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!

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!!!

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.

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!

Caught Up To Speed

A quick update to get everyone up to speed.  We have been busy punching holes in our warm season surfaces.  In the past two weeks we have solid tined all of our collars, pulled a core on selective tee boxes and attempted to pull a core in fairways.  We received a surprise storm the night before the scheduled fairway aerification and decided it was too wet after starting #17 fairway.  We are looking to possibly reschedule fairway aerification for July 27th.  During this span of time we have also vented greens with needle tines and continue to do so on a biweekly basis.

We have also made applications to fairways, collars and tees for Bermuda suppression.  Current bronzing in collars are an indication of hurt Bermuda grass.

Last but not least, damaged areas in fairways and a few small spots in collars were repaired with zoysia sod.  We have a few more small areas left to complete.

Quick Update

Last week we completed the renovation around number one green. It turned out really well including a new collection area similar to number seven Green. There will be a row of Burning bushes planted along the top of the berm to further protect players on number two tee. 

A lot of annual flowers were planted last week both in the club parking lot as well as on the golf course. We will continue planting flowers and ornamentals for the next week or so. As temperatures warm up these flowers will really start to come to life.

Our first venting event on putting greens was completed in preparation for what had appeared to be a lot of rain this week. The small holes allow for oxygen exchange and a cavity for stimulated root growth.

We also top dressed greens for the first time since aerification  earlier in spring. We will continue to make frequent light applications of sand which helps protect the crowns of the plant as well as making a true putting surface.

Week in Review

Wow, what a great week we had last week! Doesn’t look like a repeat is likely this week though.  For the first time in months we skipped a precipitation event and had some dry soil to work with. We quickly broke ground on a few projects that we had been waiting on. The ladies tee box on number 12 was refurbished. We stripped all the zoysia sod off of it and placed to the side to reuse. The tee was raised almost 2 foot to give a better perspective to the fairway.  

While working on #12 we knocked out another tee renovation at the same time.  A new tee was constructed on hole #13.  We used the leftover sod from #12 for the tee top.

During the week of construction we also managed to do service work to other tee boxes, mow greens, rake bunkers, and cleanup debris.  It’s was a really good feeling to know spring is near but I think I can speak on behalf of myself and team members in saying we were all whooped after last week, haha.  Looking forward to the season and more improvements at BHCC!