Construction update

     A lot has been happening the last couple of days.  Schaefer-Meyer has been busy taking out the cart paths on holes 9 and 10.  Drains have been installed on # 10 and we have started to pour the new path.  This path was in serious trouble we had voids under the path two feet deep in places.  On # 9 Schaefer-Meyer has installed new catch basins on the last half of the cart path and has began to trench in the drain lines on the first half.  # 9 also had some severe washouts under the path.  We are replacing 1200 feet of cart path between the two holes.  Here are some pictures of the progress.

This is void under # 9 path

Looking up toward green # 9 path. Notice the erosion in the middle

Grading # 9

This is the ditch cut under # 10 path

 Pouring the new path # 10

New path from bridge all the way to the forward tee # 10

Turfgrass facts

     Here is some facts about turfgrass from  Mark Grundman of Jacklin Seed Company.  This is amazing.  Golf Courses have a huge benefit to the environment.  Do the math we have about 70 acres of maintained turf on this golf course alone.  That is over 1300 families we produce oxygen for and the cooling effect is the same as 1300 home air conditioners.  If someone tells you golf courses are bad for the environment here is some ammunition to tell them different.

Twelve Benefits of Natural Grass By Mark Grundman
 1. Oxygen Generation.

2. Soil Erosion Control.

3. Dust Stabilization.

4. Water Filtration and Purification.

5. Rainwater Entrapment For Groundwater Replenishment

6. Flood Control.

7. Restoration of Disturbed Soils.

8. Urban Heat Dissipation and Temperature Reduction.

9. Glare Reduction.

10. Reduced Smog Pollution. 11. Decreased Allergy Related Pollens. 12. Noise Abatement.
 Quotes of the Month from Mark Grundman

-"One acre of grass produces more oxygen than an acre of rainforest."

-"A 60,000 ft2 athletic field produces enough oxygen for 24 families."

-"That same field has the cooling capacity of 24 air conditioned homes."

-"Bluegrass produces 5000 pounds of organic matter per acre per year."

-"Look for grasses that will reduce overall management costs."   

Bunker update

     # 18 bunkers is now completed.  That is 7 holes completed with 5 holes left.  With the dry weather in place we should get lots of work done next week.  Here is a few pictures of # 18.

 Shaping # 18

 Some final touches

 Installing drain lines

 Edged and ready for liner

 Liner installed

 Installing sand

 Sodding

Finished

Cart Path # 10

     Schaefer-Meyer was back a work today after 4 weeks off due to bad weather.  They are working on  #10 cart path.  They removed the old cart path from the white tee to the bridge.  They will need a few more days for the path to dry down before they can do any grading.  They also have to install drain lines for the new path.  While cart path is gone we ask that you use the path on # 7 to access #10.  The gold and red tees are next to the path on the north side of the bridge.  You can still use the white, blue and black tees.  You can drive down path just past blue tees to get to the white tee.  You will have a short walk down hill to tee.  Sorry for any inconvenience.

 Removing path # 10

 This is how deep the void was under the path at forward tee. 

Cart path gone

2016 Review

     I would have to say I will remember 2016 but not in a good way.  This was one of the most trying years I have had in my 32 years in the golf course business.  Mother Nature had its way with us this past season. 

     We ended 2015 with 20 inches of rain in November and December.  We had 5 inches of rain in April. In May we had 6 inches of rain.   Hot and dry in June with temperatures in the mid to upper 90’s.  July was the 9^th wettest on record with 8.22 inches and  hot.  August was the 4^th wettest on record with 10.23 inches. From July through September we had 27 inches of rain.  We also had the 2^nd warmest fall on record.  The biggest problem that happened was we had the 4^th hottest low temperatures in the past 122 years in July and August.  You might ask what the big deal is.  Normally at night it cools down to upper 60’s to mid 70’s in the summer.  That gives the turfgrass plant time to catch its breath.  We stayed in the mid to upper 80’s for lows.  Roots for cool season turf will not grow when temperatures are above 86 degrees.  The cool season turf did not get a break it was under severe stress 24/7.
 

     The weather was the big news but we also had another year of Nematodes along with the hot wet summer.   I came into 2016 to get control of the Nematode problem we had in 2015.  I went on a Nematode control program.  The problem was the product I was using did not make it down to the Nematodes.  It got caught up in the thatch and never made it to the roots.  With the hot wet summer and Nematodes we lost turf on greens 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15.  We lost some of our surrounds on holes 2, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17.  After the turf loss in Mid July I began to overseed our greens with the latest Bentgrass variety.  We over seeded  the greens that were hurt the most 3 times. All other greens were seeded just once.  We took plugs from our putting green and plugged some of the bigger voids.  We also used sod off of the white tee on # 9 and fixed some of the collars.  The green surrounds that were lost we sodded with new cool season turf.   This winter I plan to attend a seminar on Nematodes at the Golf Industry Show.  The seminar is being put on by Dr. Crow from University of Florida the expert on Nematodes.  I am going to get some insight on how to control this pest.  Nematodes have always been a problem in the southeast.  Over the past few years it has become more common in the Midwest. It has become a big enough problem that the University of Missouri is going to be doing some research on Nematodes next year.

Nematode feeding on a root.

     With all the issues we had in 2016 we still accomplished many things.  We laser leveled 7different tee boxes.  1 red/gold, 3 black, 5 blue, 6 white, 9 white, 12 white and 14 gold/red.  We removed a number of dead trees.   Big Elm tree on # 1 rough,  Bradford Pear at Clubhouse front entrance, Pin  Oak at west side of Clubhouse, Big Maple tree # 5,  2 Cypress trees # 6, Hickory tree # 9.  We also limb up trees on holes 1, 2, 4, and 8.  We cut growth back on all of our wooded areas on hole 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 17 and 18.  We fixed drainage that was clogged up by tree roots on holes 3 and 4.  With the help from the Villa’s we were able to get some much needed clearing done at 12 green and 13 tees.  This will bring some much need air flow down to 12 green.  This cost the club $0.00.  All these projects were done along with maintaining the golf course through one of the wettest summers on record. 

# 1 Red/Gold tee leveled

 

     The biggest blessing for my staff and I was the approval to rebuild our bunkers and to get some much needed drainage done.  The bunkers on holes 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, and 16 are completed and they look fantastic.  We have holes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 18 left.  We are also fixing cart paths along with drainage on holes 9 and 10 to be complete yet.  We have a number of holes we are going to install French drains to help remove standing water in fairways and dry up some low areas.   We seem to be in a raining pattern at this time.  Not sure when Schaefer-Meyer will be back to get started on the front nine bunkers and cart paths.  We have had 2 rain events on the new bunkers on the back and we have had no washouts.  I can't wait to see all bunkers completed.

# 10 bunkers

      2017 is already looking better.  Our bunkers will be new.  New drainage will be installed.  New cart paths will be installed on holes 9 and 10.  We have plans to level more tees.  More sod work will be done on a number of our green surrounds. We will continue our tree maintenance on the rest of course we did not get to last season.  We will  over seed our  greens in the fall.  We have  new equipment coming in, that will help us maintain our course.  2017 looks pretty good.

Snow

Our first measurable snow fall of the season.

 This was a dry snow we were able to use blower to clean off side walks.

 

Looking down hole # 6 from 4 tee's.

Bunker update

     Yesterday Schaefer-Meyer was able to install drain lines in 18 bunker.  We are now ready for the bunker liner to be installed.  When it dries out we will  install the bunker liner then we will be ready for sand then sod.

 Installing # 18 bunker drains

 Completed drain lines and pea gravel

New sod

     We need to take care of our new sod around all the holes we are reconstructing.  We would prefer if you enter the bunkers or any area with new sod  on the low ends  and exit the same way.  Please do not try to walk up or down the slopes.  I know this is an inconvenience but it will save you from falling or damaging the sod.  We have found a few places where sod has slid from people trying to climb out of bunker and walking up slopes.  Please! Please! walk around slopes.  It will take just a few seconds longer to go around.  We have installed ropes on all high ends of each bunker face.  Please walk around the ropes.  It is too cold now for the Turf Type Tall Fescue to root.  It will begin to root when temperatures get warmer in late winter or early spring.  We would prefer it if you played all new construction as ground under repair.  Retrieve your ball and take a drop.  Thank you.

 Rope between green and bunker # 10 Please walk in and out of bunker on low end.

  Rope on back side of 11 bunker.  Please do not try to walk down sodded slope. 

It has been awhile

     I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  It has been 10 days since my last post.  Not much to report on the construction project.  We received 1 inch of rain on 12/26/16.  That made it too wet for Schaefer-Meyer to do any work last week.  Today we are wet again.  This will  for sure postpone any work for the next 3 or 4 days.  Later this week it is going to turn cold again and the ground will start to freeze.  Schaefer-Meyer cannot shape frozen ground.  Hopefully next week we can get back to the bunker project if temperature's get above freezing.