Cookie Christmas Party

This past week we hosted our annual Cookie Christmas Party.  As usual we had a great night eating pizza, decorating Christmas cookies, and enjoying each others company.  With all of our employees, wives and children (and grandchildren) we ended up with almost 50 in attendance.

The Cookie Christmas Party is a tradition we started a few years ago for the staff in our department.  Looking to do something extra for our crew, we came up with the idea of inviting families to our shop for a night of decorating cookies.  The kids enjoy seeing where dad works; throw in the cookies and pizza and it makes for a good night for all.

Below are a few of the pictures of the Cookie Christmas Party.

 

 

  

 

Project Update

Heading into the month of August we are quickly approaching our deadline for getting turf established.  As I explained in the last post we now have a better understanding of the factors that led to inconsistencies, now it is time to begin solving these problems.  

On Monday of this week, we began reseeding all of the areas that are lagging behind.  Most of the areas have enough germination to fill in, unfortunately, we do not believe it will satisfy our desired schedule without adding additional seed.  Areas of greatest concern are the green banks.  It is becoming more clear that we had more washing away of the seed than we originally anticipated.  With the steeper slopes around the greens, the seed was much more vulnerable during the heavy rain we experienced on the evening of day three of the project.

By the end of this week we expect to have all of the thin areas reseeded and will start the process over to ensure a solid stand of turf.  Due to the timing of the seeding and the cooler temps we experienced early in the project, holes 13-17 are at a different stage compared to the rest of the course.  We still have new seedlings emerging, however, this is more apparent on the back nine.  Although we are three weeks into the project, with the week of cool temps, several of the areas are more at the week two development stage. 

At this point, getting additional seed in the ground and maintaining consistent moisture is our top priority.  Our second application of fertilizer was applied over the last two days which will continue to help push the new seedlings.  As good as our irrigation system is, we are managing the weak areas with supplemental hand watering.  This has been especially important on the green banks.

Thank you for your patience as we work to establish the Riviera Bermuda.  There is no question we are heading down the right path, it has unfortunately been difficult seeing all of the inconsistencies.  The good news is that each day we are gaining ground on it.  With the whole month of August ahead of us, I am confident that we will be successful. 

Project Update

As we approach week three of the project I wanted to give you a quick update of our progress.  We have officially moved from the seeding and sodding phase of the project to the grow in.  As you tour the course you will see a wide range of establishment, some areas are looking great and others are obviously well behind. 

Due to the time that it took to complete the work on the tees, all of the tee complexes are at least a week to a week and a half behind the seeded rough.  The good news with the tees is the Latitude 36 sod is in great shape.  Although our normal grow in practices have been limited due constant irrigation, tees are still ready for play.

First Mowing on Tees.

 Our biggest concern are the inconsistencies with establishment.  Meeting with the agronomist from the seed supplier last week helped to ease our nerves.  His impression was that we had a great stand and are quickly on our way to filling in.  All of the factors such as shade, irrigation efficiency, soil type, amount of dead vegetation/organic matter as well as timing, play a role in the rate of germination.  As much as I would like to see a solid stand wall to wall, we are right where we should be.

The only real setback we had was the 1" of rain on Day 3 of the project and the week long record setting cool down we faced during the second week.  Other than slowing progress on the tees, the rain may have been a good thing.  I do think we are beginning to see some areas that were washed out, but at this point the washouts appear to be isolated.  The cool down during week two has been the biggest hindrance.  The five days of 50-60 degree low temps put the project at a standstill.  Not that we went backwards, but we did not gain any ground on establishment during this time frame. 

Reseeding a potential washout area on #1.

As we discussed during the planning stages of the project, weeds are going to be an issue.  This has definitely become a reality.  As we get further along in the process we will be able to address the weeds with a herbicide combination.  Right now we don't want to do anything that will slow the growth of the Bermuda.  We are currently hand pulling weeds until we get to the point that we can spray.  Many of these will be cleaned up with the first mowing.  Unfortunately, we are going to see more weeds this first year.  Moving forward our preventative programs will get us back to normal. 

Pigweed brought in from topsoil used for leveling.

The good news is we are seeing obvious improvement each day.  The heat over the past few days is exactly what we need to push the Riviera Bermuda.  This along with an aggressive fertilizer plan will improve the rate of establishment.

Good stand coming in on #3.

Thank you for your interest in the project.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or would like to take a tour of the course.

Riviera Rough Conversion

What a crazy busy week!  All the planning and preparation went into action last Monday as we began the Riviera Rough Conversion.  The seeders hit the ground on #1 on Monday morning, averaging about 10 acres per day.  Other than time lost due to a severe thunderstorm Wednesday night, we have had a great week! 

For a quick summary, we have essentially finished all of the seeding.  We have a few small areas to seed as we close out tees, but for the most part, seeding was finished on Friday.  The laser leveling of the tees was a late change to the project, but as you will see, the larger, level tees are long overdue.  The tees are looking great.

Moving ahead, assuming there are no weather delays, we should finish the remaining tees by Wednesday of this week.  At this point, we will shift gears from seeding and sodding to growing in a golf course.  Signs of germination are already showing up around the course.  This upcoming week should see drastic changes as the seed emerges.

I can't say enough about our team this week.  Other than Martin Lane with Midwest Laser Leveling, all of the work has been completed in house with an assist from several of the guys in the bag room helping with tee sodding.    

The pictures below tell the story of what our week has been like.

Prepping for seed with the Tine Harrow.

Starting the seeding process on #1.

#10 tee following the laser leveling.

Leveling and straightening #4 tee.

First load of Latitude 36 Bermuda Sod.

#3 Tee: leveled, sodded, and surrounds seeded.

Challenges with keeping greens mowed during the project.

 

Familiar site over the past week.

Minor Setback

We had a minor setback Monday night with the weather.  The golf course received 2.5" of rain along with heavy wind and lightning.  Not only was the course in rough shape due to flooding and bunker washouts, the pump station was knocked offline as well as multiple irrigation controllers from the lightning.  Not what we wanted to be working on this close to the project.

By the end of the day Tuesday, everything has been repaired and we are set to move forward.  Golf course is still too wet to prep for seed, however, we are planning to begin stripping the dead sod off of the back tees starting tomorrow.


The good news is that weather looks favorable over the next several days.  Once the course dries out, we will make quick work of the remaining punch list. 

One Week to Go

I wanted to give you a quick update on where we are with the project.  Today the course finally started drying out after the rains over the weekend.  Unfortunately, it looks like more rain is heading our way tonight.

With a drier golf course, we were able to use the tine harrow in the rough.  The tine harrow is a heavy metal drag that helps to lift dead plant material and thatch off the soil surface.  Once the harrow loosens the material, we are able to blow the debris out into the deeper rough.  This is a great tool for preparing the soil for seed. 

Tine Harrow on #1.

We are also in the process of leveling areas throughout the course.  Most of the time we are dealing with sunken trenches on our irrigation main line.  With the soil exposed, it is easy to locate all of the problem areas that need to be raised.

Irrigation trench leveled on #1.

The remainder of this week we will continue to work on the above mentioned items.  We are working to get all of our irrigation issues taken care of before Monday.  Today we replaced another valve that was leaking on #2.  By Monday, irrigation should be ready to go for the grow in.  We also brought in a contractor to clean out several of the drains in fairways (#4, #2, #9) that have been slow to empty.  

After aerification and dragging, most of the rough will not require any type of scalping.  There are a few areas, primarily around bunkers and tees, that still have more vegetation than we would like to see.  Most of these will be push mowed and bagged to remove the dead material.

Assuming weather doesn't slow us down, tomorrow we will begin stripping the dead sod off of the back tees.  Eventually all of the tees will be stripped, however, with six more days until the shutdown we are trying to keep the course as playable as possible.  Tees will be the most labor intensive portion of the project.  Stripping, leveling, and sodding 75,000 sq. ft. of tees in a short amount of time will be our biggest challenge.

And finally we will continue to touch up any remaining grass in the rough that was not killed by the three applications of Roundup.

Bottom line, all is well.  We are on schedule and working through the items we need to be dealing with prior to seeding and sodding.  We can't control the weather so we will deal with whatever we get.  Looking forward to Monday!

Project Update

It's hard to believe that we are only 10 days away from putting seed in the ground!  Overall, we are right on schedule for where we need to be.  Luckily we were slightly ahead of schedule before the June rains hit. 

Up to this point we have been focused on killing the existing turf.  This past week our third application of Roundup was applied to the areas that we are renovating.  By early next week we should see a complete kill.  Any remaining green will be spot treated right up to a few days before we begin seeding.

On Thursday we began adding topsoil to low areas that needed to be leveled.  We have waited as long as possible, due to the potential for these areas to wash out following rain.  Most of the areas we are leveling are old trench lines that have settled over the years as well as low areas that tend to hold water.  With the turf out of the way, the grade imperfections become much more visible.

We have had a slight change of plans in regard to the tees.  Initially we were planning on seeding the tee surfaces with Riviera Bermuda.  As we continued to evaluate the tees, we made the decision to hire a contractor to laser level the tee tops.  Following the leveling we will now be sodding the tees with an improved variety of Bermuda called Latitude 36.  Not only are we improving the grade of the tees, by sodding we will also rule out any concerns of not having tees ready in time for opening.  

Moving forward, we are crossing our fingers for dry weather.  We will continue with the dirt work through next week.  We will also begin stripping the existing turf off of the back tees in order to get a jump on the tee leveling prior to July 7th.

And finally, we will be closing the golf course for approximately four weeks on July 7th.  On the 7th, we will have two seeders working on the rough, with the bulk of the crew focused on the tee process.  Not to be forgotten, greens will receive the normal attention required during the heat of the summer.

We will be posting updates to the project through this blog as well as on Twitter (@wccbrian).