March Update, Drone Overview video and Sample Plugs

 Hey Folks,

 Hope all is well with you folks and the winter hasn't treated you too poorly.  By historical standards its been a fairly benign winter with not to much snow and relatively warm temperatures. There were a few concerning ice developments early in the winter, where I was sure it would be a problem, but mother nature changed the course of events and the ice abated. 

Each year we try to reduce the the amount of ice on the course, utilizing a number of different methods.  The black "inca" mats are an example of the one of the newer items we have been trying out.  The mat is actually a device used to reduce erosion on steep slopes.  The mat is made up of expand plastic and is designed to hold topsoil during the seeding process.  In our application it is laid on the surface of the green to interfere with ice development.  Because its black in color, fibrous and water can travel easily through it, ice breaks up rather quickly around the mat.    

Number 18, where we normally have ice issues.

One draw back to these mats is the expense.  To cover the all of the green would be extremely expensive, especially where we are still proving their value.  In the mean time we are using them in areas where we traditional have ice issues. This year hasn't really been what we would call a "tester" but we will mark the results and keep working the problem.

Another device we been trying this year are a incorporation of drain elevators in to the green profile.  Water can often get trapped on the green when a topsoil collar swells with frost but the sand green remains at the same height.  This is referred to as "collar damming" and can result in ice patches growing larger as the winter progresses.  Here's some information about greens that is pertinent to the problem.

Our greens are built using the same specification.  A cavity is created in the natural subsoil that mirrors what the expected green surface to be.  In that cavity herring bone drainage is added below the surface and exits the green to a convenient out-fall.  The drainage is covered with pea stone and then the whole cavity is filled with USGA spec sand.  This creates a uniform layer of sand over the whole area of the green where the water can exit when the sand is filled.  In the winter the surface of the green freezes and the water can't find its way to the drainage.  Water freezes - ice forms - kills grass - temporary greens - grumpy members....etc. To help combat this process we have adopted the following steps.  

Using a metal probe we locate the subsurface drainage on the green where water typically puddles.

The we take a hole changer, remove the depth gauge and auger a hole down the drainage pipe.

We continue this until we find the "pea stone" and pipe.  The hole is cleared of debris.

Then using a hex plugger we widen the mouth of the hole.

The final stage is to add a black vertical perforated pipe through the whole profile to the subsurface drain.  That draws the heat from the sun and generally keeps the path for water to escape open, keeping the water moving off the green surface.

Again, the winter wasn't really a test of  these devices, but where we have implemented new practices  will measure the results and continue to prove and improve the process.  

On Monday we pulled some samples from the greens and brought them back to the shop to warm up.  Keep in mind the samples are small portions of large areas so the information produced is finite but at this point the results are great.  The samples were taken from the historically poorest performing areas, here are some photos of their progress.

The samples pulled from the green on day one.

Day three. The bottom right plug is from 3 green, the last green to clear of ice.

And finally today, 5 days later.  Every thing is growing well.

Over the past week or so we've put the drone to work and taken some over head videos of the golf course.   Here's the link to that on Youtube.  CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO

The recent snow should not have any serious detrimental effects on the golf course health.  There is slight chance of diseases showing up with the snow coverage and wetness, but the environment should change quickly, preventing any real damage.  Now that the ice is all gone, we're actually happy to see the snow coverage, as it shelters the turf from any wild temperature swings.

As far as an opening date for the golf course, please don't expect any miracles.  At this point it looks like it could be an early start to the season but a lot boxes have to checked before that can happen.  Rest assured we will open as soon as humanly possible, with a balance for length of season and health of the golf course in mind. I'm optimistic. Stay tuned!! 
  

September 2023 Update

 Hey folks,

Hope everyone has, despite the rain, has had a great summer.  In the future I don't think that we can look back on this year and not mention how much and how often it rained.  Its definitely been a year by which will judge others, a base line for how bad it can be.  Since May 15 we have had 68 days where rain was measurable.  Not all of those days were monsoons (some were), but 38 of those days accumulated 5mms or more.  

 The charts above, taken from a website called https://fredericton.weatherstats.ca/, illustrates the frequency of the rain fall amounts.  Its typical that the region would experience sporadic periods of prolonged precipitation, but its unusual to say the least, that it occurs with such regularity.  Quite a bummer when your trying to get stuff done.

Rain is usually a good thing on a golf course but too much can have detrimental effects.  In the obvious column there's a revenue loss, the bunkers never really dried out to repair, the rough was tough to cut on a regular basis, and the carts were on the carts paths for more than were would like.  

The amount of water made managing the greens a challenge.  The root zone under each green is basically a bowl filled with sand with drains in the bottom.  They are designed this way to be able to control water availability to the plant. Typically we would fill the "sand bowl" with irrigation and allow it to dry down over a week, and the roots will "chase" the water down.  Longer roots means stronger plants with better storage for those times of stress. 

With the sand constantly being filled from rain the roots became "lazy" and never really developed, which leaves the plants with less stress resistance.  I am concerned for the winter hardiness, but the fall is shaping up decent amounts of sunshine so that is positive. 

The constant rain also presented another issue we didn't for see. In the spring we often see water forced to the surface through hydrostatic pressure, the melting snow ice fill the earth with water and it surfaces through crevices. A good example of this is number eight.  Each year a spring surfaced on the tee side of the fairway...or so we thought.  

About mid summer the spring popped up again and we began digging to extend a previous drain.  

It was then that we discovered a mysterious four inch irrigation pipe that was not part of the functioning system, running perpendicular to the the fairway towards seven fairway.

 After some investigation we discovered that it was a drain from the waste area between 16 and 7 fairways, a left over from the original design of the golf course.  We re-routed the line to an existing drain and have added a vertical riser to the inlet to trap the water between 16 and 7 to create a pond. 

If its viable we'll improve upon the area, which should speed up play by reducing folks hunting for balls. We're not sure of the outcome just yet but it seems to holding water so stay tuned. 

Another spot where the water has pushed through the surface is 13 cart path.  We began digging an intercept trench on the left side of this cartpath to collect the water and ran into some pretty big rocks.

The water was freely moving from the ground and across the surface of the cart path.

We began using our backhoe to dig a trench for water egress.....

and quickly discover we were going to need a bigger boat.

We brought the 410 over from the construction team and moved the larger material out of the way to create space for the drainage.

Once the drain was in place we created a vertical window for observation and back filled the space with 1 1/2 inch clear stone to allow for water movement.

After that it was resurface and left to settle.  This area is one of the places earmarked for paving after closing so its great that we had the water issue cleared up prior to that.

Hope everyone has a great winter and check back in the spring for more updates!

Around The Golf Course: July Edition

 Hey folks!

Lots going on around the golf course these days.  Our staff has been hard at work in what could only be described as "difficult weather conditions".  It's as if there are only two options for weather this year, stinking hot or pouring rain. The heat and moisture have created "super mega growing conditions" for the turf, weeds and vegetation that inhabit the golf course. And while we welcome the growth, the poorly timed rain can limit our ability to deal with it.  We find our selves mowing in wet situations just to stay ahead of the growth, and then following the mowers with blowers to keep the clippings and mess to a minimum.  The weather tends to mess with our scheduling and there's been a lot of early morning alterations.  Complicating our organization of the day is the unpredictability of the thunderstorms, its hard to schedule applications to better the golf course.  Pesticides, fertilizer, growth regulators and wetting agents can be drastically affect by a pop up thunderstorm that drops a surprise 15 mm of rain. Lots of rain can be a pain but the grass loves it so that's not the worst problem to have.

The amount of rain is making our bunker adjustment program difficult to get going.  So far we have edged all of the sand traps on the golf course, moved the sand from collections points to the areas where it is thin and as of this week have begun adding sand to the thin areas. 

Here are AJ and Dennis checking the depths of the sand in the traps and adding sand.  

Each Toro Workman load is roughly a ton of sand.  The delivery truck has about 32 tons or 32 workman  loads to distribute. As of today we are on our second truck load.

 If not for the thunderstorms we would have been ahead of this by now.  Each storm resets the repairs and frustrates our daily efforts.  One of the big complaints from the 2022 survey was the compaction of the sand.  To help with this we've purchased a belly aerifier for our sand trap rake but the supply chain issues have let us down and it yet to arrive.  In the mean time we send out the staff with iron garden rakes to loosen up the sand after each rain storm, a very grueling job but the guys do a great job. There are days where mowing will take priority as the sand is static and the grass won't stop growing.

Here's Ryan, Tyson and Caleb hand raking the last trap on 18

We have also begun the renovation of the trap on number 7 fairway.  I'm sure folks have noticed that it looked abandoned but the project was low on the priority list considering our other difficulties in the spring.  On Monday we dug the liner out and began reshaping the sub surface.  The initial problem had developed from the rocky subsoil.  As the frost pushed the rocks up in the spring, they carried the liner and it would catch the rake as it went through the trap.  The rocks created an unsafe playing surface and until we could get to it we just left it as ground under repair.   

This is the base under the trap on 7 Fairway.

Our plan is correct the sub surface but also alter the traps configuration.  With the loss of the tree on seven it seemed like a good time to make some changes.

Hers an arial photo of the bunker in its current state.

And here are the changes we are going to make. Pardon the graphics, I'm banging this out in Markup.

We are going to split the one bunker into two and fill in the area in between with fairway. On the left side we will be extending the bunker toward the tee, hoping to catch more errant balls headed for the hazard.  Hopefully there aren't too many surprises underground and all goes well, but if so we will adjust and keep you informed.   I cant give a date for competition as its supposed to rain all next week, but we will work on it when we can.

The greens recovery is about the 99 % mark.  Out of the 150000 square feet of greens on the course we might a 1 or 2 thousand feet left that needs some attention.  Some of the members have been asking about our plan to correct the remaining issues.  A bit of history first.  Around the 15th of June we began our Primo applications on the greens. Primo is a growth regulator primarily used to improve green speed and slow growth.  It does this by reducing vertical growth of the plant and increasing horizontal growth.  It slows growth to the point that afternoon golf should be around the same speed as the morning games. One draw back is that if you have damage it slows the growth of seedlings as well, and is recommended by the manufacturer to only use when there is an 80 coverage of plant material on the green. 

So basically after the Primo applications begin, seeding is not very effective.  Its from this point that we turn to mechanical removal.  The guys have been hard at work, plugging the stubborn bad spots of our two worst greens, number 9 and 2.  

These are the spots giving us trouble.  I pick a location and have the guys start pulling plugs with the hole changers.

The bad plugs are moved to the edge of the green on a slope where a ball would rest.  

This is slow and painful process, however the results are guarantied.  So far the boys have changed about a 100 plugs on 9 and about 75 on 2.  We do continue to seed these areas, as even with the reduced efficacy, but it will help.

You may have noticed that we have also been adding top soil  and seed to the edges of the cart paths around the golf course. Please do not step or drive in these areas, the topsoil is soft and will be ruined by traffic.  Please respect the barriers.

Dont do this.

Or this.

Or move those barriers...

Or move these barriers.

In addition to not moving the barriers please keep all four cart tires on the cart path around the green and tees.  Do not pull off the path to allow space for the crew or beverage cart.  The wear on the turf from our vehicles and the beverage cart is very little as compared to 150 carts per day.

On Monday July 24th we will be venting, topdressing and rolling the greens.  There will be a small impact on the playing surfaces and after a few days it will be unnoticeable.

The process has a few steps.  The first step is to top-dress the green at a light rate.  This is done first so that the top-dresser rides on firm ground rather than after the aerator, where it would leave ruts in the softened surface.  

The tines we will be using on Monday.  These are 1/4 inch "Pencil" tines.

After the the aerator has gone through, we then roll the surface, drag the sand in and then finally mow the green. 

This process allow for water, nutrients, and gas exchange from the surface.  It will dry the green surface out faster and aid in evaporation of the surface water, something that is mission critical this summer. 

The whole process should take about 30 minutes per green and as a result we will be holding off tee times until 10 o'clock am. We will continue the process until caught by the golfers and then finish the rest of the green for Tuesday morning. 

Thanks to everyone and their patience!  Stay tuned for more info later!

Last of the Temps

 Hey folks!

Great news! As of June 7th, all of the temporary greens will be back into play! It's been a long difficult spring and most of the members have shown great patience and kindness in waiting for the recovery. I'll remind everyone that the greens just recently opened 3, 7,11,12,13,17,18 will be playing slower than the greens open since the beginning of the season.  

There will be quite a few areas like this where the the plants have germinated and the recovery is moving nicely in the right direction.  There are still some gaps in canopy as the plants grow together, but with some heat and attention they will improve quickly. 

 As part of the process, the closed greens were maintained at a higher height of cut, and over the next little bit we will be working them down to our regular summer height.  

Here's a look at our progress over the last few weeks.

Number 13:

April 14th.  The two portions of the green with the green rectangles are where our black matts were over the winter.  We intend to expand this process but that's a different blog post.

April 14th

April 20th

Mid May.

June 6th.

Number 7:

Not all of the areas are at 100 percent so you'll probably see the pins in the same locations for a little while as the weak areas continue to improve, but with a little bit of heat things will get better quickly. 

 A few members have asked about the rain in the last few days and if that will have a positive effect. 

 With Bent grass, very little growth occurs below the 12 to 15 degree range, especially when overcast and windy.  At these temps fertilizers don't work and, growth is ground to a halt. These temps don't hurt the plant directly however, the combination of constant moisture, weakened cell walls from earlier excessive fertilizer (from growing in) and lack of sunshine can lead to the onset of disease. 

Here's a photo of "Leaf spot", taking from Number 9 yesterday.  We plan on treating for this disease as soon as it stops raining (if ever). 

Healthy adult plants would obviously be able to better withstand disease but the seedlings can suffer from the pressure that the current environmental parameters present.

The fairways continue to also improve, and the constant rain over the last few day will help the seed to germinate.  Kentucky Bluegrass, the main species we use on the fairways, does better in lower temps than Bent grass, but like the Bent the progress is slowed. Generally speaking, the best benefit this weather provides is the lack of traffic on the course, which is of course ironic, because we need the traffic to sustain the golf course.

The carts will remain on the cart paths at least until Friday and when it stops raining (if ever) we look forward to finally lifting all restrictions. Stay tuned for more!