sod on hole #5

Lastly, we had a huge limb down on Saturday morning we had to clean up.  The good news is no one got hurt and it also so happened to be limb I’ve heard multiple members complain about.  The clean up of this monster took 3 crew members 2 hours to clean on Saturday morning.  This caused us to get a late start on raking bunkers and wasn’t able to rake holes 1-5.

Monster limb down over #7 fairway

Dagger

After the golf course was in excellent tournament form with greens rolling a solid 11 on the stimp, we were hit with a low blow.  Between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning we received 2.5 inches of rain.

After over an inch of rain Friday, the best team in town rallied and put bunkers back together till dark Friday evening.... only to receive another dagger to the heart in the shape of a thunderstorm Saturday morning.

Efforts were then restricted to only changing hole locations and squeegeeing greens off Saturday afternoon before the main event.

Fast forward to today and despite being challenged with a double shotgun start at 8am and 1230pm we once again proved our will to succeed.  We pulled off mowing and venting Greens despite having all odds against us.  This venting is important in allowing oxygen gas exchange with current water logged soils.

Slow Start

Cool temperatures and wet conditions have our Zoysia grass surfaces confused.  Tees and fairways are having a rough wake up call coming out of winter hibernation.  We had a warm stretch in April and the turf started growing, but multiple weeks of chilly weather has growth at a stand still.

Mowing fairways the 26th of April is pictured above.    The turf has since gone to a yellow-green shade.  Tee boxes have been seeing a lot of golf play but haven’t been growing enough to recover from divots and foot traffic.  This will start our season off with some thinning.

Wet conditions has sparked disease throughout the property too.  This is called Large Patch and only infects zoysia grass.  It has been treated, but will take time to recover.

And there’s more... multiple areas in fairways and tees are showing signs of winter kill.  The constant moisture over the last 5 months has drowned plants in low areas that don’t drain well.  We are continuing to access damage and will begin repair once the weather is more favorable for zoysia growth.  With that being said it does appear warmer weather is around the corner and hopefully we can turn over a new leaf very soon!

Week In Review

We saw all fours seasons last week with a frost and some light snow flakes on Monday!  That gave way to a 50 degree temperature change in 36 hours with temps in the mid 80s on Tuesday.  Spring rain and mist by Thursday with a chilly autumn feel on Friday.  Gotta love Missouri!  All this just means we were forced to get creative throughout the week to get tasks completed and present good playing conditions on the nice days.

A side note and moving back further than a week, I had the privilege to attend The Masters for the first time and it didn’t disappoint!  What a wonderful experience and motivator to start off the season!

A heavy topdressing of sand on greens before the 1.1” rain Thursday will aid in the final push for holes to close up the rest of the way!  We are really close to dropping the hammer on putting greens and dialing them in for the season!

Finally, the team really out did themselves on Friday. That 1.1” rain total from Wednesday night  tallied up in only 3 hours which resulted in some minor washouts.  They worked hard and got all the bunkers back into playable condition in one day!  This also pays tribute to the result of our bunker renovation!  Our old bunkers would have demanded at least two days of work, pumping standing water and pushing up sand from major washouts!  Kudos to the club for their commitment to improve the golf course!

And... can I get a LGB?!?!

Rocking and Rolling

After a few weeks of recovery efforts following BHI we are rocking and rolling again.  I received many comments in regards to how quick stressed areas turned around and filled in on putting greens.  The weather in August has been in the “normal” range and that has made things much more tolerable.  Avoiding extreme summer temperatures and recieving small doses of rain has the entire golf course healthy.

Rain falling during Men’s league on Wednesday.

Our routine setup has resumed.  Sand topdressing, lower mowing heights and smooth rolling of greens have members enjoying quality putting surfaces again!

Special Occasion!

This week ended in the best fashion that anyone could ask for.  A finger licking good barbecue event put together by a group of BHCC members!  This token of appreciation means a lot to me! While I am personally flattered with the gesture, I’m extremely happy that my team was able to participate in this lunch and understand what their hard work means to the membership at BHCC.  We have been described as the unseen heroes and the fact of the matter is in a lot of ways that is our goal. We are in a different line of work than most, while every other department is based on personal contact and relations with membership we plan every day and task around trying to not disturb or come in contact with the membership on the golf course.  I have the pleasure of talking with many members and I pass along every comment with my team, but this barbecue event was a great way to directly connect our membership to our golf course maintenance team.   Thanks again for the amazing meal!

Some hazing mornings of late have made for a good photo opportunity!

Ball Marks Gone Wild!

In this edition of my blog I want to go over the importance of properly fixing a ball mark.  Fixing a ball mark is more of an art form than an effortless poke job with a divot tool or putter.  If done properly ball marks will heal in a few short days.  If done improperly or not at all, a blemish will make its mark on the putting green for months until recovery is conducive in the fall!

So fix yours and fix another, make a point to monitor each other!  Take care of your course and it will take care of you.  Be kind to your partner and they might buy you a brew!

Here is my personal video of my flawless technique!  (You May need to view the web version of the blog for video to be present)

Here is an article written by the USGA that includes a video demonstration as well!

Ball Mark Repair

While we are on the topic of putting greens wear and tear, we also need to be mindful of our foot traffic.  Most golf shoes have outrageous spikes that cause damage to our greens when not being careful.  Scuffs from dragging feet along the surface and twisting motions can cause serious damage to our putting greens.  Please keep this in mind while enjoying your golf course!