Summer Greens Watering

As the drier weather pattern returns, along with the hotter temps, expect to see our team hand watering greens more frequently in the afternoon.  We will do our best to avoid play, however, there are times that it is necessary to water in front of a group.  Please treat them as you would a group of golfers in front of you.  Hitting into a green while we are watering is dangerous and could cause serious injury to the staff member.  Thank you for your understanding with this matter.

Current watering practices include deeper watering in the early morning utilizing our moisture sensors, followed up with quick cooling in the afternoon.  Our goal is to keep the greens as dry as we possibly can, which at times, leads to the necessity of interrupting play. 

Early morning hand watering

  A couple of other items....

As many of you know, our Border Collie, Sterling, died this past spring.  I've had several questions from members wondering if we planned to get another dog.  Without hesitation, yes, we will be looking to replace Sterling with another Border Collie.  My thought is to get through summer and look for a dog this fall.  If you hear of any puppies or preferably a dog that is 1-2 years old, please let me know.  A rescue dog would be an ideal situation, as well.

And finally, I took this picture awhile back and I couldn't resist sharing.  This is a good example of why we struggle with turf loss around cart paths.  With the width of our paths, please keep the carts (completely) on the paths around tees and greens.  The less stake and rope we have to use, the better!

Golf Course Update

After an unseasonably cool start to the summer, it looks like the heat has arrived.  On Monday our temps exceeded 90 degrees for the first time this year.  Rather than easing into it, we ended up hitting 97 degrees for the daily high.  More of the same to follow the rest of the week.

With the cooler temps along with timely rains, our water usage has been drastically reduced compared to this time last year.  Still a long ways to go, but we are significantly under budget on water for the year.  Good news after the last two hot and dry years.

One topic that continues to come up is the difficulty of our rough this year.  The weather we have experienced has led to some of the healthiest rough we have seen over the last few years.  We have managed to keep our height of cut at 2.5" for the entire season.  The issue is more the turf being thick and healthy.  The impact of the heat over the next couple of weeks will have a natural thinning of the turf.  Please know it is not our intention to make the course more difficult, simply the impact of weather has created the tougher than normal conditions.

Another area of concern this season has been the transition from the Zoysia Approach to the Bentgrass collar.  This has historically been a challenging area due to the high traffic as well as the different needs of the turf.  We have sodded several of the areas and will continue to grow in the remaining thin areas.  One simple change we have made to our routine is the use of carpets for turning the mowers on.  The carpets alone are reducing the impact of mowers turning daily in this location.  We will continue to implement new strategies to alleviate this problem.

Finally, my apologies for the limited blog postings.  I find that I am using Twitter on a daily basis to give quick updates on course conditions.  I encourage you to take a look at it.  So far, it has been a great way to communicate information.  

Tree Removals and Tee Renovation

Several changes are taking shape around #12 tee and #15 green.  Over the winter we removed two large Siberian Elms next to #12 tee.  These trees were causing shade issues on the teeing surface, along with root encroachment into the tee.  Now that the trees are out of the way we have started a minor project that includes widening the tee as well as adding 10 yards on the back and a few yards on the front.  This will give us more options on a tee that was previously limited in usable space.

New retaining wall on backside of #12 tee.

 On the #15 Green side of #12 tee we also were having issues with Siberian Elms.   The two Elms we removed both had significant decay leading to safety concerns, as well as root encroachment into the green bank.  Even without the decay, for the size of these trees, they were planted too close to the green.

Obvious decay in tree trunk.

Issues with turf from root competition.

Overall we removed (5) trees in this area.  We are in the process of planting (3) new trees close to this same area.  The current plan is to plant two Shumard Oaks and a Crabapple tree for spring color.  Better trees in the right location.

Taking down trees next to #15 Green.

Tree removal will benefit the green and surrounding turf.

Not far from this same location we have a Maple in decline as well.  We are going to monitor this tree as it breaks dormancy.  If we can dead wood the tree and still leave a decent amount of live tree, we will.  At this point, I  have my doubts on the possibility of saving the tree.

Decay on one of the main leaders.

Decline throughout the tree.

Removing old trees is never our intention, unfortunately, trees get planted in the wrong places that lead to problems as the tree ages.  Likewise,  we are to the point of trees that were planted 60 years ago, such as the maples and elms, reaching the end of their natural life span.  We will continue to plant replacement trees as needed, but we are also interested in opening up views across the course.  Maybe most important of all are the water requirements for trees throughout the property.  As water rates continue to increase, we are more aware of the expense of maintaining unnecessary trees.

 

More Sad News....

Once again, sad news to report on the blog.  This morning we found Sterling, the club's Border Collie for the last seven years, dead in his kennel.

This really came as a shock to those of us who took care of him.  He seemed to be a little slower than normal yesterday, but nothing that would make us believe his health was rapidly declining. 

Sterling was very dedicated to chasing the geese (or squirrels) off the course.  He was fun to watch in action, but most of all he was a good friend to everyone that wanted to pet him.

I know so many of you enjoyed seeing him.  He was a good dog that will be missed.

Hanging out in a cart last summer.

RIP Stan George

Yesterday I received a phone call informing me my good friend Stan George had passed away.  Stan had been the Superintendent at Prairie Dunes Country Club for over 20 years. As with everyone else who was hearing this news on Saturday, I was shocked and saddened to hear this awful news.

Stan was a mentor to many superintendents and individuals in the golf industry.  I never had the pleasure of working with Stan, although after years of leaning on him for advise, he clearly was a mentor to me.  Even after all these years in the business, Stan was constantly looking for new ways to do a job better or more efficient.  Rarely would you talk to Stan without hearing about something new he was trying out.   

I will most miss our annual grudge match, The Director's Cup, between Wichita Country Club and Prairie Dunes.  For the last 13 years the home and home matches have been one of the highlights of my year, as I got to spend half a day with Stan.  Stan was easy going on the course with his self deprecating sense of humor, although I knew the competitor in him wanted to close me out early!

Stan was a true professional; humble, hard working, and dedicated to the course he managed.  He will be missed by many. 

Golf Course Update

In spite of the weather, this past week we finished up all of our spring aerification.  Up to this point, we have aerified all of the greens, tees, primary rough and Driving Range rough.  On the greens and tees, we pulled a core and topdressed with sand.  The Driving Range and primary rough, were both deep tined using 1/2" tines to a depth of 8".

Aerifying rough left of #10 fairway

As I had discussed in a previous post, the weather this year has been quite a change compared to our last couple of years.  My best guess is that we are around 3 weeks behind our normal weather schedule.  The good news is we have used only minimal water so far this spring.  Unfortunately, the weather has limited our rounds.  I would expect this to change soon.

As far as projects are concerned.  The greens drainage project on #5 and #7 was a big success.  Moving forward our next project is the expansion of #12 tee (both lengthening and widening).  In this same area, we are removing the mulch bed short of #15 green and will be sodding and leveling for improved playability.

Looking forward to warmer weather.  We'll keep the weekly 1/2" rains!

Greens Drainage Installation

Yesterday we were able to get started installing drainage in #5 and #7 Greens.  Although we made good progress on Tuesday, the weather has temporarily stopped the project.

With 63 year old (mostly original) greens, internal drainage is the key component we are lacking to ensure the health of the turf during stressful periods.  About five years ago, we contracted XGD Systems out of Florida to add drainage to #10 green.  After great success with this green, we brought them back a year later to add drainage to #16 green.  Once again, the drainage was instrumental in creating healthy turf on the previously troublesome greens.  

Moving forward to the last couple of years, the greens on #5 and #7 were showing signs of drainage related problems.  Excessive wetness following rain events in the low areas leading to weak turf.  Last fall the decision was made to move forward with the drainage on these two greens.

Below are pictures from yesterday on #7 green.  Hopefully we are back at it tomorrow.

Removing sod for main line installation.

Mainline and outlet to drainage basin installed.

Trenching lateral lines.

Close-up of pipe in the trench.

Back-filling new greens mix in the trenches.

Drainage installed, sod back in place, ready for clean up.